As I was writing a post for my other blog (Letters to Nemo) I realized that one of the books I read as a young adolescent influenced my thoughts on relationships and men. That book was Sir Arthur Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. It's a collection of stories of the Knights of the Round Table, so King Arthur's Knights.
"Knights you say? Pish posh!" True, some people think knights are stuff for legends and stories, something to tell children, or for studying history, but I can tell you that the knights still influence the way I think about the relationships between men and women.
The Knights had a Code of Chivalry which still influences the way gentlemen behave, and for me it helps me decide whom I refer to "sir" when I speak with someone close to my age. Strangely, I also call other women "sir", but that's a topic for a different time. I attempt to emulate some of the parts of the code, which I know makes others get really confused because it seems like I'm acting "too manly". I think that's unfortunate because if many more followed the Code then the world would probably be a much better place. (Okay, maybe I'm an idealist, but I can hope, right?)
So what does the Code have to do with relationships? EVERYTHING! Thus I choose live by that code, but some tell me that my standards for men are too high. I have only one thing to say about that: no my standard is not too high, I would much rather be by myself than be with someone who can't even treat another person as a human being and instead chooses to treats others at something. If I'm meant to live the remainder of my life with someone, then I hope it's someone who can hold himself accountable and is willing to do all the things possible to keep the marriage intact.
Le Morte d'Arthur taught me that at some point men were brave and responsible, they knew that they had a family to take care of and they would never let anyone bring dishonor to their family. True, there is some scandalous parts to the book, like the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere, but the main part was that honor and character should never be compromised or else nothing else in life will ever matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment