The King With The Lion (Yvain) pg.353-380

In The Knight With The Lion, Chrétien further defines what it means to be truly honorable as a knight outside of the superficial realm of tournaments and aimless adventure. A theme that stands out in the text and proves to be most beneficial in the true honor of its main character is humility. At the beginning of the text, Yvain is portrayed as a fiery juvenile knight errant, who although acting in good cause, betrays a self-centered, attention-gaining flaw in his first action in the text. Spurred on by the words of the knight Kay, Yvain leaves in the middle of the night so he can get to the adventure first and claim the honor for himself. Eventually he does gain the repute of having won over the land of the well and the stone, and even knocks Kay off his horse, seemingly boosting his honor in full circle. However immediately upon this spike in respect, he abandons his wife and castle to go on jousting matches with Gawain, which turns out to be disastrous for both Yvain himself and Laudine. The main conflict of the story reaches its climax as Laudine's messenger confronts Yvain in front of the court, displaying the facade of great honor Yvain built around him crumbling. Chrétien shows us the true cost of an overblown image without true merit through Yvain's nervous breakdown and complete loss of humanity. Yvain eventually has a turnaround and slays a serpent fighting with a lion which represents Yvain beginning to overcome his insanity, his vanity, and his wild youth. The lion is personified to be the pure image of loyalty and humility, following Yvain's every order, never being presumptuous to attack or leave his side without Yvain allowing it. And in every battle that Yvain undertakes from there on out in the story (all of which are selfless battles for others), the lion helps him overcome his adversary. This is a symbol of humility helping us overcome difficulties and be more capable of helping others. By the end of the story, Yvain pays no attention to the mocking words of the sweatshop-court, a stark difference from the effects of Kay's words earlier in the story, and is not distracted by the challenge of fighting the two demons, but is instead forced to undertake it so he could be able to leave and help the younger sister. The final display of humility before the end of the story is portrayed between the two most respected knights in King Arthur's court, proving it is a most honorable trait.