The Knight Of The Cart Analysis

The Arthurian Romances were written in the 12th century. Yet, before then, the legends of Arthur had existed and had been famous. In fact, Chretien de Troyes’ Arthurian Romances is one in a long line of stories sharing the legacy of Arthur. Yet, even Chretien’s famous tales started their own legacies, legacies which are still seen in both academia and pop culture today.
King Arthur did not begin with Chretien de Troyes. While it was the Arthurian Romances written by Chretien de Troyes that made who is believed to be the Welsh king popular, there were a couple other stories written about the character beforehand. He was first mentioned by Gildas during the 6th century in his De Excidio et Conquestu Britiannae. In the 9th century Nennius mentions …show more content…
A popular theme that made its way into popular culture from “The Knight of the Cart” is the idea of the knight in shining armor. In “The Knight of the Cart,” Lancelot is on a journey to rescue Guinevere, thus being her ‘knight in shining honor’. Several movies depict this ideal, such as Shrek, Sleeping Beauty, Batman, and more. During these movies the knight is trying to prove himself courageous and save his lady. “Erec and Enide” pushes another motif of a ‘Prince Charming’, or someone in and takes their lover from rags to riches. Just as Enide was a poor girl with clothes that barely fit her beauty, Cinderella is a beautiful woman kept down by her oppressive family until she is whisked away by a prince. These motifs which had endured to this point are popular of what our culture believed should be the role of men and women and romance. In the past, women were expected to be more dependent, allowing the man to provide for them. While this archaic train of thought is being replaced by more progressive ideas that represent women as independent, it remains a pertinent aspect of the history of the views of women and how they have changed (and to an extent remained the same) over