To be entirely honest, The Knight's Tale was my favorite piece of writing that we had to read this school year so far. I was fascinated by each element of the story, ranging from the characters to the plot. An interesting part of the story that caught my eye was the ongoing theme of courtly love versus a loyal friendship between Palamon and Arcite, which led to the showcasing of how they they both let their relationship fall apart because of jealousy. At the beginning of the story, we met King Theseus of Athens who recently won a battle against Scythia. He returned home with his new wife Hippolyta and her lovely little sister, Emily. On their way back to Theseus' house, they came across two men, none other than Theseus' cousins Arcite and Palamon. The two also happened to be enemies of the Duke, so Theseus took them back with them to lock them away. While locked away the cousins form a sort of pact with each other swearing that they would remain loyal to each other. Little did they know that their loyalty would be tested in the near future. One day, while locked away, Arcite and Palamon both spotted Emily strolling out in the …show more content…
Palamon, who adopted the habit of waking early, pacing, and doubting his existence, had saw Emily first. He wakes up Arcite from his sleep to show him the lovely girl. They both fall in love and begin to bicker over her. Arcite's monologue carries several meaningful and true messages about love. For example, " Laws and promises are broken everyday in the name of love by all kinds of men from all walks of life." Another one that is meaningful to the story is, " You can be in love with her if you want. I know I will always be." These two quotes demonstrate what kind of man Arcite is. He is seemingly willing to fight to the death for Emily and, by saying such things, just ended his previously made pact with Palamon. They also insinuate the battle that lies
The story, since it is told by a knight, it about a hero named Theseus. After long battles he is returning triumphant to Athens with spoils of war; Hippolyta and her sister, Emily.
In the first part of the play Egeus has asked the Duke of Athens, Theseus, to rule in favor of his parental rights to have his daughter Hermia marry the suitor he has chosen, Demetrius, or for her to be punished. Lysander, who is desperately in love with Hermia, pleads with Egeus and Theseus for the maiden’s hand, but Theseus’, who obviously believes that women do not have a choice in the matter of their own marriage, sides with Egeus, and tells Hermia she must either consent to marrying Demetrius, be killed, or enter a nunnery. In order to escape from the tragic dilemma facing Hermia, Lysander devises a plan for him and his love to meet the next evening and run-off to Lysander’s aunt’s home and be wed, and Hermia agrees to the plan. It is at this point in the story that the plot becomes intriguing, as the reader becomes somewhat emotionally “attached’’ to the young lovers and sympathetic of their plight. However, when the couple enters the forest, en route to Lysander’s aunt’s, it is other mischievous characters that take the story into a whole new realm of humorous entertainment...
Infatuation causes Helena to lose all sense of dignity, as can be seen when in the woods, she desperately pleads with Demetrius to ?but treat me as your spaniel?. Here, Helena also becomes irrational, obsessed with pursuing Demetrius, though it is obvious that Demetrius is fixated on winning Hermia?s hand in marriage. Helena?s infatuation also causes her to see things from a skewed perspective, for she falsely believes that when she divulges Hermia?s plans for eloping with Lysander, Demetrius? love for Helena will rekindle. As the audience, we know that the most probable course of action for Demetrius upon hearing such news is to pursue Lysander and Hermia, or to report them to Theseus or Egeus. Clearly, infatuation has clouded Helena?s ability to think clearly, and she sees things in her own idealistic way.
The act of revenge in classical Greek plays and society is a complex issue with unavoidable consequences. In certain instances, it is a more paramount concern than familial ties. When a family member is murdered another family member is expected to seek out and administer revenge. If all parties involved are of the same blood, the revenge is eventually going to wipe out the family. Both Aeschylus, through "The Oresteia Trilogy," and Sophocles, through "Electra," attempt to show the Athenians that revenge is a just act that at times must have no limits on its reach. Orestes and his sister Electra, the children of the slain Agamemnon, struggle on how to avenge their father's death. Although unsure what course of action they must take, both brother and sister are in agreement that revenge must occur. Revenge is a crucial part of Greek plays that gives the characters a sense of honor and their actions a sense of justice.
It's not love that is blind, but jealousy. In this beautiful small town of Venice, there is moor and his beautiful wife Desdemona, and the evil Iago, Roderigo, and Cassio. Othello is married to the beautiful Desdemona. He is an honorable man he was loyal to Venice, he was the general of an army. All of a sudden he started to act different, he started to change because Iago had told him that his wife Desdemona was fooling around with Cassio. Othello believes Iago because he trusted Iago, the same way he trusted everyone. Rodrigo had found out about Iago's plan to try to ruin Othello's life, so the two started to work together because Rodrigo was jealous that Othello had Desdemona and he wants her, Iago was jealous of the fact that Othello was trusted too much with many things, he was jealous that everyone loved Othello. So Iago planned everything out He planted things and messed with people's minds to have everything go down. Jealous is everywhere because you might want something that someone else has, you might wanna be just like someone, you might just want something just for yourself that you believe anything
William Shakespeare’s Othello is a tragedy about revenge through jealousy and deception. Throughout the play, Iago is constantly pitting characters against each other in order to satiate his anger from being denied the promotion to lieutenant that Cassio was granted. As a catalyst for all the conflicts that arise during the play, Iago merely uncovers the underlying insecurities characters such as Othello, a notable war general in Venice, are struggling with. Animal imagery as well as the use of light and dark to differentiate between race is very prominent and is used to drive a wedge between the newlyweds, Othello and Desdemona. Although Othello is a highly accomplished and well respected war hero, the notion that Venetians, including Desdemona, are a superior race, prevents him from ever feeling truly secure in his marriage, ultimately leading to the demise of several people close to him, and finally himself.
... my cousin and sworn friend”, Palamon and Arcite still engage in a vicious battle over the object of both their affections, Emily (Chaucer 50). Both Arcite and Palamon put their familial obligations to each other aside as they “fought each other at amazing length” (Chaucer 63). It was then decided by the king that “a year later.../Each shall return.../Ready to battle to decide his claim/To Emily” (Chaucer 69). This ended with “Arcite...[being] swept/ Out of the saddle and pitched upon his head” (Chaucer 91). Arcite perished because of this destructive fight and it was due to both Palamon and Arcite's disregard of their familial obligations to each other.
"The Knight's Tale" is the reflection of the Knight's world, which is full of honor, duty, reason, and order. Among these themes order plays one of the major roles in the Knight's tale by eliminating disorder and making the universe work according to the law of order. The Knight passes this idea through the whole tale by resolving all conflicts with the help of reasoning and making order win over disorder. The Knight shows a presence of order in his tale through the authority of Theseus, who reestablishes order throughout the tale.
In the tale, The Knight’s Tale, Chaucer made sure not to deviate away from what he saw during his time because some qualities emerged as prominent figures. The Knight’s Tale made sure to exemplify the idea of courtly love and what it truly means to be a knight who follows the code of chivalry. Some of the qualities of being chivalrous is being generous, honest, courageous, and supporting the notion of justice, which the readers can see that Chaucer understood the significance of the noble behavior and how that affected people at that time. Furthermore, the article, “The Canterbury Tales for Poetry of Students” highlighted how the noble life of the chivalry was a momentous part of the tale since the tale was “a comment on the possibilities
on the life of Electra. In Sophocles's version, the play opens with Orestes learning his fate. from the Pythian Oracle; he must revenge his father's death unarmed and. alone. He sends his pedagogue Pylades, as a spy, to learn about the situation in Mycenae. Electra mourns for her father's death. She is Unable to avenge her father's murders without the help of Orestes, her brother. She is also mad about how her mother and her lover waste her father's riches and desecrate his name. Her half-sister Chrysothemis is. no help to Electra and refuses to help in the murder of her mother and mother's love of the world.
Jealousy is a powerful emotion that can blind oneself from identifying the truth. Shakespeare heavily emphasizes this theme throughout the drama Othello, especially through the actions of characters. In the play the heinous antagonist, Iago, uses each character’s jealousy to deceive that person and manipulate the truth. His false promises and deceitfulness bring to the demise of many of the main characters in the play, including the protagonist, Othello. Othello could not have been deceived if it were not for his powerful jealousy. Therefore, Shakespeare is telling us that jealousy is an ugly trait that can hide the truth, which in turn causes many problems between characters in the play.
At the time of Chaucer’s writing, English knights had fallen out of favor as new forms of warfare began to take over. Still, chivalry remained an important aspect of authority, a model for behavior at the time. Chaucer brings in elements of chivalry to tell “The Knight’s Tale.” Palamon and Arcite fight an idealized, courtly battle for the love of a woman. Critique of authority in “The Knight’s Tale” is rather subtle, and appears through the use of fortune, which plays a large role. Though the knights are in a high station in their world, neither are immune to misfortune. By portraying fortune as the ultimate power in the world, Chaucer undermines constructed power of the knights and the court. Chaucer leaves these contradictions open for interpretation, allowing power to be questioned without outright dismissing
The roles of women was an issue in medieval times and in The Canterbury Tales. In A Knight 's Tale, the women were portrayed as objects. To men they didn 't mean much. Women for them were there to help only when needed and didn 't hold an important role in society. Women were treated differently and had not much of importance.
on the grounds that he has a child back in Bohemia and that he must go
Jealousy, whatever it may be driven by, can produce many different actions in a person depending on their desires. Othello craftly examines a few examples of these with highly contrasting characters driven by vastly different things. The different manifestations of jealousy in said characters can be analysed through the characters of Roderigo, Othello, and Iago, while also proving how jealousy can sometimes be a front for more cynister feelings.