The Once and Future King: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Once and Future King" is a retelling of the Arthurian legend, focusing on the complexities of its central characters, particularly King Arthur, Wart. Wart, a boy of noble lineage, is guided by the sage Merlyn, who imparts lessons on justice over might. Merlyn’s role as a mentor is pivotal, as he seeks to unite the warring Celtic tribes under Arthur’s reign. Other significant characters include Sir Ector, Wart's foster father, and Kay, Wart's inept but loyal brother. The narrative explores themes of love and betrayal through characters like Lancelot, Arthur's closest knight, and Guenever, Arthur’s queen and Lancelot's forbidden love. The story also delves into the darker elements represented by Queen Morgause and her son Mordred, who embodies a tragic destiny that leads to the downfall of Camelot. The tale ultimately presents a rich tapestry of moral dilemmas, relationships, and the inevitable consequences of fate, making it a profound exploration of leadership and legacy.
The Once and Future King: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: T. H. White
First published: 1958 (as tetralogy; includes The Sword in the Stone, 1938; The Witch in the Wood, 1939 (also known as The Queen of Air and Darkness); The Ill-Made Knight, 1940; The Candle in the Wind, 1958); and The Book of Merlyn (1977)
Genre: Novels
Locale: England
Plot: Arthurian romance
Time: Middle Ages
Arthur, the son of the warrior chieftain Uther Pendragon. He is known simply as Wart, the son of the warrior chieftain Uther Pendragon. He is known simply as Wart, the boy who will become King Arthur. A typical boy—mischievous, curious, kindly, brave, and innocent—he spends the story being trained by Merlyn to understand the lesson that justice and fairness are better than the warrior's “might makes right” philosophy of the warring tribes.
Merlyn, the magician whose job it is to educate Wart. Merlyn initiates a plan to civilize the assortment of savage Celtic tribes by gradually unifying them under a common cause and a single king. He is a kindly, absentminded, and somewhat comic figure who plays no significant role in the remaining three novels. His influence on the plot of the story is so profound, however, that he is, after Arthur, the major figure in the story.
Sir Ector, Arthur's foster father, a comic figure.
Kay, Arthur's foster brother, an inept but faithful friend.
Queen Morgause (MAHR-goh), an evil necromancer, the wife of King Lot of Orkney. She hates her half brother, Arthur. She seduces him (he is unaware of their kinship at the time) and gives birth to their son, Mordred, who is both the product of their incest and the character destined to destroy Camelot. Morgause, one of the story's most interesting char-acters, also is the mother of several other sons, including Gawain, who will be among Arthur's strongest supporters.
Arthur, who is now king. He begins his effort to turn England from war to peace by subduing the anarchic knights who still rule by might.
Merlyn, whose role is almost finished. He teaches Arthur the history of the Celts, his theory of war and peace, and how to proceed in his kingship.
Lancelot, the French knight who is Arthur's closest friend. He calls himself the Chevalier Mal Fet—the Ill-Made Knight—because of his tremendous physical ugliness. The most significant knight of the Round Table, Lancelot is fated to fall in love with Arthur's wife, Queen Guenever, and thus to be one of the causes of Camelot's fall. His love for both Arthur and Guenever is the cause of an anguish so great that he engages in many quests and battles to escape it; no physical escape works for long, however, and he undergoes a fit of madness.
Guenever, known as Jenny, the beautiful and innocent young woman who is both Arthur's renowned queen and Lancelot's tormented lover. She struggles unsuccessfully to deny the love she feels for Lancelot while trying honorably to fulfill her obligations to Arthur and to her role as queen.
Elaine, Lancelot's unloved wife, a good and simple woman and the mother of their son, Galahad.
Arthur, who, having defeated the old order, now has to find some outlet for the energies of his Round Table knights. He invents the idea of the Quest for the Holy Grail as a way to sublimate the new form of might represented now, ironically, by Arthur himself. The quest is disastrous, resulting in the loss of most of his best knights.
Mordred, who is now grown. He is able finally to put Morgause's plan for revenge into effect. He accuses Guenever of adultery, divides Camelot into warring camps, plots to overthrow Arthur and to marry Guenever, and begins the long war against Arthur. The novel's center of moral and intellectual evil, Mordred is nevertheless a strangely sympathetic figure.
Lancelot, who is accused of adultery with Guenever. He escapes to his castle in France, where he is besieged by Arthur's troops under the command of Gawain, whom he eventually kills. He then rushes to England to rescue Guenever from her imprisonment by Mordred.
Guenever, who is now Mordred's prisoner and is used as a pawn to draw Arthur into a decisive battle to take place on Salisbury plain.
Arthur, who reviews his life while in his tent on the field of Salisbury on the night before the final battle with Mordred. He mourns the failure of Camelot and sees the future—the deaths of Mordred and himself, and Lancelot's and Guenever's exile to monastery and nunnery. He realizes that they all have been the innocent pawns of a fate that has cast them in predetermined roles in a drama that none ever quite understood or controlled.