I want to zoom in on a particular scene, the last one, when Lancelot heals Sir Urry. After the miracle, Lancelot cries. How are we to read this especially in relation to the Sankgreal, since Lancelot was the only knight able to perform this task?. You can also answer this question by responding to this claim that some articles state: Lancelot is really amazed by the miracle, so he cries tears of joy.
King Arthur & His World
ENGL 361 | Spring 2019 | Dr. Myra Seaman
I do agree with the assertion that Lancelot was amazed that he was the one to complete this task, especially after “so many noble kings and knights [had] failed” (242). As we know, Lancelot has long been in an adulterous affair with Queen Guinevere, and for that reason he was unable to fully complete the Quest for the Sankgreal to the full extent others had. Therefore, he must have felt some trepidation going to treat Sir Urry’s wounds, even asking Jesus to “defend me from that shame” (243) if it did not go as plan. The relief of that achievement may have drove him cry as if “he had been a child that had been beaten” (244). Another reason Lancelot may have wept in this situation is because it symbolized to him that God still saw him as a true and honest man, even after he had sinned with Guinevere. Lancelot wept as Arthur and his knights are “giving thankings and loving unto God,” (244) which clearly shows that Lancelot felt a special connection with that sentiment.
The interesting part of that episode is that the narrator says that Lancelot “wept as he had been a child that had been beaten” [244]. A beaten child does not cry because he is grateful; he cries because he has been admonished, and that is how I suggest we are meant to read Lancelot’s tears. Similarly to what Victoria proposed, I think that when Lancelot is the only one out of so many great knights able perform the miracle, he realizes that he truly is the “best knight of the world,” and so he feels admonished and ashamed for having participated in the adulterous affair with Guinevere [237]. Though he participates in and wins many tournaments, which displays his great strength, and people constantly refer to him as the best knight in the world, healing Sir Urry provides undeniable proof that he is the best. His tears seems a very human reaction to realizing something so overwhelming.
In this class we don’t often discuss the characters emotions. So many of our subjects are archetypal and idealized. This makes Lancelots tears all the more moving. He knows he is unworthy; nobody could deny that. But at the same time, he is a good man by the standards of his time. The miracle is proof that he may be unworthy, but in Gods eye, he is not worthless.