The Knight - Jacob

**The Knight** is a fictional character found in The Canterbury Tales, originally written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer. He is the father of the Squire, whom he shares high social standing from their aristocracy. The Knight is a soldier for the king who partook in many battles across different countries with the goal of converting the whole nation to Christianity.

## Description

The Knight wears a rough tunic and rusted chainmail, having recently returned from a journey. He is chivalrous, truthful, honorable, generous, and courteous, all being ideals he loves. The Knight is strong, having fought in the Crusades, and wise for having survived the many battles. The use of these positive adjectives by Chaucer calling the knight truthful, honorable, generous, courteous, wise, and specifically being "truly perfect," paired with no negative critique that Chaucer demonstrates towards other characters shows the extremely positive viewpoint Chaucer had towards the Knight.

## Status and Class .....

The Knight's social status is high, having a substantial amount of money and possibly being a landowner. His social class is a unique aristocracy class. His class is comparable to nobles socially, but working for the king puts him below nobility and above peasants.

## The Knight's Tale

### Part 1

In Ancient Greece, Theseus attacks and conquers the town of Thebes after four women inform him of Creon's, the ruler of Thebes, misdeeds. In the process of avenging the women, cousins Arcite and Palamo, who were knights in Thebes, are imprisoned by Theseus in a tower in Athens. One morning after years of imprisonment, Palamon sees Emelye, Theseus's sister-in-law, whom he falls in love with, in the process waking Arcite who also falls in love with her which leads to arguing and ends with both realizing they are still in jail. Later, Arcite is released from prison but is banned from the city of Athens with help from a friend of Theseus. Arcite believes Palamon to be better off because he can see Emelye every day from the tower, while Palamon believes Arcite to be better off because he is free. The Knight at this point breaks away from the story, asking the other pilgrims "Who hath the worse, Arcite or Palamoun?"

### Part 2

Later in time, the messenger of the gods Mercury comes to Arcite in a dream telling him to go back to Athens. Arcite, who is now sickened severely from being lovesick, believes he can sneak into the city with a disguise. This turns out to be successful, earning a job as a page to be close to Emelye, but not close enough. One day he enters the woods and sings about his conflict, which leads to Palamon finding him after escaping from his seven years of imprisonment. Each claims a right to Emelye, but Arcite challenges Palamon to a duel the next day. The battle commences the next day with each attacking the other, but Theseus finds the two warriors fighting in the woods, ending the conflict. Theseus wants them dead, while the women want them saved. Theseus decides to set up a battle fifty weeks from that day, each to bring one-hundred warriors to fight with, the winner gets Emelye's hand in marriage.

### Part 3

Theseus constructs a gigantic stadium for the battle, and three temples for the gods. One for Mars, god of war, Venus, goddess of love, and Diana, goddess of chastity. Large amounts of observers gather for the battle, and Palamon and Arcite both arrive with outstanding armies. Palamon goes to the temple of Venus for a blessing, receiving a sign he will get Emelye's hand. Emelye goes to the temple of Diana, receiving a sign she must be married to one of the two. Arcite goes to the temple of Mars, receiving a sign he will win the battle. The scenery shifts to the gods, with Saturn, Venus's father, assuring that Palamon will end with Emelye.

### Part 4

After a feast, spectators gather in the stadium, then the evenly matched armies enter. Theseus speaks the rules, and the battle commences. Both sides fight well, but Arcite takes an opportunity and wins the battle with his sword to Palamon's neck. Theseus states Arcite's winning, while Venus finds sorrow in her hero's loss. Saturn then steps in, causing an earthquake which causes Arcite's horse to crush his chest which leads to his death. Before death, he tells Emelye of his love, and to marry Palamon if she marries another because he is worthy. Theseus, Palamon, and Emelye are inconsolable. Theseus is the first to learn the wisdom of men must live and die and death is normal. Years later, Emelye and Theseus learn that the gods ordain that all must die and stop mourning, living and enjoying a long and happy marriage.

## Symbolism

* The story told is a Romantic story, so aspects of knighthood and chivalry not present in Ancient Greece are present.
* The story contains aspects of Fortunes wheel, as one character experiences a positive experience, another experiences a negative. Like the women getting avenged by Theseus while Arcite and Palmon get imprisoned, or Arcite being freed while Palamon stays imprisoned.
* The story takes place in Ancient Greece, while the gods are portrayed in their Roman forms.
* Depictions of the Gods temples display only negatives of their domains, adding to the idea that the gods only cause dismay in peoples' lives because they have their own set of goals and wants.
* Chaucer depicts a stable form of power through Theseus. Theseus acts like a dictator on his own, while the women or Theseus's friend act as a check and balance to his power and ideologies, creating a stable system.

## Middle English

Middle English is the original format The Canterbury Tales was written in. Middle English is a variety of English which developed from Late Old English and was in popular use from 1150-1500. Middle English formed the basis for Modern English spelling techniques even though pronunciation varies greatly between the two.

## Works Cited

Freudenrich, Ph.D. Craig. “How Knights Work.” *Knights and Feudal Society - Knights and Feudal Society | HowStuffWorks*, HowStuffWorks, 22 Jan. 2008, history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/knight1.htm.

“General Prologue.” *From "The Canterbury Tales": General Prologue (Modern english and middle english)*, www.librarius.com/canttran/gptrfs.htm.

“The Canterbury Tales.” *The Prologue*, www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/the-canterbury-tales/summary-and-analysis/the-prologue.

“The Canterbury Tales.” *SparkNotes*, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/character/the-knight/.

“The Canterbury Tales.” *Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400) "The Canterbury Tales" (in middle english and modern english)*, www.librarius.com/cantales.htm.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The Prologue". *cliffnotes.com*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "SparkNotes: The Canterbury Tales: Analysis of Major Characters". *sparknotes.com*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chaucer. *The Canterbury Tales. pp. Lines 45-46.*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chaucer. *The Canterbury Tales. pp. Line 68.*
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chaucer. *The Canterbury Tales. pp. Line 73.*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "How Knights Work". *Knights and Feudal Society.*
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chaucer. "The Knight's Tale". *pp. Lines 1-496*
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chaucer. "The Knight's Tale". *pp. Lines 497-1022*
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chaucer. "The Knight's Tale". *pp. Lines 1023-1624*
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chaucer. "The Knight's Tale". *pp. Lines 1625-2250*