"Camelot" Through the Songs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Getting married

"You mean that a king who fought a dragon,
Hacked him in two and fixed his wagon,
Goes to be wed in terror and distress?
Yes!

A warrior who's so calm in battle
Even his armor doesn't rattle
Faces a woman petrified with fright?
Right!"

Arthur's wedding to Guenevere is planned for the next day, but the couple has never met. Arthur sings this after the arrival of Guenevere's carriage is reported.

Answer: Finding true love

"Where are the simple joys of maidenhood?
Where are all those adoring daring boys?
Where's the knight pining so for me
he leaps to death in woe for me?
Oh where are a maiden's simple joys?

Shall I not be on a pedestal,
Worshipped and competed for?
Not be carried off, or better st'll,
Cause a little war?
Where are the simple joys of maidenhood?"

These lyrics were changed for the movie version to:
"Shall I never be disputed for
Or on any minstrel's lips
Never have my face recruited for
Launching countless ships"

Apparently the change was requested by Vanessa Redgrave who was cast as Guenevere in the movie.

Answer: The weather

"A law was made a distant moon ago here:
July and August cannot be too hot.
And there's a legal limit to the snow here
In Camelot.
The winter is forbidden till December
And exits March the second on the dot.
By order, summer lingers through September
In Camelot."

This description of the weather appears to work, as Guenevere becomes much more positive about the marriage than she was before hearing the song.

Answer: Physical prowess

"A knight of the Table Round should be invincible,
Suceed where a less fantastic man would fail.
Climb a wall no one else can climb,
Cleave a dragon in record time,
Swim a moat in a coat of heavy iron mail.
No matter the pain, he ought to be unwinceable,
Impossible deeds should be his daily fare.
But where in the world
Is there in the world
A man so *extraordinaire*?

C'est moi! C'est moi, I'm forced to admit.
'Tis I, I humbly reply.
That mortal who
These marvels can do,
C'est moi, c'est moi, 'tis I."

Despite his claim to "humbly reply" this is more boastful than humble.

Answer: Lusty

"Tra la! It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev'ryone goes
Blissfully astray.
Tra la! It's here!
That shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts
Merrily appear!
It's May! It's May!
That gorgeous holiday
When ev'ry maiden prays that her lad
Will be a cad!
It's mad! It's gay!
A libelous display!
Those dreary vows that ev'ryone takes,
Ev'ryone breaks.
Ev'ryone makes divine mistakes
The lusty month of May!"

In this scene Guenevere meets Lancelot for the first time. She considers him too serious and too proud.

Answer: No

In this song Lancelot describes seeing Guenevere in each of the four seasons and concludes:
"Oh, no! not in spring-time!
Summer, winter or fall!
No, never could I leave you at all!"

Answer: The Seven Deadly Virtues

"Take courage-now there's a sport
An invitation to the state of rigor mort
And purity-a noble yen
And very restful every now and then
I find humility means to be hurt
It's not the earth the meek inherit, it's the dirt
Honesty is fatal, it should be taboo
Diligence-a fate I would hate
If charity means giving, I give it to you
And fidelity is only for your mate"

The three incorrect answers come from other Lerner and Loewe musicals. "It's a Bore" is from "Gigi"; "Just You Wait" and "I'm an Ordinary Man" are from "My Fair Lady".

Answer: Watching television

After whistling, singing, and dancing don't help to cheer them up Arthur and Guenevere conclude:
"What else do the simple folk do
To help them escape when they're blue?
They sit around and wonder what royal folk would do
And that's what simple folk do"

According to my mother, when she went to see "Camelot" a bird got into the theater and flew around the stage disrupting the performance until it was chased out. When the actors began whistling in "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" the audience was afraid that the bird would hear it and come back!

Answer: grief and pain

"The silence at last was broken!
We flung wide our prison door.
Ev'ry joyous word of love was spoken.

And now there's twice as much grief,
Twice the strain for us;
Twice the despair,
Twice the pain for us
As we had known before."

After she finishes singing, Mordred bursts into the room and arrests them for treason, adding another layer of pain and despair.

Answer: One Brief Shining Moment

"Where once it never rained till after sundown,
By eight a.m. the morning fog had flown...
Don't let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment that was known
As Camelot."

Even at the end, Arthur's description of Camelot was still about the weather!

"One Brief Shining Moment: Remembering Kennedy" by William Manchester was published in 1983.
"Profiles in Courage" and "Why England Slept" were both written by Kennedy. They were published before "Camelot" and do not appear in the lyrics.