THE CANTERBURY TALES

GENERAL PROLOGUE

   The pilgrims, like the narrator, are traveling to the shrine of the martyr Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The narrator gives a descriptive account of twenty-seven of these pilgrims, including a Knight, Squire, Yeoman, Prioress, Monk, Friar, Merchant, Clerk, Man of Law, Franklin, Haberdasher, Carpenter, Weaver, Dyer, Tapestry-Weaver, Cook, Shipman, Physician, Wife, Parson, Plowman, Miller, Manciple, Reeve, Summoner, Pardoner, and Host. (He does not describe the Second Nun or the Nun’s Priest, although both characters appear later in the book.) The Host, whose name, we find out in the Prologue to the Cook’s Tale, is Harry Bailey, suggests that the group ride together and entertain one another with stories. He decides that each pilgrim will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two on the way back. Whomever he judges to be the best storyteller will receive a meal at Bailey’s tavern, courtesy of the other pilgrims. The pilgrims draw lots and determine that the Knight will tell the first tale.

THE KNIGHT'S TALE

      The Knight’s Tale is the story of two knights from Thebes who fall in love with the same woman, a princess of Athens named Emily. Since the two knights have apparently sworn to support each other in everything, each one's love for Emily does not go over well. 

  Summary:  Theseus, duke of Athens, imprisons Arcite and Palamon, two knights from Thebes (another city in ancient Greece). From their prison, the knights see and fall in love with Theseus’s sister-in-law, Emily. Through the intervention of a friend, Arcite is freed, but he is banished from Athens. He returns in disguise and becomes a page in Emily’s chamber. Palamon escapes from prison, and the two meet and fight over Emily. Theseus apprehends them and arranges a tournament between the two knights and their allies, with Emily as the prize. Arcite wins, but he is accidentally thrown from his horse and dies. Palamon then marries Emily.

  Analysis:  The Knight Tale is mostly concerned with two things. Chivalry And Courtly Love. The rules of chivalry included things like always keeping your promises, defending the helpless, and remaining loyal to your lord and fellow knights no matter what.  Courtly love was actually a "system" of love (the loyalty of the knight to just one person: his lady-love.), just as chivalry was a system of knightly behavior.

* Some of the information from:

-http://www.sparknotes.com

-http://www.shmoop.com