The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

One of the primary aims of The Story of King Arthur and His Knights is to present the reader with moral lessons. Pyle portrays Arthur as the shining example of masculinity: “the King was at once the looking-glass of all knighthood and likewise the very fountain-head of honor” (192), and the narrator explicitly connects the reader to Arthur. For instance, the narrator says, “I would wish that you might win your battle as King Arthur won his battle” (92). Not only does the narrator hope the reader will succeed, but also offers advice on how to behave like Arthur. Telling stories in order to teach moral lessons is called writing in a didactic manner.

What Pyle, and his narrator, strive to teach the reader is how to behave like a “true belted knight” (109), or in a chivalric manner. The reader fighting on the side of “Truth” and “Faith” will cause them to be “as well able to fight all your battles as did that noble hero of old [...] Arthur” (95). Another behavior that Arthur exhibits that the reader should emulate is to always ask: “What more is there that I may do to make the world better” (122).