General Prologue and Knight the Knight Essay

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Analysis of Major Characters

The Knight

The Knight rides at the front of the procession described in the General Prologue, and his story is the first in the sequence. The Host clearly admires the Knight, as does the narrator. The narrator seems to remember four main qualities of the Knight. The first is the Knight’s love of ideals—“chivalrie” (prowess), “trouthe” (fidelity), “honour” (reputation), “fredom” (generosity), and “curteisie” (refinement) (General Prologue, 45–46). The second is the Knight’s impressive military career. The Knight has fought in the Crusades, wars in which Europeans traveled by sea to non-Christian lands and attempted to convert whole cultures by the force of their swords. By Chaucer’s time, the spirit for conducting these wars was dying out, and they were no longer undertaken as frequently. The Knight has battled the Muslims in Egypt, Spain, and Turkey, and the Russian Orthodox in Lithuania and Russia. He has also fought in formal duels. The third quality the narrator remembers about the Knight is his meek, gentle, manner. And the fourth is his “array,” or dress. The Knight wears a tunic made of coarse cloth, and his coat of mail is rust-stained, because he has recently returned from an expedition.

The Knight’s interaction with other characters tells us a few additional facts about him. In the Prologue to the Nun’s Priest’s Tale, he calls out to hear something more lighthearted, saying that it deeply upsets him to hear stories about

Wife Of Bath Analysis

thirty characters, but one stands out: the Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath is one of the livelier and more enthusiastic characters on the pilgrimage. From the General Prologue and the prologue to her tale, we can see that she has extreme views about women and marriage especially in this time period when women listened rather than debated. The prologues also depict an unattractive Wife of Bath: her gapped teeth and wide forehead. She often refers to the Bible and states that although God wants women to be…

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The Friar In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

be the Knight and the Friar. Whereas the Knight fully personifies his esteemed, noble archetype, the Friar is the exact opposite of his. Through the perfect depiction of the Knight, Chaucer praises the profession, and through the immoral, hypocritical Friar, he criticizes the Church and its upper constituents. The Knight and the Friar are complete opposites, and as such, they show both the good and the evil of society during the Middle Ages. From the Knight’s introduction in the General Prologue…

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Religion And Life In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury tales center on a group of pilgrims heading for Canterbury, and as a way of entertaining themselves during the journey, they begin to tell each one a story, mediated by the innkeeper. Among the pilgrims is a knight, Squire, Monk, Miller, Friar, Nun, and Wife of Bath. Regardless of social status, the diverse class of characters demonstrates that the pilgrimage was important Christian event in medieval society. Each story ranges from heroic stories, love stories, famous tragedies, emperors…

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Essay about Egyptian Gods

Compare Chaucer’s description of the knight and the Wife Of Bath in their general prologue portraits In this essay I am going to show how Chaucer differs in the contrast between the worthy knight and the Wife Of Bath. I am also going to show the difference in the dress, the status and the profession of the knight and the Wife Of Bath. The Wife Of Bath obviously dressed quite well. “I dorste swere they weyeden ten pound” this shows that she was quite rich and she dressed as if she was a very…

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Essay about Lust Creating a Contradictory outlook on Characters

During the “General Prologue” of The Canterbury Tales there are seven deadly sins represented by various characters. In Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer offers a look into human characteristics and actions. Of the seven deadly sins, lust remains a reoccurring characteristic in several descriptions of; The Wife of Bath, The Summoner, The Friar, The Squire and last but not least the Prioress. As romance and marriage are prominent in The Squire, a more sexual definition of lust is based on the majority…

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Social Rank In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

and ideals. And this concept carries over to Chaucer's tale. For example, the Knight, who is the most noble and high ranking pilgrim in the story, tells a story that is much more proper and chivalrous than the lower class Summoner and Reeve. Chaucer uses the the social rank of a character to influence how their story is told. The Knight in this story is the most noble, moral pilgrim on this trek. The prologue of the book states that he was "...a…

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Sexism In The Canterbury Tales Essay

Women in the Middle Ages dealt with sexism in all areas of their lives, with not much representation of their experiences. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales features a mix of male and female characters that allows for stories from the contrasting experiences of the sexes. The various points of view provide commentary on the treatment of women by others and women’s own views on gender standards, while still revealing Chaucer’s personal opinions towards issues facing women at the time. The introductions…

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Geoffrey Chaucer Essay

considered worthy but vulgar. The reader would think her title showed that she was a loyal wife but the reader will soon know that is not true. Her tale and she have some symbolism each other. Some aspects of the tale resemble Chaucer's life. The general prologue of the "Canterbury Tales" by Chaucer the Wife of Bath is one of three of the women. She is the only women is not the nun. It talks about how she was from Bath. Bath is a city of great cloth making. This explains why she is such a good at sewing…

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Morality In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

exterior appearance, fails to reflect their internal morality. Both the Wife of Bath and the Pardoner use language to reveal their inner morality. In the Wife of Bath’s tale, a knight feels unsatisfied marrying an ugly, old woman. The woman sees his saddened face and swears to him she will transform…

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How Is Irony Used In The Pardoner's Tale

the Monk in the “General Prologue”. “The Pardoner’s Tale” is a story about how greed can lead to death, yet the character the Pardoner is the greediest of all the characters in the book. The Pardoner states, “I preach for nothing but for greed…

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