Symbol Analysis
There's a lot of heat in this poem, and we're not just talking about Guenevere's hotness. At the start of the poem, she's blushing so hard it's like her face is on fire, then there's a lot of discussion of hell, and then Guenevere reminds her listeners of the heat of the day when Launcelot defended her honor through trial by combat and the flame everyone wanted to burn her in for committing adultery. Fire can mean a lot of different things in western literature, from hell to physical lust. Let's take a closer look at all this heat …
- Line 6: It's obviously a metaphor when the narrator describes the blush on Guenevere's cheek as "burn[ing]," since her face isn't literally on fire. That would really suck, though.
- Line 9: This is another metaphor, since again, Guenevere's face is not literally going up in smoke.
- Line 147: Generally speaking you talk about "sear[ing]" a steak, not your "conscience." This is another metaphor.
- Lines 216-218: Here Guenevere is talking about a literal fire for the first time: during the trial by combat, she is tied to a stake. If Launcelot loses the duel, the other knights will waste no time in burning her as an adulteress. What happened to the chivalrous Knights of the Round Table? Sheesh.