One aspect I found particularly interesting in "The Knight's Tale" is the relationship of Arcite and Palamon, cousins and sworn brothers. What I found intriguing is just how quickly their "blood bond" was destroyed with their conflicting interests in Emelye.
Palamon begins,
"'It nere,' quod he, 'to thee no greet honour
For to be fals, ne for to be traitour
To me, that am thy cosyn and thy brother
Ysworn ful depe, and ech of us til oother,
That nevere, for to dyen in the peyne,
Til that the deeth departe shal us tweyne,
Neither of us in love to hyndre oother,
Ne in noon oother cas, my leeve brother,
But that thou sholdest trewely forthren me
In every cas, as I shal forthren thee--
This was thyn ooth, and myn also certeyn"
(lines 1129-1139).
which is quickly followed by,
"And now thow woldest falsly been aboute
To love my lady, whom I love and serve,
And evere shal til that myn herte sterve.
Nay, certes, false Arcite, thow shalt nat so.
I loved hire first, and tolde thee my wo
As to my conseil and my brother sworn
To forthre me, as I have toold biforn."
(lines 1142-1148)
Their relationship literally changes from their sworn brotherhood to a combatant mode within a mere 50 lines, and I couldn't help but wonder what is so "knightly" about their actions. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, chivalry is defined as "the medieval knightly system with a religious, moral, and social code. The combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, esp. courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and readiness to help the weak." While chivalry certainly pertains to proper treatment of women, I found it interesting that they would forsake their friendship and brotherhood for a woman both of them have just come in contact with. It seems almost as if it is the competition that drives them, rather than their raving love. Instead of appearing honorable, courteous, and moral, Palamon seems whiny and childish with his "I saw her first" explanation. The first quote describes the permanency of their relationship, how they would never hinder another in love, never let emotions get between their familial and brotherly bond, yet the sight of one beautiful maiden does just that. It makes me wonder whether it was their bond that was weak, or the meaning and purpose behind it. Is this just a single specific instance where the true meaning of chivalry and justice is forfeited for an emotional undertaking? If we look at the definition of "chivalry" more closely, we see several words that are not congruent with Palamon's actions in the second quotation. Chivalry equates itself with those who possess "courtesy, honor, morals, and justice," none of which are present in Palamon's words. At the beginning, I believe he truly speaks the words of a chivalrous knight--maintaining his sworn brotherhood and not allowing love to hinder them. However, he begins to get possessive and defensive, claiming that he is the rightful suitor to Emelye because he laid his eyes on her first. Shortly hereafter he even claims to Arcite that he should help him in attaining Emelye as it is the rightful and chivalrous thing for a sworn brother and knight to do. Not only is this simply terrible logic and infuriating, but Palamon distorts the meaning and purpose of chivalry to benefit himself, which is quite the dishonorable thing to do. I suppose I could summarize my opinion of the cousins and their personal perception of chivalry and honor by saying that they are completely delusional on what exactly these two knightly traits are supposed to entail. Their misperception of what it means to be a proper knight comes out when they forsake their friendship for courtly love, though I would argue that their brotherly bond is certainly more important and honorable than fighting over a woman. I think in this instance it isn't their love but rather the competition and belief that the truest and most legitimate knight would be the victor. This, in my opinion, emphasizes their misunderstanding and misinterpretation of what chivalry actually is.
After looking into the friendship and bond of Arcite and Palamon, and how easily destroyed it was for the sake of "love," would you agree or disagree on the idea that they have a deeply misinterpreted idea of chivalry and honor?
Like Clare, I noticed the way in which Arcite and Palamon move from a strong homosocial relationship to a sudden combatant mode as they begin to compete for Emelye. As Clare makes clear, "Palamon distorts the meaning and purpose of chivalry to benefit himself" when he claims Arcite should demonstrate his own chivarly by helping his "friend" win Emelye. Alas, Palamon emerges the antithesis of chivalry in The Knight's Tale, yet he is not punished for this. On the contrary, Palamon is rewarded with Emelye at the end of the tale, as Arcite dies even after succeeding Palamon in the battle. The final lines of the poem demonstrate how the antithesis of chivalry, Palamon, is rewarded with a perfect life: "For now is Palamon in alle wele,/ Lyvynge in blisse, in richesse, and in heele,/ And Emelye hym loveth so tendrely,/ And he hire serveth so gentilly,/ That nevere was ther no word hem bitwene/ Of jalousie or any oother teene./ Thus endeth Palamon and Emelye;/ And God save al this faire compaignye! Amen" (3101-3108). Because Palamon is not punished for the way in which he disobeys his homosocial relationship with Arcite and his pledge to chivalry, the ending of the poem provides no moral, no warning to those who proclaim themselves chivalrous yet act oppositely. In relief of The Physician's Tale, which attempts to make a moral statement, The Knight's Tale seems unresolved and confusing. I am uncertain of the point or meaning of the tale.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Clare in that the almost immediate shift from the strong homo social relationship the two share to a combatant one is rather odd. My interpretation of this shift in relation to the text as a whole is that as a knight, one is required to uphold certain codes of conduct but also to realize that they will not always resonate with one’s own feelings on a given matter. My understanding is that this is what it means to be a knight because one's desires are often of rules to the letter because in some cases rules are in place to guide rather than be obeyed. Palamon is no less chivalrous than his comrade because he indulges in his human emotions. Thus I believe the point of the Knight's Tale is to make light of the fact that one may choose to follow a path of their own choosing despite whatever consequences awaits them but he may not be in control of where his path leads him which is the whole point of the journey. Mars grants Acrite "Victorie!" but Zeus consoles venus with "I am thyn aiel, redy at thy wille; Weep now namoore; I wol thy lust fulfille." In the end Palamon wins the perfect life but not at all as he planned.
DeleteAfter having read the posts of multiple people there seems to be an ongoing debate about what friendship is and everyone is wondering how two friends can really be friends if they are willing to kill each other for honor. My response to this is that the heart of the tale is not as much to do with honor and fighting in the name of chivalry, but rather (and i know this is corny) that it draws our attention to the power of love. So instead of asking how two people could be friends and kill each other over a girl they hardly know is not the question, rather the question is how can we view the power of love in regards to chivalry and honor. in my opinion the fact that Palamon and Arcite fight the way they do show their true level of value and honor as chivalrous men because they not only possess the warrior type qualities of manliness but also becuase they have a level of emotional intelligence which we should not neglect or take for granted. Their understanding of what love is is something which makes them honorable men. The whole tale is woven around their understanding that love can sometimes be like a prison. They dabble with important questions such as whether freedom takes precedence over love. They also seem to understand what true love is, and that it is a full fledged giving up of everything else. For this they are worthy men. Arcite proves this when he says "Love is a gretter lawe, by my pan/ Than may be yeve to any erhtely man; And therfore positif lawe and swich decree; Is broken al day for love in each degree."
ReplyDeleteI think we should be cautious about pushing too sharp of a contrast between chivalry and love. We often speak of a “chivalric code,” but we would do better to speak of chivalric codes; there was no one orthodox outline of how to live chivalrously. Instead, there were numerous treatments of what constituted chivalrous or knightly behavior. While these generally followed similar lines of courage, honor, military service, and proper respect and protection of women (and often included ideals of courtly love, like loving chastely from a distance), they varied in their specifics, eventually becoming etiquette guides for non-military men, especially among the burgeoning middle class (and these behaviour guides were likely familiar to Chaucer by the time he was writing). The idea of jousting or other ceremonial fighting for a woman's favor was certainly a common motif in medieval literature, and I think we should understand the antagonism between the two men in this context, not as an actual desire to kill the other.
ReplyDeleteWhat interests me about Chaucer’s depiction of knightly behavior is that Chaucer expresses no disapproval for Palamon and Arcite’s fight over Emelye (Emily). While we as readers might expect that the familial and militant relationship between these cousins and brothers-at-arms might persevere over love for a woman they have only seen from afar, we are instead presented with a duel condoned as normal and expected. Theseus, for example, only expresses disapproval that they are fighting “Withouten juge or oother officere, / As it were in a lystes roially” (1712-3). Theseus does not see their fighting as a violation of knightly behavior except that they are not fighting under his royal authority. He nevertheless forgives them because he understands that love drives men to do crazy things and creates an opportunity for them to fight with his approval. We see here that Love is victorious over the concerns of War, a sentiment echoed in the outcome of their final duel. Palamon, who prays to Venus, eventually wins Emily’s hand (despite initially losing to Arcite), while Arcite, who prays to Mars, wins the battle but dies before he can claim his love. Both have their prayers answered, perhaps not in the way they were expecting, but in the end, the two are reconciled as a result.