#TeamPalamoun

I’ve actually enjoyed Parts One and Two of “The Knight’s Tale” more than I anticipated, mostly because I assumed I had already read every possible plot outline for a story about a knight, and I assumed any tweaks Chaucer made would fail to impress me, but I was wrong. Chaucer provides us with a rich backstory about King Theseus, Queen Ipolita, their kingdom, and their two prisoners: Arcite and Palamoun. The unique dynamic the backstory sets up between knight and lady is rather exciting for me. As we’ve seen a few times before, there are actually two knights who love one lady, and it’s clear from Part One that there will be some sort of struggle between the two knights over that lady. However, in this story, the two knights are also brotherly cousins and rightfully locked up in the dungeon; they can see and hear the lady they both claim to love, but they cannot speak to or touch her. In addition, one knight is granted freedom from the prison but is exiled so that he could not possibly have a chance to speak to or touch the lady.

At the end of Part One, Chaucer asks us who is worse off: Arcite or Palamoun? I thought I’d make a list of pros and cons:

Arcite                                                                          Palamoun

Pros	Cons	Pros	Cons
·      Not in prison ·      Free to find another lady ·      Free to start a war with Theseus	·      Cannot see, hear, speak to, or touch Emelye	·      Can see and hear Emelye	·      In prison ·      Cannot speak to or touch Emelye

As you can see, the only thing Palamoun initially has over Arcite is that he can still see and hear Emelye. Arcite has much more over Palamoun, so his lack of sensory stimulation altogether doesn’t seem to matter so much. Besides, the pros and cons don’t really matter anyways when both nights disobey their fate. Arcite disguises himself so that his cons are entirely eliminated; then, Palamoun escapes prison to fight Arcite to the death. At this point in the tale, I feel like Palamoun deserves Emelye more than Arcite. I mean, he stays locked up for some seven years, finds out Arcite hasn’t been banished from Emelye after all, and he’s still down to fight to the death over her. Palamoun is a true knight. #TeamPalamoun.

Chaucer adds another exciting quality to this tale: Theseus provides both knights with an entire army to fight each other. (At least, that’s my understanding of what’s about to go down in Parts Three and Four.) Wait a second…why do they need armies if the fight is between the two of them? Are they still going to fight each other as knights would, meaning the armies are for show, or are they going to sit back and compete their war strategies as kings would? Couldn’t Theseus just give the better army to the knight he favors? Couldn't he conduct the demise of both prisoners, since they both ulitmately committed more crime and disobeyed their fates? I don’t know man, but this story is heating up, and I’m really nervous to find out what happens in Parts Three and Four. Poor Emelye, by the way…it's hard to choose between two guys who aren't good enough in the first place. I mean, she's a fresh, bright, flower goddess (flowers most likely signifying her virginity); are these prisoners really the only guys trying to court her?

"The Knight's Tale" in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer