What happens when two systems come into conflict? Answer: you need someone smart and powerful like Duke Theseus to figure out what to do. He represents another of the tale's major themes: order. Or does it? That's the question 'The Knight's Tale' wants you to think about.īrought in to solve the conflict, we have the almost impossibly noble Duke Theseus. But when they both fall into (courtly) love with Emily, they have to be willing to do anything to win her, which includes breaking their promise to one another. As brother knights, they should be willing to do anything to protect one another. In any case, we have these two codes of behavior: chivalry and courtly love and in 'The Knight's Tale' we get to see what happens when the two codes clash.

The rules of courtly love were even written down in a treatise by a 12th-century French courtier, Andreas Capellanus, in a work called De Amore, although literary types disagree on whether or not this work is meant to be serious or just a way to make fun of the courtly love tradition.

In fact, his love for her makes the knight stronger and more honorable. The woman in a courtly love story is placed on a pedestal: she is totally perfect in every way, and the knight practically worships her. The system got its start in the literature of the Aquitaine region in France, where troubadours sang ballads about the often secret and illicit love of knights for noblewomen (scandalous!). Courtly love was actually a 'system' of love, just as chivalry was a system of knightly behavior. 'The Knight's Tale' is also concerned with courtly love, which demanded the loyalty of the knight to just one person: his lady-love. Think King Arthur and you're on the right track. The rules of chivalry included things like always keeping your promises, defending the helpless, and remaining loyal to your lord and fellow knights no matter what. The name of the game in 'The Knight's Tale' is chivalry, a system of rituals, duties, and behaviors a knight was supposed to follow if he wished to behave with honor. Since the two knights have apparently sworn to support each other in everything, each one's love for Emily does not go over well.

Geoffrey Chaucer's ' The Knight's Tale' found in The Canterbury Tales, is the story of two knights from Thebes who fall in love with the same woman, a princess of Athens named Emily. Welcome to the Middle Ages' version of a rom-com. Want more deets? We've also got a complete Online Course about The Canterbury Tales, with three weeks worth of readings and activities to make sure you know your stuff. The Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale Introduction

The knight's tale by geoffrey chaucer