Essay on The Power of Love Lancelot by Chretien de Troyes

Ever wondered how love can bring you happiness and pain and make you sane and crazy at the same time. How this emotion can change you and make you accept things you are not used to. How this emotion can overpower you in many ways in which you did not know existed. In Lancelot by Chretien de Troyes, the power of love is a commanding driving force that can dominate a person’s mind, body, and soul and one who is courageous enough to love sometimes undergoes serious consequences. Consequences that are driven from the power of love that harm and cause hardship to the one who is determined to seek love. This is depicted by Lancelot â€Å"the knight of the carts,† underlying love of King Arthur’s Queen Guinevere. His love start as Queen Guinevere is†¦show more content†¦He remains faithful once again showing the power of his love seen throughout lines 621-635. Another example is when he goes through the route of the sword bridge which is the more difficult and dangerous route than the underwater bridge to continue his quest. There he was so deep in thought that he forgot his own identity, being wrapped up in Guinevere he could have been killed. But he woke from his deep thought when he fell into the ford and regains his composure, battled and got pass the knight that was guarding the way. It also shows he was courageous enough to go through the difficult and more dangerous route to get what he is longing for. â€Å"The knight had but one heart, and it no longer belonged to him. Rather it was promised to another, so he cannot bestow it elsewhere. His heart was kept fixed on a single object by love, which rules all hearts.† This means that the one and only heart he has no longer belongs to him, but he has given it to Guinevere. I believe the reading demonstrates the power that love has on Lancelot. For example when the queen fell out of view from him, he thinks to throw himself from the window and shatter his body on the ground below, shows how the power of love affects his mind. Lancelot, dominated by his love for Guinevere, is forced into decisions that normally a noble knight wouldn’t do. Love conquers Lancelot’s entire soul, forces him to irrational and unrighteous actions that cause him pain and harm. Love is an emotion that canShow MoreRelatedEssay about Courtly Love as an Ennobler in Romantic Literature1380 Words   |  6 Pages Lancelot, the knight of the cart, is in love with Queen Guinevere, who constantly compromises his reputation by embarrassing him . Chretien de Troyes writes Lancelot in The Knight of the Cart to be deeply in love, so much so that he constantly sacrifices his reputation for the queen. Classically, â€Å"the romantic hero developed from an extravagant to an idea l character† (Williams 275) in typical Romance literature. 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