Arthur is a fine king and a good and honourable man. Guinevere is insecure, but she’s a chaste Christian and prides herself on her fidelity to her husband. Lancelet is the king’s champion, his best friend, and a paragon of virtue. Problem, though. The marriage between Arthur and Guinevere was arranged, and so, try as they might, their love is fundamentally platonic. They do their level best in bed, but Gwen can’t sustain a pregnancy and she’s getting worried about producing an heir. Arthur is too, and so he comes up with a solution. It hasn’t escaped his notice that Gwen and Lance are in the habit of mentally undressing one another every time there's a banquet, and he decides that it might be a good idea to set up a ménage-a-trois. The three of them are all drunk one night, so they climb into bed together. This troubles poor Gwen, as you might imagine, but she finds a way round it. She decides that as long as she keeps her eyes shut, she won’t know which of the two is shafting her, and her conscience will be clear. Oh, right. That’s OK, then. You’ve got to laugh, haven’t you?
It gets better.
Shortly after this interesting little development, Lancelet confesses to Morgaine that he has a problem. He’s realised that it wasn’t Guinevere he’s been lusting after all these years, but Arthur! Lancelet, bless his cotton surcoat, is gay! So then you start wondering just who was putting which bits where.
Well, blow me! No, better re-phrase that. Blimey!
4 comments:
AHAHAHA! You give the best "book reports"
I'm really enjoying it, Andrea. I just can't help picking up on the 'nuances' here and there.
Hahaha this is great! Sounds a little like Spamalot.
It's actually a thoughtful and clever re-telling of the Arthurian myth, Maria, seen through the eyes of the leading women. It's just that the writer occasionally leaves the door open to mischievous interpretation. Her plotting is better than her delivery, I would say.
Post a Comment