Warning: Rant Ahead.

                As the title states, this is a rant and will most likely contain R rated language, sloppy grammar, and will not be suitable for those under the age of eighteen.

            Now that I've warned everyone, I can begin. 

            Here is my question. Why, in most of the texts that we have read in this class, is everyone just okay with this affair that Gwen and Lance have going on? I am aware that it has been addressed many, many times, in both class and in various blogs. However, I just cannot come to terms with a few things about it. Perhaps my biggest issue is not with Gwen and Lance, but with Arthur himself. Nobody in his or her right mind is ever okay with being cheated on. Never in my life have I met a person who was cheated on by their significant other and was just okay with it. THAT IS JUST NOT HOW IT WORKS. I realize that when reading these stories that we cannot always apply common sense to them, but come on, really? Are we honestly supposed to just believe that the great King Arthur, the most loved and respected king that ever was, just shrugged off the love of his life cheating on him with his *supposedly* most loyal and trusted knight?  Right. That makes total sense. my biggest issue concerns Arthur himself and the way he deals with this traitorous affair, don't think that I have forgotten about the two traitors in question. I'll start with Lady Gwen. In my head, I see her as weak, pitiful, easily swayed by the opinions of others, and immature. In fact, she reminds me a bit of Eve in the Garden of Eden, when she is tempted by the apple. I think that she sets a bad example for her people as well. If the Queen cannot stay loyal to her king, how does anyone expect any other kind of loyalty (both to the kingdom, Arthur, or spouses)? The way that I see her reacting to Arthur finding out about her affair is kind of like this:

        

            Now, moving on to the famous Lancelot. As I said earlier on, if Lance is supposed to Camelot’s golden boy and Arthurs most trusted knight, how could he have ever thought that sleeping with Gwen, the Queen, was a good idea? Certainly we all have experienced different sorts of temptation and lived to tell the tale of how we denied it. Are all men as weak as Lancelot, or is the bravest knight in all the land merely especially susceptible to Gwen’s' charms?  The world may never know. Another reason that I cannot stand Lancelot anymore (before this class I was a firm believer that one day my knight in shining armor would one day come galloping up to me on a powerful steed. However, now I am a bit wiser and more savvy, I know that if he actually does do that, it is probably not his first or his last time doing it), is that he never shows any signs of guilt or remorse. Though it probably wouldn't help the situation, at the very least he could gain a few points back.

            And so, here ends my rant. I will ask this: Am I just a ranting lunatic who is fixated on this issue, or does anyone else feel the same way? 

Avalon High

           Reading Meg Cabot's Avalon High sent me into a complete and utterly déja vu moment. This moment in particular sent me right back to middle school, where I must admit I spent so much time in the school library that all the librarians came to know me on a first name basis. As poisonous as this was to my reputation, I found that I just didn't care. It was probably this moment that I should have realized that I was destined to be an English major. This was one of the first books I had read about any Arthurian legend, so you can imagine how confused I was until I did a little bit of research.

            What I liked best about this book in middle school was the ending. Not because it meant that the book was finally over, but because it fueled my want for a 'Happily Ever After'.  Ever since I was little, and I am sure that I am not alone in this, I have been a hopeless romantic looking for the elusive 'One'. Cabot fulfilled all of my romantic hope that Elle and Will would end up together, no matter what the evil Marco did. To bad it never came with a disclaimer reading: "WARNING: This does not actually happen in real life".  Anyway, what I honestly liked best about the book after I read again for class was that portions of Tennyson's poem were put on the beginning of each chapter (that way, at least, there is an inkling of intelligence in the 'book').  

            One thing that really rubbed me the wrong way about the book was how much Elle stereotyped people. For example: When Elle assumes things about people based on how they look. Just because a person has tattoos doesn't mean that they do drugs. I myself am a prime example of this. I do have a tattoo, and I somehow manage to not do drugs. It can be done.

            Though there are only a few things in common throughout the many, many texts on Arthurian legend, the single thing that I consistently abhor is the affair between Gwen and Lance. It is hard for me to describe in polite words how I truly feel about the entire thing, and had I been Arthur, I would have beheaded them both and put their heads on stakes at the gates of Camelot... I guess it's a good thing that I was never destined to have an ancient kings past intertwined with my modern day life. 

(2/5)