Hamlet: Chivalry

Hamlet: Chivalry

It would be obvious to say that society changes over the years.

Yet as the years grow farther apart we tend to forget how those before us

lived their lives. These historic ways of life are thankfully preserved in

literary works put down and documented centuries before us. The goal of

this paper is to examine the extinct life style of chivalry and show how it

relates to William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Specifically The final act

and scene.

As I began researching chivalry I found that there was a lot more

to it than draping my cape over a puddle for a lady. It actually began not

as a way to conduct ones life but rather as a social and economic class.

The word chivalry has its roots in the middle French word for horseman,

chevalier. Chivalry as defined in Webster's Ninth Collegiate Dictionary

means "mounted men-at-arms." Chevalier also gave birth to a word almost

identical to chivalry: cavalier. Webster's defines cavalier as "a

gentlemen trained in arms and horsemanship." These are also synonymous

with knight. An interesting contradiction though is that the English

etymology of the word knight is trusted servant. This comes form the

Anglo-Saxon word "cnyht" (De La Bere 35). The idea of a knight being a

servant does not fit most people's ideas of knighthood or chivalry, but in

essence that is what a knight is. A knight's duty is always to his king.

The duality of these roles is what makes chivalry unique. (Barber 9).

So where did chivalry get its start? Man...

... middle of paper ...

...ing

generosity is a chivalric virtue. The fourth virtue, courtesy, is

displayed throughout the entire play. It is interesting to see that even

du ring the duel, they continue to stick to this virtue. As soon as the

duel begins and they are in the midst of combat, they still refer to each

other using courteous titles such as "sir" and "my lord" (1342).

Upon completion of my research I gained deeper knowledge of a

society that I merely thought of as barbaric in nature. Until this point,

I had thought that chivalry had lived in a much more modern area. I now

see that chivalry brought order and peace to a time in slow transition.

What better way of seeing how this societal structure worked than through

the play Hamlet and its creator William Shakespeare.