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Sir Lancelot
Guenever is married to King Arthur, although she has a long love affair with Sir Lancelot. Despite her affair, Guenever is a deeply complex, beautiful, and fundamentally good person. Although she betrays Arthur, she is simultaneously very committed to him, supportive of him and very much loves him. Perhaps the greatest tragedy about Guenever, and what drives many of her vices, is that she remains childless.
Queen Guenever Quotes in The Once and Future King
The The Once and Future King quotes below are all either spoken by Queen Guenever or refer to Queen Guenever. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 3, Chapter 6
Quotes
For one thing, he [Lancelot] liked to hurt people. It was for the strange reason that he was cruel, that the poor fellow never killed a man who asked for mercy, or committed a cruel action which he could have prevented. One reason why he fell in love with Guenever was because the first thing he had done was to hurt her. He might never have noticed her as a person, if he had not seen the pain in her eyes.
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Book 3, Chapter 43
Quotes
Nobody knows what they said to each other. Malory says that "they made either to other their complaints of many diverse things." Probably they agreed that it was impossible to love Arthur and also to deceive him. Probably Lancelot made her understand about his God at last, and she made him understand about her missing children. Probably they agreed to accept their guilty love as ended.
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Book 4, Chapter 3
Quotes
Did you know that in these dark ages which were visible from Guenever's window, there was so much decency in the world that the Catholic Church could impose a peace to all their fighting—which it called The Truce of God—and which lasted from Wednesday to Monday, as well as during the whole of Advent and Lent?
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Queen Guenever Quotes in The Once and Future King
The The Once and Future King quotes below are all either spoken by Queen Guenever or refer to Queen Guenever. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 3, Chapter 6
Quotes
For one thing, he [Lancelot] liked to hurt people. It was for the strange reason that he was cruel, that the poor fellow never killed a man who asked for mercy, or committed a cruel action which he could have prevented. One reason why he fell in love with Guenever was because the first thing he had done was to hurt her. He might never have noticed her as a person, if he had not seen the pain in her eyes.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3, Chapter 43
Quotes
Nobody knows what they said to each other. Malory says that "they made either to other their complaints of many diverse things." Probably they agreed that it was impossible to love Arthur and also to deceive him. Probably Lancelot made her understand about his God at last, and she made him understand about her missing children. Probably they agreed to accept their guilty love as ended.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 4, Chapter 3
Quotes
Did you know that in these dark ages which were visible from Guenever's window, there was so much decency in the world that the Catholic Church could impose a peace to all their fighting—which it called The Truce of God—and which lasted from Wednesday to Monday, as well as during the whole of Advent and Lent?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
