# Guinevere — Idylls of the King character guide

> Guinevere in Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Queen Guinevere, Lady Guinevere, Audience of Guinevere

**First appearance:** 0002-the-coming-of-arthur

## Snapshot

Arthur's queen, the pearl of beauty whose large violet eyes and scornful smile conceal a love for Lancelot that she calls her own, not Arthur's.

## Who they are

Guinevere rules at Camelot as the Queen of Beauty, gracious to strangers and quick to laugh at those who bore her. She mocks Arthur as a faultless king who cares not for her, a moral child without craft to rule, and claims she belongs to Lancelot save by the bond of marriage. Her scorn for perfection and her hunger for a love with a touch of earth drive the secret that will hollow out the Round Table from within.

## Relationships

### [Pelleas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/characters/pelleas)

_psychological_

Guinevere cruelly toys with the naive Pelleas's affections, leading to his disillusionment and bitterness.

### [Pelleas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/characters/pelleas)

_psychological_

Guinevere cruelly toys with the naive Pelleas's affections, leading to his disillusionment and bitterness.

### [Pelleas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/characters/pelleas)

_psychological_

Guinevere cruelly toys with the naive Pelleas's affections, leading to his disillusionment and bitterness.

## In the story

### [Idylls of the King](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/idylls-of-the-king)

Arthur's queen, whose affair with Lancelot contributes to the dissolution of the kingdom.

### [The Coming of Arthur](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/the-coming-of-arthur)

Daughter of Leodogran, fairest on earth, she marries Arthur and pledges love to the death.

### [The Marriage of Geraint](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/the-marriage-of-geraint)

The Queen, who loves Enid and arrays her in splendor; a rumor of her guilty love for Lancelot causes Geraint's suspicion.

### [Balin and Balan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/balin-and-balan)

Queen who grants Balin the crown cognizance; seen in a garden with Lancelot, prompting Balin's suspicion and despair.

### [Merlin and Vivien](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/merlin-and-vivien)

The Queen, who is deceived by Vivien's feigned innocence and allows her to stay at court.

### [Lancelot and Elaine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/lancelot-and-elaine)

Admits jealousy to Lancelot; later feels bitter as rumors spread about Lancelot and Elaine.

### [The Holy Grail](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/the-holy-grail)

Wails and shrieks at the Grail's appearance, crying that madness has come for their sins.

### [Pelleas and Ettarre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/pelleas-and-ettarre)

Queen of Camelot, whose beauty Pelleas compares to Ettarre's; she questions Pelleas after his fight with Lancelot.

### [The Last Tournament](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/the-last-tournament)

The Queen watches Arthur depart from her bower, sighing, and later breaks up the revels, with pain in her bosom.

### [Guinevere](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/chapters/guinevere)

Fled to Almesbury, weeping and haunted by guilt; recalls her affair with Lancelot and Modred's discovery.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/characters/guinevere
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/idylls_of_the_king_se/characters