Discussion questions

1

• 1 Discussion Questions/Quote Lancelot tried
  to have a Word. He considered it, as the ignorant
  country people still consider it, to be the most
  valuable of possessions His word was valuable
  to him not only because he was good, but also
  because he was bad. It is the bad people who need
  to have principles to restrain them. For one
  thing, he 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 (339).
• How does White characterize Lancelots loyalties
  here? In other words, what does this quote tell
  us about Lancelot as a character?
• How does this trait affect/reflect Whites
  message(s) about love in Book III thus far?
• Why is important to note that Lancelot recognizes
  pain in others and this inspires feelings of
  love?

2

• Discussion Questions/Quote
• When I started the Table, it was to stop
  anarchy. It was a channel for brute force, so
  that people who had to use force could be made to
  do it in a useful way. But the whole thing was a
  mistake. No, dont interrupt me. It was a mistake
  because the table itself was founded on force.
  Right must be established by right it cant be
  established be Force Majeur. But that is what I
  have been trying to do. Now my sins are coming
  home to roost. Lancelot, I am afraid I have sown
  the whirlwind, and I shall reap the storm (428).
• How does the entrance of Gareth help us to
  understand the importance of this quote?
• Explain the difference between Force Majeur and
  Right.
• Explain the connection to the unicorn in this
  scene.
• How does this prove everything we are saying
  about violence?

3

• Discussion Question/Quote
• He loved Arthur and he loved Guenever and he
  hated himself. The best knight in the world
• everybody envied the self-esteem which must
  surely be his. But Lancelot never believed he
• was good or nice. Under the grotesque,
  magnificent shell with a face like Quasimodos,
• there was shame and self-loathing which had been
  planted there when he was tiny, by
• something which it is now too late to trace. It
  is so fatally easy to make young children
• believe that they are horrible.
• What is Whites message here about love and
  loyalty regarding children?
• What is White saying here about our perceptions
  of others?
• What is White implying about the perceptions of
  ourselves?

4

• Discussion Questions/Quote
• For Guenever the dread of Elaines arrival was
  not unconscious. She had known from the first
  moment that Elaine was bound to come. For her,
  however, as for all women, the dreads were in
  advance of the male horizon. Men often accuse
  women of driving them to unfaithfulness by
  senseless jealousy, before there has been any
  thought of un-faithlessness on their own part
  (388).
• What is Whites message here about loyalty and
  faith when it comes to gender roles?
• Why should Lancelot be loyal to Guenever? Why
  does he have the right to not be loyal?
• Do you think its fair for a man to blame a woman
  for being unfaithful? Who is to blame?

5

• Discussion Questions/Quote
• Long ago, when I had my Merlyn to help, he tried
  to teach me to think. He knew he would have to
  leave in the end, so he forced me to think for
  myself. Dont ever let anybody teach you to
  think, Lance it is the curse of the world
  (432).
• Do you agree or disagree with Arthur (last
  sentence)? Why or why not?
• How does this statement relate to Arthurs
  present problems? What was Merlyn trying to teach
  Arthur that has now cursed him?
• How will Arthurs lack of thinking harm him
  later?

6

• Discussion Questions/Quote
• All these people gave themselves up, not to
  Arthur, but to Guenever. Lancelot had kept
  himself away for a whole year, but there was a
  limit to his endurance. Thinking of her all the
  time and longing to be back with her, he had
  allowed himself this one indulgence. He had sent
  his captives to kneel at her feet. It was a fatal
  course of action (362).
• How does this tie to the topics of love and
  loyalty?
• What is truly the most important part of this
  quote?
• Explain why Lancelots sending captives to kneel
  at Guenevers feet was such a dangerous course
  for him to take?
• How does this translate to current day?