Knights Tale -- tony beers

Tony beers – Knights Tale Post
3/27/2017

Although the saving/rescuing of damsels in distress is not a new concept to me, I was impressed with this knight. Theseus, certainly gets points from me rescuing so many damsels at once -- “A compaignye of ladyes, tweye and tweye” -- and in such dire distress indeed!

Although understanding the language was a challenge, as I got further into it, the rhythm and timing of the poetic aspect was really quite pleasant. Understanding the story then was a bit easier too. Admittedly this tale took me so much longer to read through (having to read over some lines several times, I wished I had time to read the whole thing over many times as the story comes to life so much more when one has a better grasp on some of the nuances.

3/27/2017 t beers
Sometimes these medieval authored tales seem over the top in their descriptions, but here in terms of the women’s situation they find themselves in, the description is merited. Certainly the horror and terrible strife they explain to Theseus warrants a full accounting: They fillin gruf and criden piteously, ‘Have on us wrecched wommen som mercy, And lat oure sorwe synken in thyn herte”’.

When the two men, Palamon and Arcite are found alive among the dead and subsequently in-prisoned, I had considerable trouble understanding the story of Theseus’ childhood friend, Duke Perotheus and his role in Arcite’s realease from prison and subsequent realization of being worse off than his brother. At first I couldn’t see in the text the transition and connection the two men had and the “deal” made with Theseus to be exiled from the “contre”.. Further, the similarity in the names, Perotheus and Palamon offered some confusion as well – for me at least.

What was easy to get was the idea of fate playing its role of comparison in the two men’s eventual lives – one escaping physical “prisoun” but stricken with the fate of never looking upon his love, Emelye, again, the other entombed forever but allowed to see Emelye every day – is a clear and classic device I recognize from other tales.

The lines chosen to describe Emelye were especially beautiful: “For her hue vied with color of the rose” – and I did like the lines both Palamon and Arcite used in describing the overwhelming pain of love’s arrow: Palamon: “He cast his eye upon Emelya”, And therwithal he bleynte and cried, “A!” (And with that he turned pale and cried, “A!”) As though he were strongen [stabbed] unto thy herte…So that it will be the death of me”.
Arcite: “And with a sigh he seyde piteously, ‘The fresshe beautee sleeth me sodeynly’” (The fresh beauty slays me suddenly).
 Great story.