How to Lose a Queen in Three Comic Poems: A Discussion of Arthur’s Kingship and His Loss of Guinevere

Abstract

King Arthur’s legacy as a great man and ruler is widespread across various medieval texts, yet despite his apparent greatness he constantly finds himself dealing with the loss of control over his queen, either physically, sexually, or both, while he also strives to maintain his reputation as a good, strong, and noble king. These losses occur in various manners over various texts, but the losses I focus on in this thesis come from three late medieval comic poems: The Boy and the Mantle, Sir Corneus, and the Lai du Cor. My thesis explores what these ideas of loss and control mean within each of these poems and argues that Arthur’s loss of control over his queen results in the fortification of male fellowship at his court.