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Aug. 9th, 2010 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
polutropeDay VI- A Book that makes you cry
Oh dear. A better question would be "a book that doesn't make me cry. It is pretty easy to play on my emotions. I cried at the end of Rienzi, for God's sake! That can actually be justified, though, for the most part. Rienzi is my type of character: noble, surrounded by people who don't understand him, chivalrous and proud to a fault, and of course trying very hard to establish a decent kingdom for his people. And of course he can't, and of course he falls, and of course he dies alone and in shame. That was in fact pretty much calculated to tear at my heartstrings.
But what really makes me bawl every time is La Morte d'Arthur. Seriously, I'm looking at the end now, and tearing up. This passage "Ah Launcelot, he said, thou were head of all Christian knights, and now I dare say, said Sir Ector, thou Sir Launcelot, there thou liest, that thou were never matched of earthly knight's hand. And thou were the courteoust knight that ever bare shield. And thou were the truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrad horse. And thou were the truest lover of a sinful man that ever loved woman. And thou were the kindest man that ever struck with sword. And thou were the goodliest person that ever came among press of knights. And thou was the meekest man and the gentlest that ever ate in hall among ladies. And thou were the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest" sums up the whole work, "And thou were the truest lover of a sinful man that ever loved woman" especially. Lancelot's downfall is in the contradictions that Lionel lays out here. I think part of why Lancelot and Guinevere's story is so tragic is that it's not the young, pure love of many stories. In parts it borders on the sordid; and certainly Lancelot commits great crimes for Guinevere - the deaths of Gareth and Gaharis, in particular - yet nonetheless it's true love, in a way that, say, Aucassin and Nicolette isn't.
The greatest tragedy, and the one that makes me weep even over Camelot the musical, is that everything falls apart, and more that the seeds of the tragedy are there even at the height of the glory of Camelot. No one's allowed to be happy, except maybe for a little while. And the result is nothing - the best knights gone in the Grail Quest, and Mordred left at court to be mean and petty - and after Mordred's treachery, nothing. The last knights gather at Lancelot's grave and then disperse, and nothing is heard of them.
So I'm actually kind of a wreck now, because I looked up the end, and the death of Gareth and Gaheris, and Gawaine's last letter to Lancelot. And it's all so sad!
Oh dear. A better question would be "a book that doesn't make me cry. It is pretty easy to play on my emotions. I cried at the end of Rienzi, for God's sake! That can actually be justified, though, for the most part. Rienzi is my type of character: noble, surrounded by people who don't understand him, chivalrous and proud to a fault, and of course trying very hard to establish a decent kingdom for his people. And of course he can't, and of course he falls, and of course he dies alone and in shame. That was in fact pretty much calculated to tear at my heartstrings.
But what really makes me bawl every time is La Morte d'Arthur. Seriously, I'm looking at the end now, and tearing up. This passage "Ah Launcelot, he said, thou were head of all Christian knights, and now I dare say, said Sir Ector, thou Sir Launcelot, there thou liest, that thou were never matched of earthly knight's hand. And thou were the courteoust knight that ever bare shield. And thou were the truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrad horse. And thou were the truest lover of a sinful man that ever loved woman. And thou were the kindest man that ever struck with sword. And thou were the goodliest person that ever came among press of knights. And thou was the meekest man and the gentlest that ever ate in hall among ladies. And thou were the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in the rest" sums up the whole work, "And thou were the truest lover of a sinful man that ever loved woman" especially. Lancelot's downfall is in the contradictions that Lionel lays out here. I think part of why Lancelot and Guinevere's story is so tragic is that it's not the young, pure love of many stories. In parts it borders on the sordid; and certainly Lancelot commits great crimes for Guinevere - the deaths of Gareth and Gaharis, in particular - yet nonetheless it's true love, in a way that, say, Aucassin and Nicolette isn't.
The greatest tragedy, and the one that makes me weep even over Camelot the musical, is that everything falls apart, and more that the seeds of the tragedy are there even at the height of the glory of Camelot. No one's allowed to be happy, except maybe for a little while. And the result is nothing - the best knights gone in the Grail Quest, and Mordred left at court to be mean and petty - and after Mordred's treachery, nothing. The last knights gather at Lancelot's grave and then disperse, and nothing is heard of them.
So I'm actually kind of a wreck now, because I looked up the end, and the death of Gareth and Gaheris, and Gawaine's last letter to Lancelot. And it's all so sad!
