# Pelleas and Ettarre explained — Idylls of the King

> Chapter companion for Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

## What happens

Pelleas, a young knight newly made by Arthur, falls in love with the beautiful but scornful Ettarre after a chance meeting in the forest. He wins a tournament for her, but she rejects him. Gawain offers to help win her love but instead betrays Pelleas by seducing Ettarre. Pelleas discovers their treachery, confronts Lancelot and Guinevere, and is left shattered by the corruption he sees in Camelot.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Betrayal

Pelleas's pure love for Ettarre is met with scorn and ultimately betrayed by Gawain's seduction.

### Illusion and Reality

Pelleas projects his own ideals onto Ettarre, only to discover the harsh truth of her cruelty and Gawain's treachery.

### Chivalry and Honor

Pelleas's adherence to knightly vows prevents him from killing the sleeping Gawain, highlighting the conflict between honor and vengeance.

## Character check-ins

### Pelleas

Newly knighted by Arthur, falls in love with Ettarre, is betrayed by Gawain, and becomes disillusioned with the Round Table.

### Ettarre

A great lady who scorns Pelleas despite his devotion, and later sleeps with Gawain.

### Sir Gawain

Offers to help Pelleas win Ettarre but betrays him by seducing her.

### King Arthur

Makes Pelleas a knight and presides over the tournament.

### Sir Lancelot

Fights Pelleas in the dark and later is implicated in the Queen's infidelity.

### Guinevere

Queen of Camelot, whose beauty Pelleas compares to Ettarre's; she questions Pelleas after his fight with Lancelot.

### Sir Percivale

Pelleas questions him about the Queen's fidelity.

### Modred

Observes the tension between Lancelot and Guinevere, thinking 'The time is hard at hand.'

## Key lines

> Make me thy knight, because I know, Sir King, All that belongs to knighthood, and I love.

Pelleas asks Arthur to knight him, claiming he understands knighthood and is motivated by love.

_Pelleas's earnest plea to become a knight._

> For fair thou art and pure as Guinevere, And I will make thee with my spear and sword As famous—O my Queen, my Guinevere, For I will be thine Arthur when we meet.

Pelleas imagines his ideal lady as pure like Guinevere and vows to make her famous, casting himself as her Arthur.

_Pelleas's romantic idealization of his unknown beloved._

> What! slay a sleeping knight? the King hath bound And sworn me to this brotherhood;

Pelleas hesitates to kill Gawain in his sleep because of his oath to the Round Table.

_Pelleas's internal conflict between vengeance and chivalric honor._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/pelleas-and-ettarre
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters