Anastasia Deriy

Period 1

Le Morte D’Arthur
1. What prevents Arthur from accepting Launcelot’s peace offers?
Due to the affair between Guinevere and Lancelot, Arthur doesn’t accept the peace offers
because he hasn’t forgiven him and Gawin told him not to accept it.
2. Why does Arthur call off the siege of Benwick and return to Britain?
While Arthur out of England, Modred faked Arthur’s death with fake letters and falsely crowned
himself as king of Britain. Once Arthur heard the word of Sir Modred’s offer of battle, he calls off
the siege.
3. What happens when Arthur fights Modred?
Arthur receives a death threatening wound by Modred’s struggle to combat death. The spear
Arthur uses pierces through his own helmet. However, Modred dies but Athur is trying to survive
until he is carried to safety to a chapel by Sir Lucas and Sir Bedivere.

4. Review the chart you created as you read. Then summarize the ways in which Gawain’s
hostility toward Launcelot contributes to Arthur’s downfall.
Sir Gawain’s grave hatred towards Lancelot causes a mess of events that didn’t do any good to
King Arthur’s situation. Arthur loses Modred and Lancelot as knights.

As Gawain recommended for Arthur to fight Lancelot, ruining what's left of their affiliation. As
well as contributing to Sir Modred usurping the throne from Arthur because Gawain brought
Arthur to France because of his hate towards Lancelot.
5. To what extent are Arthur’s internal and external conflicts with Lancelot like his conflicts
with Modred? In what ways are they different?
Athur’s internal conflict was about his relationship with Lancelot, whether he has forgiveness to
offer for Lancelot because the affair of his wife, but Lancelot laid out his life to protect him many
times and displayed loyalty countless times. This conflict is like external and internal conflicts he
has with Modred because they are related so Arthur trusts him. But Sir Modred does betray
Arthur in a way that’s more severe than what Lancelot did. Another similarity is Arthur’s
influenced by Sir Gawain’s advice in dealing with his internal conflicts about Lancelot because of
Sir Gawain's hyper focus on him, Modred commits the worst betrayal.
However, the difference is how Lancelot tried to be a better man after wronging Arthur with
adultery but Modred seemed to purposely betray Arthur selfishly especially involving his wife
and taking the throne.
 Anastasia Deriy
Period 1

6. Review the Text Analysis instruction on page 229. Le Morte d’Arthur is one of the most
influential medieval romances. What characteristics of medieval romance appear in this
work?

In this story, there are characteristics of medieval romance especially during the ultimate battle
of King Arthur and Modred when huge armies of men fought to death, and only four remained in
this setting which made them seem invincible. Arthur’s life story is a medieval romantic hero
from the beginning to the end with unusual birth and trials that challenge his morals.
7. Make a Venn diagram like the one shown to help you compare and contrast Gawain’s
and Launcelot’s character traits. Which knight’s failure to exemplify the ideals of chivalry
is greater? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
Lancelot had a great deal of failures and his way of evolving from that was a great display of
chivalry because instead of going more further downhill, he reflected on his mistakes and tried
to become a better knight by refusing to kill Sir Gawain who his Arthur’s nephew in the fist battle
between Lancelot and Gawain. He still holds loyalty to King Arthur and holds true to his ideals of
chivalry.
8. In his preface on page 262, William Caxton explains that he has published Le Morte
d’Arthur to provide a model for good behavior. How well does this selection from
Malory’s romance fulfill Caxton’s purpose?
The moral of Le Morte d’Arthur shows that although one can have the best qualities and values,
that there are flaws in each personality in the characters of this story. Caxton describes his
intentions of showing the reality of chivalry during that time. I think this choice from Malory’s
story fulfills Caxton’s purpose.
9. One critic has suggested that when “confronted by a need to make a decision in a
moment of crisis,” Arthur “invariably chooses the wrong course of action” because he is
unable or unwilling to see the situation as it really is. Think about the various conflicts,
both internal and external, that Arthur struggles with in the selection, and consider the
important decisions he makes. Do you agree or disagree that he “invariably chooses the
wrong course of action”? Cite evidence from the text to support your opinion.
One characteristic that I see in King Arthur is how influenced he is by those that surround him,
his relationships matter greatly to him as a strong person in many things. Inevitably, those who
surround him can lead him to the wrong courses of actions such as when Sir Gawain led him to
fight Lancelot or his gruesome battle with Modred after blindly trusting him with his kingdom.
They seem like simple mistakes at most, but I think that he did choose the wrong courses of
action most of the times.