1. The Knight’s
Tale
Canterbury Tales
British Literature

2. I. Elements to observe in “The
Knight’s Tale”
 “joy follows sorrow” – the idea that life is truly a balance
of good and bad, positive and negative
 Fate – the idea that some higher power is in control of
human characters
 Courtly love – love as physical pain
 “Chivalry” – The Code of Knights
 “Competition and Rivalry” – among men

3. II. Symbols
 Symbols are objects, characters, figures,
and colors used to represent abstract ideas
or concepts
– Springtime
– Clothing
– Red and White; Green
– Animals – Wrathful Lion, Tiger, Wild Boars
– Blood

4. III. Courtly love
 Conception of nobly and chivalrously
expressing love and admiration
 Secret and between members of the
nobility
 Not between husband and wife
 Balance between desire and spirituality
 “lady on a pedestal”

5. Courtly love
 Illicit and morally elevating, passionate
and disciplined, humiliating and exalting,
human and transcendent.
 Idolization
 The lover accepts the independence of his
mistress and tries to make himself worthy
of her by acting bravely and honorably and
by doing whatever deeds she may desire.

6. The object of attraction may be a married
woman; and the goal was not always
physical pleasure.
Marriage and love not a sin, but elevating.
The woman had POWER – she enabled
spiritual and moral growth.

7. IV. Stages of Courtly Love:
 Attraction to the lady, usually via
eyes/glance
 Worship of the lady from afar
 Declaration of passionate devotion
 Virtuous rejection by the lady
 Renewed wooing with oaths of virtue and
eternal fealty

8. Stages of Courtly Love
 Moans of approaching death from
unsatisfied desire (and other physical
manifestations of lovesickness)
 Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's
heart
 Consummation of the secret love
 Endless adventures and subterfuges
avoiding detection

9. V. Image of Women
 Emily
* the gazed object
* a prize to men
 The Theban women & the court
women
* pleaders

10. Trial By Battle
 trial by battle was when two nobles fought,
usually until one of them died.
 the winner was assumed innocent because God
would only protect an innocent person
 only noblemen had the right to trial by battle
 noblewomen could choose any champion to
fight on her behalf
 trial by ordeal and trial by battle were
common ways of deciding if a person was
innocent or guilty but were outlawed later in
the Middle Ages

11. Plot Summary
 Theseus’s returning from Amazon
 Discovery of Arcite and Palamon
 Courtly love to Emily
 Escape of the two imprisoned
knights
 The encounter of Arcite and Palamon
 A just duel between the two
knights
 The final destiny of the knights

12. Courtly Love
 Having quarrels
* Arcite: “yours is no more than a religious
felling: mine is real love, love of human
being.” (p.89)
* Arcite: :”Love is a mighter law, upon my
soul, than any made by any mortal rule.”
(p.89)
 Arcite’s modified name -- Philostrato
 Palamon’s escape
 Fighting in the wood
 Competing in the arena
 Arcite’s contribution to love

13. God’s Power v.s. Human Will
 Human being’s will
* praying to gods for fulfilling their
wishes
Palamon  Venus, praying for winning
Emily
Emily  Diana, praying for keeping her
virginity
Arcite  Mars, praying for achieving
victory in the duel

14. * succeeding in pleading to save lives
Theban women  husbands
Pirithous  Arcite
Court women  Arcite and Palamon
 God’s Power
* holding power over human being’s
destiny
* quarreling over the winner
The dispute between Venus and Mars

15. Questions
 Who is in the worse situation,
Arcite
or Palamon?
* Arcite, who is free, but will never
see his beloved.
* Palamon, will see his lover
everyday, but is
imprisoned

16. * Death with good-name is the most
honorable
Theseus: “And, certainly, a man gains most honor in
dying in his excellence and flower, when he is sure of his
good name; then he has done no shame to his friend, or to
himself. And his friend ought to be happier for his death
when his breath is given up with honor, then when his name
is faded with age; for then his prowess is all forgotten.”
(p.191)
Do Now: What is Theseus’ message to Palamon and Emily
in this excerpt of his final speech?

17.  Each of the final events in the story is
punctuated by great pageantry.
 What was a simple duel between Arcite
and Palamon becomes a gala event with
the construction of a massive coliseum for
two armies to wage war on one another.
 Intervention of the gods for the two nobles.

18. Part IVAnalysis
 The Knight's Tale adheres to traditional
values of chivalric, knightly honor in
which there are strict codes of behavior
which one must follow.
 As the Knight sees it, by dying in honor,
we should be glad for those who so die.

19. Theme
 The main theme of the tale is the instability
of human life—joy and suffering are never
far apart from one another, and nobody is
safe from disaster.
 When one person’s fortunes are up,
another person’s are down.

20.  Characters are always subject to dramatic
reversals of fortune.
 Theseus argues that excessive mourning
over disaster is inappropriate.
 Suggests that some kind of moral order
underlies the apparently random mishaps
and disasters of the narrative.

21.  The moral questions the tale poses seem
more important than the qualities of the
individual characters.
 “What is this world? What does man ask
to have?”
(p. 175, line 1919) – Arcite’s speech before
he dies.

22.  Characters exist only to be moved by the
events of the story: to be imprisoned and
set free whenever the plot demands, or to
fall in love at first sight when it is
dramatically convenient.
 Even the characters acknowledge their lack
of free will within the story – by praying to
each god in Part III.

23. Theseus’ final speech…
 eloquently relates the events we have
witnessed to a predestined view of the
universe and of man’s place within its
order.
 The statements he makes are sober and
realistic.
– “Look at the oak … all these things have an
end” (p.189).
– “In the case of man and woman … all go that
same way” (189).
– “It is wisdom to accept willingly what we may
not avoid” (190).

24. Paganism
 All this represents a Pagan philosophy,
rather than a Christian outlook.
 This is a tale of Pagan times that we have
been following.
 The ways of life resume their course after
we die (Nature).

25. Emily’s marriage to Palamon
 Theseus prepares to make one joy out of
two sorrows in the process of marrying
Emily to Palamon.
 The tale ends on a note of fulfilled
happiness as the Knight invokes the
blessing of the pilgrims in the form of a
solemn and appropriate final ‘Amen’.

26. Closing Question:
 Does the concept of destiny change in
the end of the Knight’s tale? How
does it change?

27. Questions
 Who is in the worse situation, Arcite
or Palamon?
* Arcite, who is free, but will never see his beloved.
* Palamon, will see his lover everyday, but is
imprisoned
 Does the concept of destiny change in the
end of the Knight’s tale? How does it
change?