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Book 3, Chapter 12
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Once and Future King, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Chivalry, Satire & Medieval Life
Fate (Time)
Quest and The Holy Grail
Might vs. Right
War
Summary
Analysis
Guenever is stitching her tapestry and thinking of Lancelot: she is twenty-two and rife with emotions. It isn't that she doesn't love Arthur, she loves and respects him as her husband, but has never loved him passionately as she does Lancelot. She drops her needle suddenly—there is the clatter of horse hooves on cobbles. And then, Lancelot is in her room, embracing her furiously. Before she is quite sure of what is happening, Guenever is betraying her husband, as she knew all along she would.
In this chapter, White describes Guenever's complexity and the range of emotions it requires to betray a husband you love. What White attempts is to portray Guenever as a real person, one who is complex, both guilty and innocent.
Themes
