If Chandler was thinking of making Marlowe an Arthurian hero,
I wonder which model he had in mind.
Arthur? Hardly a model. Ineffectual at solving a domestic
situation. Often cranky. Very likely did not satisfy his wife
sexually (too busy with work and hanging out with the
boys).
Launcelot? Impulsive, unprincipled, gains a few points for
satisfying his best friend's wife sexually, but loses them
for being a traitor. Lots of points for valo(u)r.
The closest seems Galahad, especially as seen by Tennyson,
whose poetry Chandler must have known:
How sweet are looks that ladies bend On whom their favours
fall! From them I battle till the end, To save from shame and
thrall: But all my heart is drawn above, My knees are bow'd
in crypt and shrine: I never felt the kiss of love, Nor
maiden's hand in mine. More bounteous aspects on me beam, Me
mightier transports move and thrill; So keep I fair thro'
faith and prayer A virgin heart in work and will.
Best,
MrT
=====
"The skill of man is unequal to the formation of a new man
from old materials, but the battered tenement may, with care,
be long sustained by props" -- From Becklard's
Physiology.
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