Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Arthur

Shmoopers, he's the king. Need we say more?

And yet, despite being the protagonist, Arthur doesn’t show up in many of the Idylls. This is the story of how his kingdom disintegrated because of the actions and beliefs of other characters. As his knights’ moral compass, though, and the person whose principles characters like Tristram and Vivien rail against, Arthur remains a strong presence in the poem even when he’s not physically there.