The Canterbury Tales
Choose one of the storytellers and his/her tale. What was the underlying motive for the storyteller telling his/her tale?
Chaucer's masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, is the most famous and critically acclaimed work of Geoffrey Chaucer, a late-fourteenth-century English poet. Little is known about Chaucer's personal life, and even less about his education, but a number of existing records document his professional life. Chaucer was born in London in the early 1340s, the only son in his family. The Canterbury Tales is written in Middle English, which bears a close visual resemblance to the English written and spoken today. It can be read only in modern translation or by students of Old English. The Canterbury tales was written around 1836 …show more content…
The love Palamon and Arcite feels towards Emily is so strong that the two knights feel that it is worth more than life. At one point Palomon says to Arcite "Though I have no weapon here either you shall die or you shall not love Emily" The love that Palamon feels for Emily is so overwhelming that he is willing to battle his sworn brother. Also, to unravel the tangled web of passionate longings, the narrator brings in mythology. Arcite's prayer to Mars for victory, Palamon's prayer to Venus for Emily's hand, and Emily's prayer to Diana for a celibate life, at the amphitheater, all add drama to the existing romantic duel. When Arcite wins in combat and later gets killed by an accident created by Saturn, he seems to happily accept his death by asking Palamon to marry Emily. Such an easy acceptance of death after a chivalrous win is somewhat perplexing. But Arcite is a man in love. He has been suffering in love. Under the light of these facts it becomes evident, that Arcite sees death as less of a hell compared to the turmoil he has been suffering due to love. The relationship between the knights and Emily is the core of this romantic tale. The tale revolves around the choices Palamon and Arcite make in order to have Emily and out of these choices comes the wonderful characteristics of courtly love that makes this tale so
Chaucer's masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, is the most famous and critically acclaimed work of Geoffrey Chaucer, a late-fourteenth-century English poet. Little is known about Chaucer's personal life, and even less about his education, but a number of existing records document his professional life. Chaucer was born in London in the early 1340s, the only son in his family. The Canterbury Tales is written in Middle English, which bears a close visual resemblance to the English written and spoken today. It can be read only in modern translation or by students of Old English. The Canterbury tales was written around 1836 …show more content…
The love Palamon and Arcite feels towards Emily is so strong that the two knights feel that it is worth more than life. At one point Palomon says to Arcite "Though I have no weapon here either you shall die or you shall not love Emily" The love that Palamon feels for Emily is so overwhelming that he is willing to battle his sworn brother. Also, to unravel the tangled web of passionate longings, the narrator brings in mythology. Arcite's prayer to Mars for victory, Palamon's prayer to Venus for Emily's hand, and Emily's prayer to Diana for a celibate life, at the amphitheater, all add drama to the existing romantic duel. When Arcite wins in combat and later gets killed by an accident created by Saturn, he seems to happily accept his death by asking Palamon to marry Emily. Such an easy acceptance of death after a chivalrous win is somewhat perplexing. But Arcite is a man in love. He has been suffering in love. Under the light of these facts it becomes evident, that Arcite sees death as less of a hell compared to the turmoil he has been suffering due to love. The relationship between the knights and Emily is the core of this romantic tale. The tale revolves around the choices Palamon and Arcite make in order to have Emily and out of these choices comes the wonderful characteristics of courtly love that makes this tale so