The Wife Of Bath's Tale Courtly Love Essay

Courtly Love in The Canterbury Tales Courtly love can be described as a medieval conception of love that emphasizes nobility and chivalry. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” from Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales depicts some criteria necessary for true courtly love; however, not in a traditional sense. This allows us to compare it to today’s society, since courtly love still exists, but in a non-traditional way mainly through media instead of actual relationships. The media is perhaps one of the greatest influences in today’s time as it sets the tone for one’s thoughts and beliefs. Through the use of non-traditional courtly love between characters, Chaucer shows the beginning of a new kind of love that has evolved into what we know now. One of the common aspects of courtly love is the submission of a knight to his lady. The story begins with the “knight in shining armor”, however, it strays from tradition when the knight is accused of raping a woman. This shows that he is not a brave or courageous knight like is seen in other …show more content…
This is where the story steers in the untraditional direction. In most courtly love stories, the knight is extremely chivalrous and affectionate. However, as mentioned above, he rapes a woman, and then did what he had to do just to get what he wanted. There are many examples today of what a true “knight” should be. For example, Peeta's love for Katniss in The Hunger Games possesses many aspects of this. He's deeply in love with her, and is willing to kill or die for her without giving it a second thought. While they play the part of lovers in public, they remain very private, spending countless nights holding each other, not even so much as kissing. Another example is Twilight. It preaches the virtues of abstinence and saving yourself for future pleasure, while at the same time focusing on the subject of commitment and