The Tale of Sir Lancelot Du Lake

 The Tale of Sir Lancelot Du Lake

During the Tale of Lancelot du Lake one thing that I quickly made notice of was his outstanding character flaw in regards to violence. While Chivalry is important to all knights who can call themselves noble, Lancelot takes these vows, almost as an excuse for combat and then execution. Most notably Lancelot tends to execute his victims by beheading them, for example “dragging the other down two his knees, unlaced his helmet and beheaded him” (banks 114). These deaths have an element of a public execution behind them. Given that god is the one who is supposed to pass judgment on those who sin I find it interesting that Lancelot will often pass his own judgment over what god may or may not will. This could possibly tie into the true fatal flaw of Lancelot being and impulsive character. From the affair with Guinevere to disobeying god at the location of the grail Lancelot continues to display a lack of impulse control that eventually leads to downfall.