#Guinevere x Lancelot

[kate-bridgerton]

Period Drama Appreciation Week 2024 || Day 4 - Favorite Relationship || Lancelot and Guinevere

[demonmoonsupreme]

Ugh. I have to say it. I’ve been holding it back because I know how much fandom hates this plot point so much. And like maybe it’s because I enjoy angst, or because characters coming in a vacuum sealed ‘morally upstanding’ package is just not realistic or enjoyable to me.

But Gwen should not have been ‘bewitched’ to cheat on Arthur with Lancelot. For one, it just sets another horrible precedence of magic use within the narrative. And two: it’s boring as hell. Oh, and also apparently Gwen was only allowed screen time in later seasons when her autonomy was nowhere to be seen. So three. Three reasons why I find it dumb as hell. And one that last front? Yeah, I think she should have willingly had an affair with Lancelot. I know, I Know. Cheating bad. Cheating make evil wrong person. Or whatever twitterinas are saying.

But hear me out (or don’t). How did Gwen feel after Lancelot died after she made him promise to return Arthur to her alive? Did she feel that she had unwittingly sentenced him to death? Her first true love; the man she looked for in other men. (Maybe we’d know how she felt if the writers didn’t have her going off like a broken record and just keep repeating what a great king Artie would someday be). I wish we had seen her grief, I wish she had been given time to mourn (as we know she never is in a series that kills every family member she has). And then Lancelot returns. She realizes she stills loves him, she feels guilty and blames herself thinking she had a part in his death. She thinks she asked him to sacrifice himself. And she wonders if she made the right choice. Lancelot and Arthur are there before her, and her wedding is in two days, and it’s all so sudden and the window of opportunity is about to be closed for the rest of her life; and she wonders if she’s chosen the right man. Gwen wonders if she’s been given a second chance, can she amend her previous choices. Does she want to amend them. Yes, this storyline opens her up to all sorts of criticisms. Fandom would condemn her a slut, she would join the ranks of women who can’t just make up their damn mind. Someone would declare it’s anti-feminist, because women aren’t allowed to be portrayed with “bad” qualities and when they are it just sets us all back.

But…it would be so much more nuanced than the plot they gave us. It would give Gwen the opportunity to make the choice because in the past it had been robbed from her (Lancelot leaving when he realized that Arthur loved Gwen, and Lancelot dying the first time). It would grant her autonomy over her own sexuality and choice of partner(s). Unlike the male protagonists in this show, Gwen is never actually given a real chance to morally grapple with anything, especially her own actions. She just is a good person who never does anything wrong, can be a bad-ass if it’s required, and falls into the straight and narrow path of ideal womanhood when she gets a boyfriend in a position of extreme power.

I know I’m barely making sense, but she just could have been written so much better. She could have been treated like a real person in the writers room, but she wasn’t.

[guineveredulac]

GUINEVERE AMIRUGUMI

Commissioned myself a Guinevere amirugumi and they sent it with a small photo of Edward Blair Leighton's “The Accolade” 😭😭♥️

[lenoreamidala]

but what about my wings?

[starchaser45]

WHY IS EVERYONE ON THIS SHOW SO SHIPABLE

[false-guinevere]

Guinevere and Lancelot are a Romcom

[artistotel]

galahad shows up one day in camelot with a dozen of nuns and nobody is happy

[alicole-sideblog]

What is the story of Lancelot and Guinevere??? Do they end up together or not ?? And what about her husband Arthur ??

I'm really loving this arthurian tales and don't know what to read or refer , can you please tell me about it or the source of it so that I can read it ? Also this is just like Alicole especially the devotion and the absolute adoration!!!

If you want an accessible version of The Knight of the Cart, my first rec is the LibriVox audiobook here. That's how I "read" it; I found it pretty approachable. There's also The Knight of the Cart Comedic Retelling by @mayapleiades, a pretty faithful and detailed recapping.

What is the story of Lancelot and Guinevere?

So the thing about Arthuriana is that it's all "fanfic"; there's no "canon". Throughout the middle ages, various authors wrote various stories, which were variously retellings and add-ons to earlier stories.

The specific story I've talked about to date is The Knight of the Cart by Chrétien de Troyes (+ Marie de Champagne + Godefroi de Leigni). That's the OG story, where the idea of their affair began. That was written circa 1177–1181.

The next adaptation of the idea was the Vulgate Cycle (c. 1210–1235). I haven't read it yet. I want to, but I'm still looking for an accessible version of it.

"Do they end up together or not?"

At the end of The Knight of the Cart, they are continuing their affair.

In later texts by later authors, things go less smoothly, their affair is discovered, and it kicks off the downfall of Camelot.

"What about her husband Arthur?"

That's an interesting question, and not one that The Knight of the Cart covers.

I talk about it here, but basically the original idea of their affair came from Marie de Champagne. She thought adultery was sexy and nonproblematic. (Or at least, she wasn't interested in hearing the problematic aspect condemned.)

Marie commissioned her fic from Chrétien, who we believe was uncomfortable with this subject matter. I think Chrétien was against adultery and didn't know how to handle the topic of sympathetic adultery, so he just... stayed silent on the issue.

The topic of adultery is weirdly absent from The Knight of the Cart, despite being arguably the main plot. It's simply not discussed. Lancelot and Guinevere never talk about it, never even think about it. Lancelot is fastidious about other aspects of honor, but he's totally down for flagrantly cuckolding his king without a second thought. (Which is honestly kind of iconic and I love it.)

It appears like virtually no one else shared Marie's vision of dead dove adultery. In later versions of the story, adultery is wrong and it needs consequences.

[alicentwhore]

Would love your thoughts on the Lancelot/Guinevere dynamics of pure but messed up love. Murderous crybaby Lancelot and playful and manipulative Guinevere <3

Love love love it. I am a firm believer than the dynamic (and both love interests) must be at least somewhat Fucked Up for the Guinevere/Lancelot relationship to really work for me.

They love each other genuinely, deeply, purely, but not healthily or innocently. Loving Guinevere doesn’t make Lancelot a better person or a good guy, if anything it leads him to sinful actions in pursuit and defense of his love.

Lancelot loves Guinevere but is the Best Knight, the Ultimate Knight for a reason. He is really really Good At Violence and Killing. And more importantly, he enjoys these things. He doesn’t want to. He so wants to be a good and godly man, but he is happiest when he’s sinning. And even his pure, chaste, love becomes another outlet for him to sin and commit violence, eventually even upon other people he loves (Gareth & Gawain). He���ll cry in shame and guilt but still won’t stop because this society and the people around his reward his behavior.

And Guinevere who has such little control over her life. She marries Arthur because Arthur wants to marry her. She is almost executed several times because Arthur just believes people’s slander or does an awful job of defending her. And Lancelot comes along. Lancelot who is devoted, obsessed, and rather painfully naive. She loves him. He is lower and so has no claim over her and is someone who can actually guarantee her safety and more notably, control. A knight truly and wholly devoted to her above Arthur. Who represents this extreme violence of the system that repeatedly harms her, but is a violence she can control, can use to protect herself. And so she tests this love, or devotion, and will pull back or get angry if there is ever a reason to question it. If she can’t feel truly in control then she won’t put her life on the line.

It’s a true knight and lady dynamic with all the brutal grossness of what a Knight and Lady are in a feudal world.

[itlivesinbox5]

Just.. internally SCREAMING!! This line alone was enough oh boy I’m done for💀💀

[vitalp0int]

Guinevere and Lancelot's Reconciliation

[guineveredulac]

devotion

[rainyday254]

Parallels:

I spent the past two days of this, I'm not good at coloring as you can tell.

I'm probably going to write a Lancelot and Guinevere Necropolis reunion one-shot bc the fact they have to part ways for life is depressing as Hell.

"Definitely someday" they've got such a way with words!

[choicesnutters]

Guinevere Theory (Chapter 16 spoilers!)

Not to be that person, but I REFUSE to believe we get our happy ending so easily. Something tells me this ain’t over. I suspect we will see Guinevere’s magic exposed in her wedding day and she will still find herself burning at the stake with the boys fighting on the battlefield.

All in all, I don’t think she actually prevented what she saw in her visions. Nothing in today’s episode mirrored them with the exception of the facial wounds. But the setting of the fight? And the fire? Even the dialogue didn’t match. I’m cautious going into next week’s chapter, that’s all I’m saying.

…Also hot take part 2, I think that crusty hoe Merlin will find his way back. Someone is controlling Arthur in the visions and his eyes aren’t glowing green. Maybe Merlin finds another way to get to Arthur.

[blackcur-rants]

If anyone is still curious, by the way, I am the one who commissioned this artwork and I still absolutely love the choices that @kaereth made with it. I actually very much imagined Lancelot as agender and Rromani when I commissioned this artwork and I think Kaereth got that across perfectly when they did this artwork. Furthermore, I think it's also kind of fun that there's more than a little bit of Gliimmadora influence in their designs, with Lancella as Catra and Gwenhwyfar as Glimmer and Arthes as Adora. There's also some great touches like theiir shared blushes, Gwenhwyfar being short and chubby but still clearly the subject of deep romantic affection, and the combined brunette/redhead/blonde and butch/femme/futch dynamic going on with these three versions of the characters. It's just a really beautiful and well-done piece of art that I'm glad I got to see. Thank you, Kace. Thank you so very, very much.

@kaereth @cynicalclassicist @carcosa-commune @dachi-chan25 @disregardcanon

A re-imagining of Lancelot, Queen Guinevere, and King Arthur as poly lesbians for a ko-fi! AKA Queen Arthes Pendragon with her wives Gwenhwyfar and Lancella

@cynicalclassicist