Tolls Of The King Camelot Essay

“Life is a cycle. The end of one journey is the beginning of the next” ( Joseph M. Marshall). In life, each season grows from the leftovers of the past, as winter celebrates an end, it also celebrates the beginning of another one of life's journeys. In literature, writers use symbols that relate to the seasons of life: spring, summer, fall and winter to express ideas such as feelings and the passing of time. Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson is a collection of romantic tales of chivalry and legends surrounding the life of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Within Idylls of the king, several tales explain the journey of Camelot’s innocence that ultimately leads to its own downfall. Throughout the legends within Idylls of the king,
Camelot’s journey is portrayed by the seasonal motifs of Arthur’s innocence in his reign, the strength of Camelot, while the quest of the holy grail diminishes spirits that lead to betrayal and downfall of Arthur and his kingdom.
Like the springtime of nature, “Coming of Arthur”, is a tale of new beginnings that represent innocence and hope throughout the kingdom of Camelot. Before the time of Arthur, Camelot is surrounded by darkness with little hopes for a savior, following the return of their king, Arthur brings light and guidance into Camelot. During a battle to clear Camelot of ruin, Arthur and Lancelot “sware on the field of death a deathless love/….Let chance what will, I trust thee to the death”(Tennyson 131). As the darkness clears up in Camelot, Arthur and Lancelot pledge their devotion to one another to signify a new beginning of undying love and trust. At that moment, their relationship contains no mortal sign of misguidance or betrayal but purity of a true amity. Lancelot and Arthur's relationship without betrayal, began with a moment of pure innocence and underlying respect. Moreover, within the “Coming of Arthur”, Arthur's purity at his wedding represents the
innocence of the newly founded kingdom. Following guinevere's arrival at the kingdom, “the king/ that morn [is] married, while in stainless white,/...his Knights/[stands] round him, and rejoicing in his joy./ Far shone the fields of May thro’ open door,/ the sun of May descended on their king” (Tennyson 455-461). Everyone who is at their wedding is covered with white while light from God surrounds the king to represent his divinity. The clothes and fields of white flowers represent an era of purity without sins or darkness towering over Camelot. At this moment, with the leadership under Arthur, the kingdom of Camelot is pure and possesses all of the highest qualities any kingdom might aspire. Furthermore, amidst the purity of the kingdom, Arthur’s reign brings dreams of hope and the birth of a new society. At Arthur's wedding feast, he pronounces “Behold, for these have sworn/ To wage my wars, and worship me their king/ the old order changeth, yielding place to new” (Tennyson 505-507). Arthur clarifies that from now on, his reign will restore stability and create a new order to unify the kingdom and create harmony. ENDING SENTENCE. With the transition into summer, “Lancelot and Elaine”, represents the constant flourishing of strength in Camelot as well as the love among characters. As the reign of Arthur continues, the strength of Camelot evolves along with it. With the diamonds Arthur found in a crown, he decides that “these jewels, whereupon I chance/ Divinely, are the kingdom’s, not the King’s, for public use./...we needs must learn/ Which is our mightiest, and ourselves shall grow/ in use of arms and manhood,” (Tennyson 57-66). As a demonstration of power within the kingdom, the jousts showcase Camelot's strength at an all time high. The Knights’ loyalty to Camelot is not weakened by sins of others but remains intact through the bonds of brotherhood. The strength each knight demonstrates at the joust showcases that the durability of Camelot has not yet fallen but is thriving. The passion Arthur has for his Knights has been able to guide them to a point where the darkness is gone and their strength is entertainment for the people. The love Elaine feels in “Lancelot and Elaine” is a true representation of love in summer. After Lancelot receives a wound in the joust, Elaine finds him “day by day she past/ in either twilight ghost-like to and fro/ Gliding, and every day she tended him/...being to him/ Meeker than any child to a rough nurse/ Milder than any mother to a sick child” (Tennyson 843-854). The affection Elaine feels for Lancelot only deepens as she spends more time with him. With every glance at Lancelot, the innocence of her love for him deepens with trust and hope. Elaine's love for Lancelot is not bound by words alone, but a true relationship that she feels brightens her world. ENDING SENTENCE Often in nature, as well as in “The Holy Grail”, the seasonal motif of Autumn represents the dawn of the decline of Camelot as well as the loss of innocence within Arthur’s knights. After seeing a glimpse of the magical holy grail, that grants immortality, many Knights swear to complete the task to find the cup. Despite understanding Arthur’s warnings, most of the Knights of the Round Table leave for the holy grail only to follow a path not for them. Out of the knights who see the vision of the Grail, Arthur's “greatest hardly will believe he saw./ Another hath beheld it afar off,/ And, leaving human wrongs to right themselves,/ Cares but to pass into the silent life./ And one hath had the vision face to face,/ And now his chair desires him here in vain, /However they may crown him other where.” (Tennyson 892-898). The quest of the holy grail leaves a lasting mark on Camelot by breaking the fellowship many Knights swear to uphold. Only a tiny fraction of knights still remain with Arthur, for many have died or disappeared following temptation along the way. The harm done by their quest is irreparable with many knights losing their confidence and their life. Without Knights and their confidence, the quest of the holy grail sufficiently destroys the strength behind Camelot leaving it vulnerable for attack. Even the strongest knight, Lancelot, loses his faith in himself after believing he is not worthy of his reputation due to Impeding sins preventing his life from moving along. Without Knights, who abandon their duties, Arthur as well as the kingdom suffer from the absence of strength throughout Camelot. While Arthur's Knights try to find the Grail, a storm ravages through the kingdom, leaving the city “on heaps of ruin, hornless unicorns,/ Crack’d basilisks, and splinter’d cockatrices,/ And shatter talbots, which [has] left the stones/ Raw that they fell from”( Tennyson 713-717). The once promising creatures, representing the symbols of each knight, that surrounded the city are now in crumbles. The crumbles of each statue represent the start of the decay between the brotherhood and loyalties of many Knights. The statues who protected the city, now lay in ruins similarly to the broken Knights with their innocence and reputations shattering. As each statue crumbles, the future and direction of Camelot is overshadowed by a sense of impending doom. Due to the storm, the statue of Arthur, created by Merlin, crumbles by “half-wretch’d a golden wing” (Tennyson 730). As long as the statue stands, Arthur remains the king who directs the kingdom from danger and into safety. With the statue decaying, Arthur's reign, as well as, guidance to point the kingdom is coming to an end. Always in Winter, as shown in “Guinevere” and “Passing of Arthur”, with a beginning must come an end to even the greatest kingdoms.The tragedy that Camelot faces leads to the death of the society that is strong in the face of evil. With the sin of Guinevere and Lancelot traveling throughout the kingdom, many of Arthur's Knights disperse and chose to fight against him in complicity with Modred. As Arthur's last battle in the west commences, “even on Arthur fell/ confusion, since he saw not whom he fought/ For friend and foe were shadows in the mist,/ And friend slew friend not knowing whom he slew;/...in that close mist, and cryings for the light,/ Moans of the dying, and voices of the dead.”( Tennyson 99-117). Arthur’s battle against Modred occurs in a thick fog as many Knights, once friends, turn against each other. This battle destroys all hope for the future of Camelot when Arthur fights against his friends. This last battle is not only a fight that ends all of the knights’ lives but the whole society of Camelot. Without the Knights of the Round Table and their loyalty to Arthur, Camelot will exist no more. Furthermore, the battle in the west brings the end of Arthur's reign. As the fog clears, with the field covered in blood, Arthur rushes at Modred “Striking the last stroke with Excalibur,/Slew him, and, all but slain himself, he fell”” (Tennyson 168-169). The wound Arthur receives is enough to lead him to his death as well as the society he wanted to create. Without Arthur's leadership, the perfect society will become overshadowed by the darkness that once surrounded Camelot. Arthur's perfection and his guidance is dying with him in the corrupt world. With death, as shown in “Guinevere” and “Passing of Arthur” comes life and new beginnings for hope. After the affair between Lancelot and Guinevere is known throughout the kingdom, Arthur arrives at the convent to speak with Guinevere. With their last conversation, Arthur mentions that he still loves her and forgives her in hopes that they “may meet before high God, and thou/ Wilt spring to me, and claim me thine, and know/ I am thine husband” ( Tennyson 561-563). Arthur hopes that one day she will love him and their relationship can restart with a new beginning in heaven. He hopes that his death will cause a rebirth in their love for one another in eternity. With his forgiveness, Guinevere restarts her life in a convent in hopes that she can rejoin her husband in eternity. Furthermore, the death of Arthur leads to the rebirth in his life. As Arthur drifts away into the ocean, Bedivere hears “beyond the limit of the world,/ like the last echo born of a great cry,/ Sounds, as if some fair city were one voice/ Around a king returning from his war” (Tennyson 457-461).Arthur's death isn't the ending of his life but the start of a new one in eternity. Arthur's spirit will live on throughout generations and will never end. Arthur's death is a beginning for him to return to the sea where he comes from. Arthur will never die but live in eternity where he will always be a loyal and trusted king. Often, a story that begins with new hopes and dreams for the future ends with a tragedy that creates a new start for the characters within. In Idylls of the King, the story of Arthur and the Knights of the Round table is a cycle that ends with a journey that is the beginning of the next. The passing of the seasons mirror the passing of arthur's realm. Within “Coming of Arthur”, that represents spring, Camelot is flourishing with innocence as shown in the trust between his knights and the purity at his wedding. As shown in “lancelot and Elaine” through the strength of the knights at the joust as well as the love between lancelot and Elaine, the symbolism of summer is all around. Throughout “The Holy Grail”, Autumn is portrayed through the decline of innocence of many knights as well as Camelot due to the quest of finding the cup.Within “Guinevere” and “Passing of Arthur”, where, in the midst of winter, the feeling of failure is shown through the last battle that destroys Camelot but from that end comes new beginnings in Arthur’s and Guinevere’s lives. ENDING SENTENCE