Notes on Might vs. Right

Answer the questions below using your notes on Might vs. Right:

1. Why does Arthur believe in Right over Might?
2. How does Lancelot uphold Arthur's ideal?
3. What problems is Arthur facing in trying to implement his plan for Right?


- Might: using your power to do anything you want
- Right: doing good actions because they are right to do
     "I don't think things ought to be done because you are able to do them. I think they should be done because you ought to do them." (246)
     "Might is only to be used for Right," Arthur decides (248)
- Arthur wants to create an order of knights who use Might for Right--this is the Round Table

- the Orkney faction (Gawaine and his brothers) "don't get hold of the idea as [Arthur] wanted them to do" (332)
     - they are not convinced of Arthur's ideal
     - Arthur blames Morgause, their mother
- Lancelot wants to fight for this ideal (316) and uphold the rules of chivalry
     - fights Sir Carados to save Gawaine
     - always tries for a fair fight and always grants mercy when asked, even when he thinks they don't deserve it (361)
- The "choleric barons" represent the old order of Might
     - thought Arthur's  new idea was absurd and his followers "degenerate"
     - they hated Lancelot because they thought he was a threat to their "ancient powers"
     - "they fought him with as much unscrupulousness and hatred as if he had been an antichrist, and they truly believed themselves to be defending the right." (355)

- The problem of using Might for Right:
     - "people ought not to take advantage of weakness (...) but these knights are turning it into a competitive thing" (365)
     - Arthur's dilemma: "in the effort to impose a world of peace, he found himself up to his elbows in blood." (364)