In the famous Arthurian legend, Lancelot is the best knight of King Arthur's Round Table and even the best knight in the world. Most authors portray Lancelot as a handsome, gallant hero with no faults. However, in The Once and Future King by T.H. White, we see Lancelot as a man who is full of conflicts, a man who is both Arthur's best friend and betrayer. A major trait of Lancelot is his need to be perfect and his strong sense of guilt over his failure to be perfect ultimately brings him failure and his ruin. The guilt he feels arises from his physical appearance given to him by God, his need to perform miracles to stay the best knight in the world, and his guilt about his love life all build up to his downfall.

In the Once and Future King, Lancelot is portrayed as an...