Chivalry in the romance story The Knight with the Lion
Chivalry conjures up images in my mind of the knight fully armed, perhaps with the crusaders, with a red cross sewn upon his surcoat; of martial adventures in strange lands; of castles with tall towers and of the fair women who dwelt in them. It is also, for that very reason, a word elusive of definition. One can define within reasonably close limits what is meant by the word knight, or in French: “chevalier”, which is very close to the word chivalry. It denotes a man of aristocratic standing and probably of noble ancestry, who is capable, if called upon, of equipping himself with a war horse and the arms of a heavy cavalryman, and who has been through certain rituals that make him what he is - who has been “dubbed'' to knighthood. But chivalry is not so easily pinned down. It is a word that seems to have been used with different meanings and shades of meaning and in different contexts. Sometimes chivalry is spoken of as an order of religion; sometimes it is spoken of as an estate, a social class; and sometimes it spoken of as no more than a body of heavily armed horsemen. Sometimes it is used to encapsulate a code of values that belong to this order or estate. Chivalry cannot be divorced from the martial world of th
The ideal of chivalry is not easily attainable and we read in Chretien's tale of how our hero almost immediately fails in keeping his sworn word. The knight stops being knightly when he serves himself instead of his lady. We may argue that Yvain's situation is unique and that he may have been unaware of the commitment one must give to one's spouse. We may argue that it is the knight's duty, as Gawain so persistently and persuasively rebuffs and cajoles Yvain, to go to tournaments and seek a proper reputation that is worthy of a lady's love. Gawain argues to Yvain that it is the knight's duty to maintain his name and reputation as a great warrior so that his household may not fall into disgrace. Gawain says, “What? Will you be like those men who are less worthy because of their wives?” Gawain argues that the knight's value is only that which others say about him. As readers we are divided between our empathy with Yvain's knightly duties and his responsibility to his sworn word to his life-mate. The question of knightly duty existing in the contexts of marriage is perplexing. Nevertheless, Yvain bound himself in marriage to Laudine and when promises are broken there are inevitable consequences tha
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