Chaucers Canterbury Tales - Knights Tale :: Chaucer Knights Tale Essays

In his prologue, Chaucer introduces all of the characters who are involved in this fictional journey and who will tell the boshs. One of the most interest of the characters introduced is the horse cavalry. Chaucer refers to the Knight as a most distinguished man and, indeed, his written report of the Knight is highly complimentary. Another Knight seen in the Canterbury Tales is the rapist horse cavalry in the married woman of Baths Tale, who is not a truly noble sawhorse and doesnt follow a chivalric code. This dub seems more accreditedistic as opposed to the stereotypical ideal ennoble that Chaucer describes in the Prologue. It is hard to believe that such a perfect sawhorse existed during that time. Today we look back at knighthood, chivalry, and curteisye as romantic and unreal. It is accredited that a code of behavior did exist, and Chaucer presents the Knight as a real representative of the code. However the Knight in the Wife of Baths tale, is the complete pivotal of this one, and violates all of the rules of Knighthood. By way of contrast the Knight in The Wife of Baths Tale is more common during the Middle Ages, and stories of ravishment by knights were not uncommon. Chaucer goes against the normal chivalric ideal of a knight by presenting a knight as he really major power have been, which is the knight presented in The Wife of Baths Tale. As all of the different tales reflect back on the characters of the pilgrims who tell them, the ideas in the Knights Tale are reflected back on the Knight. His tale is a tale of ideal love and chivalry, and fits the character of the Knight. Furthermore, fitting the Knights character, his tale has no incidents of vulgarity, the love is a clean love, with no hint of sensuality. The love exists on a high, platonic level. In the condition Costume Rhetoric in the Knights Portrait Chaucers Every-Knight and his Bismotered Gyphon, by Laura F. Hodges, featured in the April 1995 edition of the Chaucer Review, Ho dges examines the reasons behind Chaucers decisions on the garments of his Knight. Hodges said that the fact that the Knight was wearing soiled clothing is an allusion to the fact that the knight was soiled religiously. However I think his clothe was much stained by where the armor had left his mark, and he scarcely arrived from service and went directly on his pilgrimage.