Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur features a focus on the negative effects of anything that does not conform to morality and Christian teaching. Malory portrays these elements of his story negatively, showing how they alter the mind and deny characters the ability to function properly in a chivalric, penitent society. The most common of these drug-like aspects of Malory's story is love. Confused with lust, love drives the conflict of the Arthurian narrative and harms both psychologically and physically those who fall prey to it. Lovesickness in the Middle Ages: The Viaticum and its Commentaries by Mary Wack discusses how lovesickness acts as an illness that wounds the soul, thus hindering spirituality. Although intensely pleasurable, love consumes the minds of those affected, making them unable to focus on God or reality. The adulterous relationship between Guinevere and Lancelot reveals the intense psychological and spiritual effects of lovesickness and how love takes away one's ability to exist in a penitent society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Lovesickness in Le Morte d'Arthur is quite widespread and affects many characters. Characters in Malory's fiction who claim to love someone tend to emphasize their sexual desires and show more symptoms of lust than the traditional notion of love. Those who experience love become completely enchanted and have intense sexual desires and excessive thoughts – which hinder their mental and physical abilities – effectively falling into lovesickness. This behavior supports Mary Wack's assertion that love acts as a disease of the brain "for it is a great desire with intense sexual desire and affliction of thoughts" (Wack 2) and arises from the "intense natural urge to expel a great excess of humors” (Wack 3). Wack's definition presents lovesickness as Malory does in his text: as a physical need of the body. Wack explains how this need then affects the mind, “this illness has more consequences serious to the soul, that is, excessive thoughts… because of the thoughts [and] concerns of the soul to find and possess what it desires” (Wack 3). disease which in turn has spiritual ramifications. The most notable depiction of lovesickness in Malory's text is the relationship between Guinevere and Lancelot. Not only do they have an intense sexual desire for each other, "the queen sent to called Sir Lancelot and bade him come to his chamber that night” (Malory 430), but their lovesickness inflicts psychological damage on both characters. Guinevere experiences intense mood swings, quickly moving from extreme hostility to affection for Lancelot. Throughout chapter 62, Guinevere switches between these two moods several times. Early in the chapter Malory describes the ease with which Guinevere's mood changes: “Queen Guinevere was angry. He constantly berated Sir Lancelot and called him a false knight. Then Sir Launcelot told the queen all that had happened… So the queen pardoned Sir Launcelot” (429). Although the queen forgives Lancelot and returns to love him, a short time later she becomes extremely angry with him again and wishes never to see him again, “she was angry beyond measure… and said: 'Thou false, treacherous knight! Make sure you leave my court and my room immediately! Be not so foolish, you false knight traitor, as ever to come into my presence again! (431), only to change his mind almost immediately and implores his knights to “spare no expenseuntil he is found" (432). Because of her intense feelings for Lancelot, Guinevere is unable to control her unstable emotions and quickly goes from loving to hating Lancelot because she doesn't truly understand what is happening to his mind and to her body. Guinevere's severe mood swings directed exclusively at her lover reveal how her lovesickness has affected her psychologically. While Guinevere's lovesickness manifests itself in intense mood swings, Lancelot experiences complete madness. Lancelot's madness comes from his lovesickness; he desires to have an erotic release with the person he loves, and if refuted or manipulated in any way, that release will be tainted and rejected by the body. After the night with Elaine , Lancelot realizes that he is not with the woman he loves, and his body rejects the liberation he had the night before, causing him to fall into a state of madness, “he knew well that he was not with the queen just the nightgown, like a madman” (431). Once Guinevere scolds him, Lancelot cannot bear the rejection and loss of his lover and loses control of his body, "felt such anguish and pain at her words that he fell to the ground in a faint" (431). Once he wakes from his fainting spell, Lancelot “jump[s] out of a bay window into the garden below… [running] onward, he knew not whither, and was as mad as a man had been. He ran like this for two years; no one ever recognized him” (431). The effects of both the false sexual release and the queen's rejection cause Lancelot to suffer a physical and mental breakdown in which he loses his entire identity. Along with these physical and psychological effects of Lancelot and Guinevere's lovesickness, the couple also displays the most prevalent symptom of the disease: excessive thinking. More than the simple desire to “find and possess” (Wack 3) what one desires, this aspect of the disease leads to insomnia and the total consumption of the mind and soul. Both Guinevere and Lancelot experience such symptoms, further revealing their lovesickness and its toll. Through Lancelot's sleep speech, Malory reveals how even as unconscious thoughts about his mistress pervade Lancelot's mind: "In his sleep he talked and chattered like a jay of the love that was between him and Queen Guinevere" (431 ). Guinevere also shows signs of overthinking when she cannot sleep due to her worry over Lancelot, "the queen went almost out of her mind, writhing and tossing like a madwoman, and unable to sleep for four or five hours" (430). This consumption of thought is then transcribed in the soul. According to Wack: “If the patient sinks into thoughts, the action of the soul and body is damaged since the body follows the soul in its action, and the soul accompanies the body in its passion” (3), meaning that lovesickness has a detrimental effect on the soul, contaminating it and leading to spiritual deterioration. If a mind is completely consumed with thoughts of one's lover due to lovesickness, then there is little room left to focus on anything else – a dangerous state in medieval society. Malory emphasizes the importance of Christian ideals and the fact that God is the main focus throughout the tale, and with Lancelot unable to think of anything other than Guinevere, he cannot fully dedicate himself to his faith, thus hindering him spiritually, "if Sir Lancelot does not had he been so focused on the queen in all his innermost thoughts and feelings while only outwardly appearing to serve God, no knight would have been able to surpass him in the search for the Holy Grail” (538). Guinevere, Lancelot shows how lovesickness causes total devotion to the object.