Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Do you think Guinevere is wrong to have an affair with Lancelot? Do you blame her for it?
- Is it possible to achieve “moral perfection”? How do you think our good King Arthur would answer that question? What about Tennyson?
- How does Tennyson’s treatment of the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere compare with Malory’s in Le Morte d’Arthur—if you've been so lucky as to read it of course? What about the portrayals of characters like Arthur, Tristram, Lancelot, Gawain, or Gareth?
- Why is Guinevere’s purity so important to Arthur’s kingdom? Why does its failure cause the whole kingdom to collapse?
- What’s Vivien’s problem? Why does she hate Arthur and his knights so much?
- Which of the stories of Arthur’s origin do you believe? Does it matter which one is true? Why or why not?
- Arthur invests the stability of his kingdom in the vows his knights take, a move that reflects his belief in human nature as basically honest. Other characters, like Vivien and Tristram, don’t share his beliefs. What might they choose as foundations for their kingdoms if they got to build them?