In many renditions of the Arthurian legend, Guinevere gets lambasted for cheating on Arthur with Lancelot, while Arthur is celebrated as the faithful partner. But in some medieval versions of the Arthurian legend, Arthur himself is not quite so chaste and honourable as popular culture tends to imagine.
He too takes several lovers, and he acts rather terribly in his affairs. The love triangle of Guinevere, Arthur, and Lancelot is one of the most famous in western literature. It is depicted all the time in contemporary retellings of the Arthurian legend and has been rewritten in numerous ways.
A heavy burden of guilt is usually placed on Guinevere for betraying her husband, even if some versions, like the 90s movie First Knight try to redeem her by making Arthur much older or establishing a prior relationship with Lancelot. In the medieval versions, the Guinevere-Arthur-Lancelot love triangle tends to play out in the same way. Arthur and Guinevere are married after Arthur establishes himself as king of England and quashes the numerous rebellions that rise up against him.
In early versions, Guinevere is something of a prize won by a warrior king. The marriage ceremony is lavish and an important symbol of the newly glorious Camelot. In some of the earliest versions, Guinevere then betrays Arthur with Mordred and aids Mordred in the destruction of the kingdom. Guinevere is always placed in a position of guilt more or less heavily depending on the version for her role in this and cast as an adulterer.
She ends her life in a nunnery enacting perpetual penance for her adulterous affair. Something that tends to be left out of contemporary versions of the Arthurian legend, however, is that Arthur too had numerous love affairs and actually fathered several children outside of marriage. Now, his guilt for this act is less damning in a Christian light, as he was not yet married at the time of his affairs, but he is certainly not the chaste, honourable lover he is often made out to be.
