Examples Of Chivalry In The Knight's Tale

Throughout the Middle Ages, chivalric romances were one of the most common genres of storytelling. These stories often depicted a chivalrous hero, who through a combination of honor, divine plans, and fierce combat, won the hand of a beautiful woman. One example of such stories is “The Knight’s Tale”, found in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. “The Knight’s Tale” features many of the traditional elements of chivalric romances, such as a love triangle with two men in love with one woman, an elderly authority figure, involvement from gods or divine powers, conventions of courtly lovers, fierce combat, and a tragic ending. Additionally, “The Knight’s Tale” places a large emphasis on chivalry and honor, as well as on justice, and so exemplifies many of the most important values of
However, not all the stories of The Canterbury Tales conform to the literature norms of the time. In fact, in the story “The Miller’s Tale”, Chaucer sets out to satirize “The Knight’s Tale”, and in doing so ridicules an entire genre of literature. By reversing the story elements that portray a sense of honor and chivalry in “The Knight’s Tale” to create the raunchy comedy, “The Miller’s Tale”, Chaucer satirizes the entire genre of medieval chivalric romance, a revolutionary move for his time period. At the cores of both “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Miller’s Tale” lie love triangles, each consisting of two men who are both in love with a woman. In “The Knight’s Tale”, the knights Arcite and Palamon are both in love with Emily. Through the Conventions of Courtly Lovers, the two men enter into chivalrous combat to win Emily’s hand in marriage. All parties