Essay, Research Paper: Hic Jacet Arthurus Rex Quandam Rexque...

Nicholas Sine
English Honors
Period 4
March 9, 1998
Hic jacet Arthurus Rex quandam Rexque futurus
" The past is gone; the present is full of confusion; and the future scares
hell out of me! " --David Lewis Stein. Like Mr. Stein, Arthur, from T.B. White's
The Once and Future King, is horrified by his destiny. Whether it is one day into
the future, or the day he dies, Arthur is terrified. Arthur can't handle the truth
pertaining to his present and future life.
Arthur was afraid he could do nothing to control his life. Arthur liked to let
others make choices for him because of this. Being a king gave him a lot of
control in many different events, however the decisions pertaining to his life
made him nervous. Arthur let his dad make a very large choice for him. He was
married on his father's consent. Most people would somehow punish their
spouse if they found that they were sleeping with another person. Arthur knew
that Lancelot and Guenever were lovers and he waited for Mordred to take
action on it. Arthur tried to find out as little as possible about Guenever and
Lancelot. The way he looked at it, if he waited for somone else to start
prosecuting Lancelot and guenever, it was one less decision for him to worry
about. Arthur does not want to know what will happen in his future because he
fears there is nothing he can do to change it.
" 'What is confounding me,' exclaimed the magician, pulling out his
hair in tufts, 'is that I can't remember whether it is in the future or in
the past.' 'Never mind about it.' said Arthur. 'I don't like knowing
the future anyway. I had much rather you didn't worry about it,
because, it only worries me.' "
Here, Merlyn tries to give him great wisdom that no one else can have and he
turns it down. Knowing what is destin to happen yells in his face that he is not in
control anymore. Arthur does not really want to know how he will die; it terrifies
him. Arthur panics from fear of failure. Faliure is probably the main reason
Arthur is scared of his future. Arthur is very indecisive. He gets extremely
stressed over any decisions. You can tell this becasue he never makes any
really strong decesions. Arthur is afraid that he may make a bad decision.
Arthur has accomplished everything and lost nothing. When he was
young he was second best compared to his brother. Now he is the king and
essentially the best. To most, Arthur's life would be ideal, but to him it was
horrifying. Arthur's life was one big game. He could never loose so he kept
betting it all. Now he was afraid that just once he will not win, and loose
everything.