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Learning Objectives 

Students will: 

• Research and gather information about King Arthur’s ever-evolving myth, depicted through the centuries in a variety of media and interpretations.
• Describe the nature of myth.
• Compare the stories of real people and mythological text.
• Analyze central themes of Arthurian legend through a modern lens.
• Examine whether the ideas of chivalry, honor, and courtly love have been internalized into contemporary art and culture.
• Discuss whether these ideas are relevant to today and to what extent they apply to modern life.
• Write and perform a short play.

Standards Alignment

National Core Arts StandardsNational Core Arts Standards

Common Core State StandardsCommon Core State Standards

Recommended Student Materials

Editable Documents: Before sharing these resources with students, you must first save them to your Google account by opening them, and selecting “Make a copy” from the File menu. Check out Sharing Tips or Instructional Benefits when implementing Google Docs and Google Slides with students.

Teacher Background

Teachers should pre-screen video, DVD, or streaming versions of King Arthur (2004; PG-13) and Camelot (1967; G). You may be able to find these movies at the library, your local video/DVD store, online, or video streaming platforms. Look for one or two scenes in King Arthur and Camelot that show contrasting treatments of overall themes. For example, themes in one movie may adhere to a historic accounting, while the other movie may treat the same material in a romantic or sentimental fashion.

Student Prerequisites 

Students may be familiar with the story of King Arthur, but this is not required.

Accessibility Notes

Modify handouts, text, and utilize assistive technologies as needed. Provide preferential seating and captions for visual presentations. Allow extra time for task completion.

Engage

1. Write the words honor, chivalry, and courtly love on the board. Tell students they will be learning about the legend of King Arthur, exploring the ideas of honor, chivalry, and courtly love contained within his story. Ask students: What do you know about the words on the board? Record abbreviated definitions of the students’ responses.

Chivalry: very polite and helpful behavior, especially by a man toward a woman; a code of noble and polite behavior that was expected of a medieval knight

Courtly Love: an idealized form of love written about in medieval literature, where a knight devotes himself to a noblewoman

Honor: code of integrity and dignity (usually among men), in medieval society

2. Engage students in a discussion about how to behave honestly and fairly in friendships. Have students read and answer the questions from Part I of the resource. Explain that King Arthur was a medieval historical figure, whose life became a legend in subsequent centuries. Over time, the legend of King Arthur has come to be known for its tales of chivalry, honor, and courtly love.

3. Show students brief pre-selected scenes from the film King Arthur, which focuses on the history and politics of the time. Then, show brief pre-selected scenes from the film Camelot, based on the Broadway musical, which gives a more romantic perspective of the Camelot legend. (Note: Refer to the resource for a list of movies that are based on romantic myths or historical portrayals of King Arthur. Have the students watch at least one film from each list for homework. Tell them to be prepared to discuss the films in class.

4. After students have watched a film, engage students in Part II of the . Have students share the film they watched and discuss the questions in small groups.

Build

1. Tell students they will be participating in an inquiry project that will allow them to consider how the life and deeds of historic King Arthur evolved into a legend based on honor, chivalry, and courtly love. Distribute the resource, , and have students research and gather information about King Arthur. 

2. After conducting research, ask students to respond to the following essay question: Who is King Arthur? Share the resource for a list of questions to facilitate the essay writing process. 

3. Distribute the activity. Have students complete the activity and follow-up with a class discussion. Ask students: Are honor, chivalry, and romantic love modern ideals or ancient ones? When did these ideals start to fade? Explain that there are many versions of codes of honor and chivalry that have been handed down from medieval times. 

4. Have students brainstorm their own code of behavior. Distribute the resource, . Tell students they are going to brainstorm 5-10 rules of honor and chivalry to live by. 

5. Have students debate the benefits and sacrifices of using the 10 Commandments of Chivalry. Ask students: What do you think of the rules of honor? Which of the rules would apply in today’s world?

Apply

1. Tell students that they will now examine the Arthurian ideals of courtly love from a different perspective. Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (a queen of France and then of England) and her daughter, Countess Marie of Champagne strongly influenced the popularity of courtly love. Distribute and explain that the book The Art of Courtly Love was written at the request of Countess Marie. It is believed to describe Queen Eleanor’s court from the years 1170 to 1174 but was probably written several years after that time.

2. Have students consider and discuss why influential women of that time promoted these ideals. Ask students: Which rules do you agree or disagree with? Why? When students are finished reading the text allow extra time to explore the websites listed in . 

3. Have students brainstorm examples of contemporary TV shows or films that reflect notions of courtly love. Ask students: In these stories, does unrequited love make people happy or sad? What happens when two friends love the same person? How does that affect friendship?

4. Divide the class into small groups to devise and act out a dramatic scene. Tell students they will write a scene based on any version of the Arthurian tales they have learned. Students can also use any set of the main characters from the story or base it on something they’ve read about or seen in one of the movies from the lesson. There are some important rules that must be followed as students create the scene:

a. The Camelot characters stay true to the way they would behave (ex. Arthur can’t be cowardly or Guinevere and Lancelot dislike each other, etc.).

b. The scene has a problem or conflict that makes us think about the ideas of chivalry and courtly love (e.g., Lancelot loving Guinevere, but wanting to be loyal to Arthur).

c. The scene shows how the characters decide to deal with conflict.

Tell students they should divide the work evenly. Encourage students to brainstorm and storyboard, share their ideas as a group, and write down all their ideas, before they start writing the scene. Remind students that in the final presentation, each person should have at least a small part to read, even if just a narrator.

5. When students have discussed their scene, they should begin the writing process. Encourage students to use a collaborative tool like Google Docs for writing and sharing the scenes. Facilitate around the room during the students’ writing process to provide feedback. Use the following questions to prompt ideas for students that need support: What do you think was the most interesting part of the Arthur story? Which of the characters did you like the best? What made you like them? How would you behave if you were in a particular character’s position in life?

6. Print or digitally share a copy of the script for each student. Tell students at the end of class that they do not have to memorize their lines, but they should try to become as familiar with them as possible.

Reflect 

1. When students enter the class, give them time to rehearse their scripts and speak with their group.

2. Have each group act out their scene. After each scene is finished, engage students in a discussion about the scene. Ask students: What issue was explored? Did they agree with how the characters handled their conflicts? Did the characters behave honorably or dishonorably? Would they have behaved similarly or differently toward each character?

3. Review with students what they have learned about honor, chivalry, and courtly love. Ask students: What is honor, chivalry, and courtly love? How have your ideas about honorable behavior changed? If they have not changed, why not? 

4. Assess students’ knowledge with a written response. Show students one or two pre-selected scenes from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), a hilarious satire of King Arthur (King of the Britons), and his knights, in quest for The Holy Grail. Discuss with students this satirical view of Arthurian times. Ask students: What ideas does Monty Python and the Holy Grail consider that the more serious films did not? How do the ideas of chivalry, honor, and courtly love hold up when seen through the lens of modern times?