Chivalry in Arthurian Literature

If you have ever wondered whether the stories of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are true, I advise you to take a look at their characteristics. These men were the perfect gentlemen. Handsome and strong, gallant and courtly, and always mindful of what woman wanted, they truly were what woman wanted and still do. The Knights were expected to behave chivalrous at all times, even in battle they supposedly only fought another if it was a fair fight, and they had to take their enemy as prisoner, instead of killing them, if the rival simply asked of it. If these men had really lived and the stories about them are true, do you realize how many prisoners there would have been? There would be a sideline of a few hundred prisoners at every battle because they would rather live than die, and the Knights had to obey them! Also, since courtly ideals required that men obey the commands of a lady, can you imagine what kind of woman were at court? They would have had those men doing back flips at their whim and turned them into handsome slaves (as fun as this would have been). Even to the point of death, as written in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, it is wrong to flinch away. According to these rules, they had to stand before the strike that would end their life and not move a muscle, but bear this “honor” as a true Knight of the Round Table should. So, after taking all of this into consideration, do you think these Knights truly lived?