Canterbury Tales: Knight's Tale

"The Knight's Tale," a story authored by Geoffrey Chaucer and among the stories found in
The Canterbury Tales, ideally and principally gives a tale based on the quest for love powers
associated with it. As seen in many literary books and other works of literature from
prominent writers and playwrights such as Homer and William Shakespeare, the quest for
love, especially with most of the profound characters such as Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet”
and Achilles in "The Iliad," knows no bound. Such love is always believed to transcend
everything else, including familial bonds, comradeship, and honor. The above is highly
exemplified in “The Knight’s Tale” through the actions and the sentimentalities of the two
main protagonists, Palamoun and Arcite. The two unfortunate protagonists, who are knights,
get imprisoned by King Theseus and had no hope of ever being ransomed out or released.
They fall in love with the same woman named Emily, a princess of Athens, while at the
prison towers. Their quest for love for Emily does not succeed entirely since the two Knights
from Thebes had made an oath to each other of supporting both of them. This quest for love
is depicted through a conflict of two different love systems, courtly one, and the chivalry
love. It shows how this conflict between the two affects the quest of love as evidential from
the character traits of the two protagonists, Palamoun and Arcite. Chivalry was the moral
code that knights were supposed to adhere to in their relationship with each other. While
courtly love in this era refers to the love knights had to women of higher ranks and nobility,
which are usually higher in rank than the knights. It referred to the ritualistic admiration of a
lady of the more senior class, which is not related through marriage and sex.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s story, "The Knight's Tale," thus narrates a courtly love tringle existing
between the two imprisoned knights, Palamoun and Arcite. They both revere Emily and love
since the first time they set their eyes on her. Their affection for her is said to be
allencompassing since the Princess's absence, and presence always caused emotional and
physical harm to the two knights. Both Palamoun and Arcite exclusively spend their lives
yearning Emily's hand in marriage and scheming mechanisms and ways to defeat each other
and end up breaking their moral code, chivalry. “The Knight’s Tale” highpoints these
characteristics of courtly love and the quest for love between the two main protagonists,
Palamoun and Arcite, in their efforts to win Emily's love. Through his story, "The Knight's
Tale," Geoffrey Chaucer reflects this traditionally male-oriented period using the sturdy
courtly love and chivalry displayed by the two knights towards Emily. This prominent writer
Chaucer was trying to showcase and expose the flaws and shortcomings of chivalric codes
that resulted in the fatal and perpetual rivalry between the two main protagonists, Palamoun,
and Arcite. Therefore, this essay provides an exclusive and detailed analysis of the theme of
the quest for love in Chaucer's story, “The Knight’s Tale.”
Through the entire tale, Chaucer enables his audience to see the impacts and the tribulations
people face in pursuit of love. Through the childish acts portrayed by the two knights in their
efforts to win Emily's love, the readers and the audience show the importance of maintaining
moral codes, in this case, chivalry, which should promote unity rather than cause divisions.
This is witnessed as the two knights constantly fought like children over one girl Emily. At a
point, one of the knights Palamoun argues that he "liked and loved Emily first" and had told
Arcite of his worries. This reaction completely shows childish behaviors, which usually fight
over things, and the two knights were not supposed to behave that way since they had stately
values. Through the use of noble principles and mechanisms, the two knights should have
resolved their disputes in a more civilized manner rather than solve them in childish
behaviors. Thus, the moral codes of chivalry are not honored, which provide the guidelines
that knights should follow in their interactions. Since the two knights, Palamoun and Arcite,
had solemnly sworn to protect each other, chivalry required them to keep this oath that was
critically tested through their love for Emily. However, this test resulted in a huge fight
between the two knights. Through this tale, Chaucer tries to solve this conflict between the
two knights through the intervention of Duke Theseus, who organized a contest to settle the
feud, and the winner was to get Emily.
In the historical view of Chaucer’s story, "The Knight's Tale," several historical elements are
highly incorporated. Among them is the importance and relevance of travel and architecture.
He thoroughly integrates these elements, and thus they should be treated as separate texts,
rather than a part of the story's scenery. During the medieval period, the above consideration
was not done; however, exploring this and treating architecture as an integral part is very
relevant in understanding “The Knight’s Tale” since the modern and medieval ideas and
opinions about architecture an element was different. Thus in "The Knight's Tale," reading of
the architecture is vital for the readers to understand the story clearly since Chaucer
incorporates his experiences with it in the story. “The Knight’s Tale” is based on two main
activities that depict the importance and need to analyze and read architecture. These are
pilgrimage and crusade. Chaucer uses a frame narrative associated with pilgrimage, and this
portrays architecture as a destination point. Chaucer is said to have traveled to Italy. The
experiences he received there and the people he met contributed highly to the composition of
“The Knight’s Tale” through extensive and renowned architectural designs. From "Chaucer
and the Visual Arts of His Time," it is evidential that Chaucer’s experiences in architecture
played a major role in the writing of his story, especially the gothic style he incorporated that
was only found in the Medieval period. Chaucer's observations and exclusive use of
architecture play a greater role in making vivid visual decorations and art that greatly
influence his audience to understand “The Knight’s Tale.”
The story of the two knights, Palamoun and Arcite, is still relevant in the modern world in
many ways. Among them are the emphasis made on the importance of honor and the moral
code, chivalry. Through this, individuals are taught to live in oneness and relate with each
other well, not like in the case of Palamoun and Arcite. The narrator in “The Knight’s Tale”
casts one of the epic heroes, Theseus, who is used to represent the medieval code of ethics,
chivalry that was just and was to be followed by the nights through oaths and every other
citizen revered to that code. These moral codes and rules included showing honor, charity,
courage, and strength. This chivalric code is used today, and it is also used in the medieval
period through the values that advocated for honor and nobility. It also reflects the modern
world morals related to gender roles and other values that uphold the importance of social
order. From “The Knight’s Tale” when Palamoun and Arcite are involved in a great duel,
Theseus, who is the chivalrous knight, uses the chivalry code to settle their rivalry and
 aggression. Their impaired behavior was against the knight's code of honor, indicating that
the two knights had broken their vows. The same thing that happens to the modern world,
some laws and rules must be followed to settle disputes, such as the constitution and courts.
People are provided with fairgrounds to resolve their conflicts in the contemporary world just
the same way it is done in “The Knight’s Tale.” Theseus commands the two Knights who are
in a gruel to present themselves to a tournament that was aimed at neutralizing their gruel
through an honorable fight; the winner was to take Emily.