Fate in The Knight’s Tale
In The Knight’s Tale, Chaucer gives all the characters a different fate that is all connected, but they have no control over it. The poem “…is a story of chivalry and of romance, a tale of two captive knights who fall in love with the same maiden, with disastrous results” (Rock 416). The gods all had a plan and they choose each character’s fate for example, Arcite’s death, Emily forced into marriage, and the brother’s friendship and honor broken, and the list goes on and on. Chaucer created this poem to have a sort of irony with the fate.
When the horse falls on top of Arcite, it is obvious that he will die, but “does Arcite deserve to die in such a gruesome fashion” (Rock 416)? Arcite’s fate is to die, so says the …show more content…
Her brother and Diana both said she is to be wed. It was her fate. “While Emily is physically present at the parliament, she never speaks. Theseus’s speech elides her response to the proposed marriage alliance. There is no record of her voice at the parliament precisely because her marriage is a fait accompli, having been prearranged…” (Guidry 157). The only time she ever speaks is when she is given her prayer to Diana (Guidry 158), and even then, she isn’t given much choice in not marrying. In the poem “…she asks that there be peace between Palamon and Arcite and that they no longer love her, or that they love someone else…” (Rock 425), but Venus says that “she must marry” (Guidry 158). So, she asks that the one who loves her most wins (Rock 425). One of the reasons Chaucer made her not have a choice is because, “marriages were commonly arranged in Chaucer’s time…” (Guidry 159). Her destiny was not chosen by her, but by others. The knights had a choice and fall in love with Emily, and they both choice to fight for her, but they didn’t have a choice in the outcome of the battle, and not knowing who would get her destroyed …show more content…
At first, Palamon sees Emily and falls head over heels calling her a goddess. Arcite, on the other hand, says he was in love with her first and that Palamon was mistaken (Rock 417). “…Palamon argues that Arcite must support him because of the oath, while Arcite (who cannot benefit in this situation from that oath) argues that the pledge is superseded by a higher law, that of love” (Rock 418-419). Arcite also tries to defend “himself with a weak argument for breaking the oath, turning Palamon’s words around and accusing Palamon of being false, because it was Arcite who first loved Emily as a woman, while Palamon mistook her for a goddess” (Rock 418). Later, Palamon threatens Arcite saying he must stop loving his maiden or he will kill him (Rock 419). “The brotherhood of Palamon and Arcite seems truly dead” (Rock 420). Emily was the reason their love for each other was destroyed. Now it is only focused on her. It was fate that they would learn to despise each other, then be brought back together by the same thing that tore them
In The Knight’s Tale, Chaucer gives all the characters a different fate that is all connected, but they have no control over it. The poem “…is a story of chivalry and of romance, a tale of two captive knights who fall in love with the same maiden, with disastrous results” (Rock 416). The gods all had a plan and they choose each character’s fate for example, Arcite’s death, Emily forced into marriage, and the brother’s friendship and honor broken, and the list goes on and on. Chaucer created this poem to have a sort of irony with the fate.
When the horse falls on top of Arcite, it is obvious that he will die, but “does Arcite deserve to die in such a gruesome fashion” (Rock 416)? Arcite’s fate is to die, so says the …show more content…
Her brother and Diana both said she is to be wed. It was her fate. “While Emily is physically present at the parliament, she never speaks. Theseus’s speech elides her response to the proposed marriage alliance. There is no record of her voice at the parliament precisely because her marriage is a fait accompli, having been prearranged…” (Guidry 157). The only time she ever speaks is when she is given her prayer to Diana (Guidry 158), and even then, she isn’t given much choice in not marrying. In the poem “…she asks that there be peace between Palamon and Arcite and that they no longer love her, or that they love someone else…” (Rock 425), but Venus says that “she must marry” (Guidry 158). So, she asks that the one who loves her most wins (Rock 425). One of the reasons Chaucer made her not have a choice is because, “marriages were commonly arranged in Chaucer’s time…” (Guidry 159). Her destiny was not chosen by her, but by others. The knights had a choice and fall in love with Emily, and they both choice to fight for her, but they didn’t have a choice in the outcome of the battle, and not knowing who would get her destroyed …show more content…
At first, Palamon sees Emily and falls head over heels calling her a goddess. Arcite, on the other hand, says he was in love with her first and that Palamon was mistaken (Rock 417). “…Palamon argues that Arcite must support him because of the oath, while Arcite (who cannot benefit in this situation from that oath) argues that the pledge is superseded by a higher law, that of love” (Rock 418-419). Arcite also tries to defend “himself with a weak argument for breaking the oath, turning Palamon’s words around and accusing Palamon of being false, because it was Arcite who first loved Emily as a woman, while Palamon mistook her for a goddess” (Rock 418). Later, Palamon threatens Arcite saying he must stop loving his maiden or he will kill him (Rock 419). “The brotherhood of Palamon and Arcite seems truly dead” (Rock 420). Emily was the reason their love for each other was destroyed. Now it is only focused on her. It was fate that they would learn to despise each other, then be brought back together by the same thing that tore them