The Knight's Tale Essay
The Knight’s Tale is a romantic poem that was adapted from Boccaccio’s Teseida, and the plot concerns the rivalry of cousins Arcite and Palemon who vie for the love of Emilye, sister to Theseus’s wife, Hipolyta. The cousins battled each other for the right to marry Emilye, and while Arcite won the battle, there was an earthquake which killed him. Palemon eventually marries Emilye several years after Arcite was killed. While this plot is the main feature of the poem, but does not sustain close scrutiny. A reasonable understanding of conventionalism requires the understanding that the experience of the idealizing imagination is no different than that of realistic observation. While the themes of Chaucer’s poems all seem to lean toward the same
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Thus rit this duc, thus rit this conquerour,
And in his hoost of chivalrie the flour,
Til that he cam to Thebes and alighte
Faire in a feeld, ther as he thoughte to fighte (Knight’s Tale, 975-84).
This passage is short, but in it Chaucer bestows power that suggests a function that is even deeper than mere ornamentation. This passage links itself to many others throughout the poem others that express Theseus’ superiority in war and chivalry. Even the opening of the poem, the compressed but extremely powerful description of how Theseus conquered the Amazons and married Ypolita, is devoted to how Theseus is chivalrous, but also a superior warrior. Even the texture of the mourning women of Thebes who plead for Theseus to help them, and acts as a pseudo-prologue to the Knight’s Tale, gives the audience a sense of how Theseus will be as a ruler, conqueror, judge, and a man of pity. The grandeur of the lists and Arcite’s funeral is also closely associated with Theseus’ …show more content…
But which cousin is more contemplative, or admirable? If it is Palemon, the ending is poetic justice, because he was the man who prayed to the goddess of love for victory, which proves that love conquers all. Conversely, it would be irony if Arcite won, for he prayed to the god of war for victory in battle, which would show that physical prowess is stronger than love. Palemon is the cousin who marries Emilye, thus the ending is a poetic justice. However, if they would not have prayed to the Gods and fought, Arcite would not have needed to
Thus rit this duc, thus rit this conquerour,
And in his hoost of chivalrie the flour,
Til that he cam to Thebes and alighte
Faire in a feeld, ther as he thoughte to fighte (Knight’s Tale, 975-84).
This passage is short, but in it Chaucer bestows power that suggests a function that is even deeper than mere ornamentation. This passage links itself to many others throughout the poem others that express Theseus’ superiority in war and chivalry. Even the opening of the poem, the compressed but extremely powerful description of how Theseus conquered the Amazons and married Ypolita, is devoted to how Theseus is chivalrous, but also a superior warrior. Even the texture of the mourning women of Thebes who plead for Theseus to help them, and acts as a pseudo-prologue to the Knight’s Tale, gives the audience a sense of how Theseus will be as a ruler, conqueror, judge, and a man of pity. The grandeur of the lists and Arcite’s funeral is also closely associated with Theseus’ …show more content…
But which cousin is more contemplative, or admirable? If it is Palemon, the ending is poetic justice, because he was the man who prayed to the goddess of love for victory, which proves that love conquers all. Conversely, it would be irony if Arcite won, for he prayed to the god of war for victory in battle, which would show that physical prowess is stronger than love. Palemon is the cousin who marries Emilye, thus the ending is a poetic justice. However, if they would not have prayed to the Gods and fought, Arcite would not have needed to