In 1960, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s “Camelot” took Broadway by storm. In that play, as Lancelot wends his way to King Arthur’s court, he sings of the attributes and virtues of a perfect knight: strength, courage, prowess in battle, and purity “with a will and a self-restraint that’s the envy of every saint.” He asks, “But where in the world is there in the world a man so extraordinaire?” then boldly and humorously answers, “C’est moi!”
Broadway’s Lancelot embodies a code of chivalry conceived hundreds of years ago, a model of virtue, honor, and right conduct that has long served as a staple of Western manhood. Chivalric ideals influenced the social behavior of America’s Founders and helped define the Victorian gentleman. Even today, the knight haunts our postmodern sensibilities, a ghost in our algorithmic age who still has the power to summon boys and men to his banner.
