Lessons from Lancelot
Rita and I watched one of our favorite movies again last night- “First Knight” starring Sean Connery as King Arthur, Julia Ormond as Lady Guinevere, and Richard Gere as Lancelot.
The film is filled with memorable and pithy quotes like “It’s in serving one another that we become free” and King Arthur’s comment about the traitorous knight Malagant: “He doesn’t care how many men he loses as long as he wins.”
The scene that impacted me most in this most recent viewing, however, was when Lancelot broke down and wept after helping to rescue some of the townspeople of Leoness who had been besieged by the evil Malagant. The helpless villagers had been locked inside a church, much as young Lancelot’s family had been, except that his family had all been burned to death, whereas this time the rescuers had come in time.
As Lancelot watched the thankful villagers express their love and appreciation to Lady Guinevere (who had, until recently, lived among these folks and counted many as dear friends) and to King Arthur and the other knights of the round table, Lancelot looked a bit lost and lonely. Then, a young boy walked out of the church and looked earnestly at Lancelot.
“Can I go home now?”
“What…? Oh, yes. Yes you can go home now.”
The next scene was of a spent Lancelot walking to his quarters and falling down and sobbing like he probably hadn’t done since he was that young boy’s age.
Why did he weep? Exhaustion? Surely that was a factor. Release because he had finally done something selfless? Perhaps…
I think the main reason, though, was the realization that he was alone. That, in his free-wheeling approach to life; not caring if he lived or died, traveling wherever he wanted, answering to nobody; he was profoundly disconnected from any meaningful human relationship. As he saw Guinevere look with love at her elderly mentor, as he watched the brotherly interaction of the knights, it must have dawned on him that in many ways he had wasted his life.
So he wanted to leave Camelot- but this time for a different reason than just his wanderlust.
He and Lady Guinevere (by this time married to King Arthur) had fallen in love and Lancelot nobly wanted to leave so as not to cause the city of Camelot, and more importantly the people he had grown to love, including King Arthur, any heartache. As he was saying goodbye to Guinevere, he told that he loved her too much to try to change her. Lancelot at the end of the story was a different man.
You can watch the movie for the poignant ending…
Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni
