Guinivere
Queen of Britain, wife of Arthur, daughter of King Leodagrance of Camiliard, Guinivere was one of the most beautiful women in all of Britain. Guinivere was an inspiration to many knights of the Round Table and many of them did battle in her name. Guinivere stands as a symbol of feminine soviernty in days when women were idealized to be beautiful, graceful, gentle, and charming.
As queen of Britain, Guinivere had a very important position because she stood as the femine example of soviernty. Guinivere also served as a role model to many other ladies in the court. Guinivere was given to marry Arthur by her father, Leodagrance. Guinivere loved Arthur very much, but loved him more as a king than as a husband.
Guinivere soon feel into a burning love with Arthur's greatest knight, Launcelot. Launcelot became her champion and protector. Guinivere then became part of an eternal love triangle between Arthur and Launcelot. Launcelot's and Guinivere's love was very secretive, as the two could not afford to have anyone know of their love. Guinivere's love for Launcelot was very painful as she knew that she was betraying her dear King Arthur, even as much as he had loved her. Guinivere is mostly seen at banquets and ceremonies, playing a great role in the splendor of what was Camelot. As Arthur was not perfect, neither was Guinivere. Her love for Launcelot many times grew to envy and bitterness towards other beautiful women such as Elaine of Carbonek and Elaine of Astolat who both loved Launcelot passingly well. Guinivere scorned and rebuked Launcelot many times for this, which caused him to grieve and flee from Camelot until she had finally forgiven him. There were many knights who would have gladly given their lives for Guinivere and did many battles for her. Such knights included Gawaine, Geraint, Perceval, and of course Launcelot.
When the Grail Quest came, Guinivere scorned Launcelot greatly for his leave of the kingdom. Guinivere also had a certain fondness for Galahad who was Launcelot's son and a symbol that Launcelot had been with another woman. It is quite possible that Guinivere loved Galahad in a way as her own son. When Launcelot returned from the Grail Quest, Guinivere was passingly happy to had Launcelot return to her but didn't want to show him her forgiveness right away. Thus, Launcelot departed once more from her kingdom. At this time there befell Guinivere a great peril in her life. At a feast she was accused of poisoning a knight with an apple. This apple was actually poisoned by a knight who hated Gawaine and the apple was meant for Gawaine to eat. The dead knight's brother, Sir Mador, then charged Guinivere with treason and the murder of his brother. Despite Arthur's reluctance, the law had to be carried through and Guinivere was sentenced to be burned at the stake. This distressed her greatly. Unless one knight would take her cause and defeat Sir Mador in a fair combat, Guinivere would be killed. None of the knights would defend her because they secretly believed that she was guilty. Finally, Sir Bors took her cause and prepared to battle Mador. Right before the duel, Launcelot showed up and battled Mador in place of Bors and defeated him. Thus, Guinivere was proclaimed innocent.
The next part of the book focuses on the romance between Launcelot and Guinivere which grew stronger than ever. Guinivere again grew bitter with Launcelot because of Elaine of Astolat's love for Launcelot which led to Elaine's sorrowful death. Guinivere repented greatly and would have forgiven Launcelot had he not already left Camelot because of her anger. Springtime soon came to Camelot and on a fine May morning, Guinivere decided to take 8 of her knights and her ladies in waiting with her out a'Maying in the forests. The forests were beautiful with newly grown leaves and everything around seemed bright green. It came about at this time that there was a knight named Sir Meligrance who was the son of King Bagmedamus. He had loved Guinivere passingly well the last years and had his men set an ambush on her group. Guinivere was soon taken away captive to Meligrance's castle where he wanted her to live as his wife. Word of this soon reached Launcelot and he sought out to rescue her. Determined to save his love, Launcelot traveled the land in a notorious cart for criminals to rescue her. Launcelot finally reached Meligrance's castle and saved Guinivere. Guinivere was extremely happy to have Launcelot with her once again, even though she was angered at him for riding in a cart. This tale is symbolic of Meligrance who represents an otherworldly figure, taking away Guinivere, the goddess of the Springtime to his otherworldly domain. Launcelot's and Guinivere's love then grew stronger than ever. So strong was it that people were beginning to notice things, especially the king's nephew Agravaine, who secretly plotted against them both.
It was finally on the night in Guinivere's room, the two decided to stop seeing each other for fear of hurting the king, that they were discovered together by Agravaine and Mordred.
Launcelot felt the kingdom and Arthur was alerted at once, thus beginning the chain of events which led to the downfall of Arthur's kingdom. This was undoubtly the saddest moment in Arthur's life as he had to save the name of the kingdom and sentence Guinivere to death. Guinivere had fallen into disgrace by committing adultery. She was sentenced to be burned at the stake. This was a very sad days for the kingdom of Camelot. Right before Guinivere was to be burned, Launcelot and his men sieged Camelot, rescuing her, leaving many killed in the process. Launcelot then brought Guinivere to his castle at Joyous Garde where she lived with him and his men.
Thus started the brutal war between Arthur and Launcelot which hurt Guinivere grievously as they were the two men whom she loved most in this world. Launcelot returned Guinivere to Arthur, with the promise that she would be kept safe and loved. While Arthur was away making war on Launcelot, Mordred was left in charge. He made many advances in Guinivere and tried to marry her which made her flee. Near the day of Arthur's final battle, Guinivere was found in a convent. Here she had given up all of her worldly values and decided to serve God.
At this time, Arthur visited her and gave her his forgiveness. The battle soon ended with almost all being killed and Arthur being taken away to Avalon. This was a very sad moment for Guinivere, but she knew that it was almost her time to leave this world also. In a week Launcelot returned to Britain to find out what had happened to Arthur. He visited Guinivere and they spoke with each other for the last time. She told him that she had given her life to be a nun and now serve God. It was too painful for them to marry since they would always remember Arthur and their love for him. Launcelot left and a few days later, Guinivere died. When Launcelot heard of this, he returned to the convent to see her body and did not weep, but sighed, knowing that their days together were over. The sorrow of this was the fate of Launcelot as he died a week later. Guinivere is an inspiration and a symbol of all feminine virtues. In a world as evil as the one we live in today, it is sad that there cannot be many women with virtues that she had.
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