Arthur founds the Round Table on the principles of faith in the basic honesty of human beings and man’s capacity for self-control and self-improvement. So it makes perfect sense that he has no qualms about ruling the kingdom he builds by holding his knights to vows. What’s really at issue in Idylls of the King isn’t so much the vows themselves as whether or not people can be faithful to those vows in the first place.
Questions About Principles
- What principles does Arthur embrace, and how do they influence his strategy of government?
- How does Arthur’s view of human nature differ from Vivien’s, Tristram’s, or Lancelot’s? How do these characters’ views of human nature question the wisdom of Arthur’s governmental strategy?
- Why is monogamy important among the vows Arthur elicits from his knights? How does its importance make women central to the stability of the Round Table?
- What is the content of the vows Arthur asks his knights to swear? What is the purpose of each of these vows?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Arthur’s belief in the innate honesty of human beings prompts him to found his Round Table upon a system of vows and oaths. Which is, let's just say, a huge mistake.
The idealization of women is at the heart of the foundation of the Round Table. And it's straight up sexist.