Chaucer Tales Knight
The Canterbury Tales was written by Geoffrey Chaucer from the view of a pilgrim journeying with many other travelers who all had tales to tell. I will describe how I believe Chaucer's character is portrayed throughout three of the tales in which were told in Canterbury Tales. The three tales I will be using as examples: The Knight's Tale, The Miller's Tale,' and the Wife of Bath's Tale.
The Knight's Tale perfectly depicts the character of a Knight: That is, he chooses love, honor, chivalry, and adventure. His story spoke of two cousins and brothers, Palamon and Acrite, who were empowered by the love of one woman, Emily. The two brothers eyed Emily from a tower in which they were imprisoned by King Theseus. Palamon and Acrite felt they could not live without her love and are willing to fight for the love of Emily. Theseus decides that these former friends will duel to decide who would have Emily's hand. Acrite initially wins the duel but before getting to claim Emily as his wife, he dies. She is later married to Palamon.
This tale illustrates the Knight's character and beliefs thru romance, passion, courage, loyalty and justice. It shows us his ideal of one true, romantic love. He is virtuous and passionate, especially in his love life. There was only one woman to be won, and neither of the knight's hearts strayed from their passion for her. They loved her from a tower when she did not even know they existed. The tale also shows us his bravery and devotion. Palamon and Aconite were not willing to give up Emily to one another even though they were great friends. Their devotion is shown thru love of a woman and not their friendship. The knight himself had left all to fight for his cause; and still had such devotion to his faith to join the journey of the pilgrims. "With smudges where his armor had left mark; just home from services, he had joined our ranks to do his pilgrimage and render thanks." Lastly it illustrates fortune and justice of the knight. The viewed fortune as a force of justice which is reflected in his "happy ending" of the tale. Lastly, the tale was constructed with length and wordiness to convey the intelligence and education of the speaker—the Knight.
The "Knight's Tale" tells me that Chaucer thinks highly of the knight. As the creator of this character and tale, he displays his fondness of the characteristics which he attributes to the knight. Chaucer uses the adjectives "distinguished", "perfect gentle-knight", "wise."It is evident that Chaucer holds truth and honor in high regard. His wording throughout the tale also shows his creative writing ability.
The Miller's Tale is in great contrast to the Knight's tale. The miller spins a tale of scandalous hilarity about lust, competition, and trickery. It is somewhat vulgar and base in comparison to the contents of the knight's story. The characters are a carpenter and his younger wife, Allison. She had a couple admirers, Nicholas and Absolom. Nicholas was her husbands apprentice and Absolom was a perish clerk of the church. Nicholas eventually won the heart of Allison. The secretive couple tricks Allison's husband so that they could be alone. During their "alone time”, Absolom interrupts through the window. Out of exasperation, Allison offers Absolom a kiss. Unfortunately he does not realize that is not her lips because of the darkness. The feeling of embarrassment leads Absolom to return with a hot poker. This time it is Nicholas who sticks his rear end of the window for Absolom to kiss. Nicholas gets branded and the noise of it all wakes Alison's husband who ends up be the one really branded.
This humorous story tells us much about Miller. It shows that he believes women to be sexual beings. Alison is described by him as "a fair young wife...truly blissful sight...a lollipop for any nobleman to take to bed." Not only is his sense of humor shown, but the characteristic of lust. The Miller's tale is not as extravagant as the Knight's tale probably because of the Miller is not as educated as the Knight or conservative.
The Miller's Tale demonstrates Chaucer's masterful use of comic incongruity and characterization of incredible neatness. An obvious example of incongruity is the scene between Absolom and Allison. Absolom is accustomed to smells that are sweet, exotic, delicate, and yet he is subjected to the ultimate humiliation of being "kissed". Neatness is demonstrated how Noah's flood came about because men had become carnal — fell into perversion. Chaucer's writing of the "The Miller's Tale" exemplifies his understanding of people in a lower class and his open-mindedness.
Different from the Knight's Tale and Miller's Tale, The Wife of Bath's Tale is told from a woman's point of view. She illustrates in her tale that the thing women most desire is complete control over their husbands. It is told how she had the upper hand in all five marriages. The Wife of Bath tells a story of love, romance and magic. The knight in her story is dent by the queen to find out "what women really want." if he does not come back with the right answer he will be killed. But to get the correct answer he must promise to do as she asks. Her request is for him to marry her. She gives him a choice; she can be an ugly and faithful wife, or she can be a beautiful and unfaithful wife. The knight tells hers that she can be whichever because he does not want to take her as his wife. The woman becomes both beautiful and faithful because he allowed her to make the choice.
The story shows that the Wife of Bath has good self esteem. If she did not think highly of herself, she would not have glorified women because they were not given much respect in her time. Her intelligence is illustrated by the way she clearly tells a story and makes a point to all the fellow travelers, which are men. The Wife of Bath is not content to sit and allow men to be the controller in a relationship. She likes to express herself and individuality. She is also shows bravery by being self sufficient. She is not afraid to go after what she wants. I perceive her to be manipulative too. The female in her story wanted to beautiful and faithful but she the man a lesson too. She knew how to get her way. "I had them eating from my hand / and as they'd yielded me their gold and land, / Why then take trouble to provide them pleasure / unless to profit and amuse my leisure?"
I would describe Chaucer as open — minded in this tale. He could perceive what a woman must think. He had to understand the female sex to imagine this character. By casting her, he must think well of women. Chaucer seems to have a great understanding of romance and relationships.
All of these stories and the characters relating them were invented by one creative genius. I think he is very observant and can easily put himself in someone else's shoes. He was able to convey, the chivalry of the Knight, the humor and wit of the Miller, and the complexity of the Wife of Bath. I would even say that he was a master at understanding people and relationships. He transcended time and class levels by portraying knightly romance, lust and faithfulness through these stories. He was probably a great analyst as well. He was able to portray each individual's true personalities through the nature of the tales. I can see him sitting alone and watching and listening to people to understand the difference between the different sexes and social classes. By reading the Canterbury Tales, I feel as if I know Chaucer personally because his personality is very well illustrated through each tale.
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