Character Clues
Character Analysis
Direct Characterization
This is White's go-to technique for telling us what characters are like, their motivations, their backgrounds, and what they're thinking. The omniscient, all-seeing narrator allows this to happen. He can see inside people's heads, and can get right at the nougaty center of their being, so we understand their characters more quickly.
Like when Kay first meets Merlyn, we are told that Kay "was not at all an unpleasant person really, but clever, quick, proud, passionate, and ambitious" (S.4.31). Similarly, we learn about Arthur that he "had never been unjustly treated, for one thing, so he was kind to other people" (Q.2.3).
It's telling versus showing, which isn't supposed to be the most-used tool in a writer's toolbox, but here it's all good… because White has a few other tools of characterization as well.
Actions
White rounds out his character development by showing us how characters behave, and letting the reader do some of the heavy lifting.
So, we get things like Kay picking on the sergeant for his big belly (S.20.6), which tells us that Kay can be kind of a jerk, and has a sharp tongue. Morgause's cruelty to her cat (Q.1.51-52), gives us a big clue that she's rather cold and mechanical. We also see Mordred stab Lamorak in the back (K.26.71): he's unchivalrous and devious. He's also quite showily duplicitous:
[Mordred] made a play-actor's bow, a low, luxurious simulacrum of humility—then, straightening himself up, he looked the King in the eye, and smiled, and went. (K.27.13)
Despite all of this, Arthur kisses Mordred gently (C.2.70), which emphasizes the King's kind heart and generous nature.
Speech
Different types of speech are used in the novels to distinguish between various social classes and ethnicities, and to suggest how characters feel about each other. Notice how Gawain speaks in a Scottish brogue even when he's lived in England long enough to lose his accent. In fact, he plays up the accent more to separate himself from the Englishmen and to linguistically proclaim his allegiance to the Gaels.
Ector, as a member of the provincial nobility, uses words like "eddication," and not the high speech of chivalry. And then there's this gem that Lance drops on Guen: "Your toes are like little pigs which went to market" (K.14.26). This charming observation gives us a glimpse of how the couple behaves in a tender, playful manner when alone.
Props
The items that characters have with them, or that they're associated with, work together with their actions and speech to create a cohesive picture.
Take Kay's bow, for instance. When he gets older, he takes to carrying a bow that's too big for him (the technical term is "over-bowed"), which brings out his arrogance. Archimedes, although an intelligent creature in his own right, functions as a sort of "prop" for Merlyn, signifying wisdom and intelligence.
And even the gown that Arthur wears toward the end of the novels, his "homely blue gown," tells us something about the man Arthur has become. "Homely" doesn't just mean "ugly," but also related to the comforts of home, so down-to-earth and comfortable. But it's also made of blue cloth, which was expensive and so only worn by royalty.