The significance of ekphrasis in the Knight’s Tale is found in three main comments.
First, that the Knight’s first person narration of the architecture and artistic details in Part
Three affect the reading of the Tale and its characters. Second, that the “noble theatre” and temples reveal Theseus’s desire to manifest his own power in concrete form. Third, that the comments made by the tension between order and chaos manifested throughout the
Knight’s Tale combine to create Chaucer’s comments on his society through the Tale itself.
Chaucer’s experience with medieval architecture and visual arts aided him in the development of the lengthy descriptions of architecture in the Knight’s Tale. In the medieval world, Chaucer had a great many encounters with the …show more content…
Emelye entreats Diana to help her remain chaste, because she really does not want to marry either Arcite or Palamon. However, gruesome, negative images are presented to the characters. They go to these gods with their most heartfelt requests, surrounded by images of various degrees of cruelty and suffering.
Palamon’s visit to Venus’s temple signals the first description. Venus’s temple presents the audience with all the different circumstances of love (KnT 1932-1934). Included in these are: laments, tears, desire, pleasure, hope, desire, foolhardiness, beauty, youth, mirth, riches, falsehood and deceit, charm, force, flattery, expenditures, attentiveness, jealousy and lust (KnT 1920-1932). These are undeniably all qualities that love assumes from time to time, and it is not unreasonable to have them all represented in Venus’s temple. The disjoint in the portrayal of love comes, however, with the mention of specific scenes that are depicted in the temple. Although the Knight admits, there are more paintings “than I kan make of mencioun,” and “I koude rekene a thousand mo,” he chooses the images he describes, and each scene emphasizes the futility of love (KnT 1935, 1954). We see, for instance,
First, that the Knight’s first person narration of the architecture and artistic details in Part
Three affect the reading of the Tale and its characters. Second, that the “noble theatre” and temples reveal Theseus’s desire to manifest his own power in concrete form. Third, that the comments made by the tension between order and chaos manifested throughout the
Knight’s Tale combine to create Chaucer’s comments on his society through the Tale itself.
Chaucer’s experience with medieval architecture and visual arts aided him in the development of the lengthy descriptions of architecture in the Knight’s Tale. In the medieval world, Chaucer had a great many encounters with the …show more content…
Emelye entreats Diana to help her remain chaste, because she really does not want to marry either Arcite or Palamon. However, gruesome, negative images are presented to the characters. They go to these gods with their most heartfelt requests, surrounded by images of various degrees of cruelty and suffering.
Palamon’s visit to Venus’s temple signals the first description. Venus’s temple presents the audience with all the different circumstances of love (KnT 1932-1934). Included in these are: laments, tears, desire, pleasure, hope, desire, foolhardiness, beauty, youth, mirth, riches, falsehood and deceit, charm, force, flattery, expenditures, attentiveness, jealousy and lust (KnT 1920-1932). These are undeniably all qualities that love assumes from time to time, and it is not unreasonable to have them all represented in Venus’s temple. The disjoint in the portrayal of love comes, however, with the mention of specific scenes that are depicted in the temple. Although the Knight admits, there are more paintings “than I kan make of mencioun,” and “I koude rekene a thousand mo,” he chooses the images he describes, and each scene emphasizes the futility of love (KnT 1935, 1954). We see, for instance,