Kay The Jerk?
When did Kay the seneschal become such a jerk? In Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account he is one of the more valiant knights in Arthur’s court. For instance, when Arthur goes to kill the giant the only two knights he brings with them are Bedevere and Kay. Kay also shows exceptional bravery at the battle of Saussy, where he leads a group of knights into battle and is mortally wounded while avenging Bedevere and dragging his body back.
In Erec and Enide, Kay’s flaws are not mentioned, but in The Knight of The Cart and The Knight With The Lion, He suddenly becomes incredibly rude and reckless. All the other knights notice his behavior and they do not respect him. This is completely different from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account, where Kay is one of the more famous knights, and everyone is upset when he dies because he was such a courageous fighter. Why does Chretien suddenly turn him into a character who is just as rude as the dwarves?
Josh wrote:
I would guess that it’s just a way to make the story more interesting. By making Kay stand out so as an objectionable character, Chretien can create additional tension in the story, or at the very least make the characters more memorable. You can only have so many knights who are the bravest and most valiant of them all. Why Kay as opposed to other knights I have no idea.
Posted 25 Sep 2007 at 1:08 pm ¶
Mary wrote:
It is really strange that Kay had to become this negative character all of a sudden, but in “The Knight with the Lion,” it seems like everyone’s seneschals are jerks.
Yvain’s wife’s seneschal is also a jerk because he imprisons Lunete for treason that she didn’t commit. I don’t understand why everyone’s seneschals turned out to be such awful people in this story.
Posted 25 Sep 2007 at 1:30 pm ¶
koricature wrote:
This Kay is more reminiscent of the Kay from White’s stories. He grows up right beside Arthur and has a superiority complex from being Sir Ector’s true son. He always puts down the Wart (not as badly as in the movie though), and tends to let his mouth run a lot more than he should. I thought it interesting how Kay was said to have become Arthur’s seneschal, solely by his guardian Ector’s plea. It was not from his bravery or even closeness to Kay (though the Wart was strangely fond of Kay when they were kids despite his attitude), but just this idea put forth before the Wart was really capable of making such a decision on his own. As to why Chretien makes him into such a jerk, I agree that it is just to add another dimension to Yvain’s chivalry. It is odd that the other seneschal had to be a bad person as well though. Probably just keeping to a common theme.
Posted 25 Sep 2007 at 2:23 pm ¶