#malorydaily

he’s tricked into bedding dame elaine via witchcraft (because she takes on the visage of queen guenever, and the fact that that successfully gets launcelot to sleep with her still astounds me given that guenever is wedded to arthur… the prevalence of non-monogamy in these stories is very surprising to me), and when launcelot comes-to he’s very ashamed of himself and is rebuked by queen guenever (which on the one hand i understand but also, like, he was magicked)

and then sir launcelot gets tricked again by elaine’s handmaiden brisen, comes-to, goes to talk to guenever, is severely rebuked by her to the point of self-defenestration, and then dame elaine has the audacity to claim to sir bors, “I said never nor did never thing that should in any wise displease him” (chapter 9) and blame guenever’s rebuke for launcelot’s madness and disappearance??? pretty sure launcelot was very much displeased to realize he was tricked into laying with elaine!!!

the man literally can’t catch a break

i don’t know much about sociocultural expectations at the time of le morte, but i know that knights sometimes had unrealistic (by today’s standards) expectations placed upon them… but i just can’t understand why sir launcelot is considered to be so spiritually lacking (chapter 6) for laying with dame elaine while under a spell, or why queen guenever is blamed so heavily for launcelot’s disappearance, and i seriously don’t understand why dame elaine and dame brisen don’t receive any rebukes other than from guenever, particularly when “witchcraft/spellcraft/magic is bad” has sort of been a running theme throughout the books (unless i’m misremembering)…?