Canterbury Tales (II)

The Canterbury Tales Summary:

Theseus, Duke of Athens, imprisons Arcite and Palamon, two knights from Thebes. The two knights fall in love with Theseus’s sister-in-law, Emelye. It is love at first sight. Arcite is freed from prison, but banished from Athens. He returns in disguise so that he can see Emelye and enter her chamber by being a page.. Palamon escapes from prison and the two encounter one another and fight for the love of their lives, Emelye. The two fight in a tournament for Emelye as the winner’s prize. Arcite wins, but falls off his horse and dies so Palamon marries Emelye by default.

Main Characters:

*The Knight:

-symbolizes the medieval Christian soldier

-He served in fifteen great crusades

-Characteristics: brave, experienced, prudent, etc.

-Narrator admires him

*Theseus:

-Duke of Athens/has the final say

-most powerful ruler in the story

-good listener

Palamon:

-brave, strong, sworn to everlasting friendship with Arcite

-loves Emelye

-loses the tournament against Arcite, but wins Emelye by default and marries her

Arcite:

-brother to Palamon

-falls equally in love with Emelye

-released from imprisonment by the King

-falls off his horse due to an ironic earthquake as he rides off with his prize, Emelye

Emelye :

-sister to Hippolyta (Theseus’s domesticated Amazon Queen in the Knight’s Tale)

-Fair-haired and glowing

-Doesn’t want to marry anyone or have children (unique from other women of that time)/independent/feminist in a way

-Pledges herself to Arcite/marries him after the tournament and death of Arcite

Themes:

*Romance:

-Palamon and Arcite’s battling love for Emelye

-Polamon and Emelye’s marriage

*Fabliaux: comical/grotesque

-irony of Arcite falling off his horse

-witty remarks by the characters