In the writings of Chaucer, characters seldom fit a single mold; they do not fall into the

category of protagonists or antagonists. A character may do something good or bad, but they are

not committed to fulfilling the role of hero or villain with their further actions. We can see this

trend in most of Chaucer’s works. In his earlier dream visions, the narrator maintains

ambiguously neutral throughout the stories and as a consequence, he has little to no effect on the

story even though he is our guide and the reason we are on this journey in the first place. A later

example of this would be the characterizations of Troilus and Criseyde; with Criseyde

abandoning the thought of loving Troilus. Chaucer merely acts as an observer to a story of lost

love and refuses to take sides. Chaucer’s maturation as a writer becomes apparent in The

Canterbury Tales. He is still an observer (as a character), but he becomes more clever with his

description and dialogue choices (as an author). This allows him to create even deeper characters

for the story, and the stories within the story.

In the Knight’s Tale, there are two characters, Arcite and Palamon, both of whom fall in

love with the same girl at the same time. Unable to share her love, they find themselves at odds,

turning from best of friends to the worst of enemies. In the end, one fights on behalf of Mars

while the other fights for Venus, and both ultimately get what they want; this is true because

Palamon wanted Emily more than he wanted to win the war games, and Arcite lusts for victory

in war more than he values love. This bit is foreshadowed early in the story: “I not wher she be

woman or goddesse,/ But Venus is it soothly, as I gesse.” (lines 1101-1102). Palamon says as he

first sees Emily. Arcite, with his mind geared towards conquest and logic, counter argues that

Palamon could not even tell if she existed or not, seeing as a goddess would not truly be walking

in the garden. This argument is the first time in the story that a dichotomy is introduced for these

characters.

In the age of Chaucer, the idea of courtly love prevailed when it came to knights and their

pursuit of women. The concept is that the Knight, or pursuer, must put the woman in question on

a pedestal above all else. In that sense, it becomes noble for Palamon and Arcite to ignore their

promises to kinship/knighthood and instead pursue Emilie. This is another element to the tale

that distinguishes the two knights from each other. While it is never explicitly said, it can be

inferred that Arcite abandons his brotherhood because from a sense of duty to courtly love while

Palamon abandons his brotherhood because he is completely enamored by Emilie.

Near the end of the story, the battle between Palamon and Arcite is looming around the

corner and they are preparing their armies for battle. In congruence with each one’s

characteristics, Arcite prays to Mars before the battle while Palamon prays to Venus. It is worth

noting that Emilie prays to Diana; it is revealed there that she in fact has no desire to marry either

man but if she must, she wishes to marry the man who loves her most. This sets up Emilie as a

true object of desire since she holds no direct influence on the outcome of the fight or even the

events that led up to it; but, without the presence of Emilie there is no fight. What this means is

that Emilie acts as a neutral party with which the reader can use to understand Palamon and

Arcite as fully fleshed characters. She also reinforces the prevalent idea of Fate and humanity’s

inability to overcome her (fate’s) influence.

Emilie prays to Diane, the goddess representing female empowerment, independence and

virginity. Emilie visits Diane’s temple after Palamon but before Arcite; she acts like a buffer

between the two knights. She is figuratively, and literally, in between them, and because of her,

their subtle differences are brought to life. She prays that Diane spare her and keep her a virgin.

Diane comes to talk to her and says that she will ultimately be married to which Emilie asks that

she get married to the one who loves her the most. This dialogue brings the theme of Fate to the

forefront; something that will play a large role in the end of the story.

Fate was thought to influence every event that happened on earth. It was strongly

believed that Fate and Fortune worked in tandem and served as the guide through one’s life.

They saw the bigger picture, God’s plan, while humans were incapable of grasping such a

concept. This is referenced by the interactions of the Gods after Palamon’s prayer. Arcite wins

the battle, however, Venus and Mars are fighting over who deserved it more, so Saturn interjects

and says that he has a plan. Both men will get what they asked for; Arcite never asks for Emilie’s

hand in marriage, he asks for victory, which he got; Saturn scaring the horse to kill Arcite

allowed Palamon Emilie’s hand in marriage.

With their differences established, one must also recognize the similarities of the two

knights. The similarities amidst their differences are what reinforces Palamon and Arcite’s depth.

They are both noble men, Arcite gives Palamon food before their battle so that he has a fair

chance in their upcoming fight, and both Palamon and Arcite agree to fight in good sport for

Emilie’s hand. They each want to win the battle and both want to marry Emilie. But, Palamon

wants to marry Emilie more than Arcite. While Arcite wants to win the battle more than

Palamon. The reader can see this when Arcite, Palamon and Emilie each visit their respective

god to whom they will pray. Palamon, following the theme of love, goes to the temple of Venus

and prays:

Faireste of faire, O lady myn, Venus,/Doughter to Jove and spouse of Vulcanus,/ Thou

gladere of the mount of Citheroun./For thilke love thou haddest to Adoun,/Have pitee of

my bitter teres smerte,/…Myn herte may myne harmes nat biwreye;/…Yif me my love,

thou blissful lady dere.(line 2221-2260)

He asks Venus to have pity on him and states that he is not so concerned with winning or losing

but to award him victory so that he may have Emilie’s hand in marriage. Notice that he asks for

victory as if it were just a necessity for Emilie, which to him it is. At the end of the prayer the

statue of Venus shakes which Palamon interpreted as a sign of his victory

Arcite, in true warrior fashion, prays to Mars, the god of war. He prays:

O stronge god, that in the regnes colde/Of Trace honoured art and lord y-holde,/And hast

in every regne and every lond/ Of armes al the brydel in thyn devyse,/ Accepte of me my

pitous sacrifyse/...And with that soun he herde a mumuringe/Full owe and dim, that sayde

thus, “Victorie,”/For which he yaf to Mars honour and glorie. (lines 2373-2434)

Arcite proclaims that he suffers for love and prays that Mars will lend his hand in victory. Arcite

focuses on victory and conquest throughout the speech and with his multiple sacrifices. Readers

should note that even though he does say he must win for love, he never once asks for Emilie’s

hand in marriage (something Palamon begs for).

The symbolism of the items in each temple are the subtle keys to Palamon and Arcite’s

differences based on their wants and needs.

Entering the temple of Venus, Palamon is greeted with an altar:

First in the temple of Venus maystow see/Wroght on the wal, ful pitous to biholde,/The

broken slepes and the sykes colde,/The sacred teres and the waymentinge,/The fyry

strokes of the desiring/That loves servaunts in this lyf enduren;/Pleasaunce and Hope,

Desyr, Foolhardiness,/Beautee and Youthe, Bauderie, Richesse,/Charmes and Force,

Lesinges, Flaterye,/Dispense, Bisynesse, and Jalousye,/That wered of yelwe goldes a

garland,/And a cokkow sittinge on hir hand;/Festes, instruments, caroles, daunces,/Lust

and array, and alle the circumstances/Of love, whiche that I rekned and rekne shal,/By

ordre weren peynted on the wal,/And mo than I can make of mencioun./For soothly, al

the mount of Citheroun,/Ther Venus hath hir principal dwelling,/ Was shewed on the wal

in portreyynge,/With al the gardyn and the lustynesse./Nat was foryeten the Porter

Ydelnesse,/Ne Narcisus the faire, of yore agon,/Ne yet the folye of kyng Salamon,/And

eek the grete strengthe of Ercules /Th'enchauntementz of Medea and Circes ,/Ne of

Turnus, with the hardy fiers corage,/The riche Cresus, kaytyf in servage./Thus may ye

seen, that wysdom ne richesse,/Beautee ne sleighte, strengthe ne hardynesse,/Ne may

with Venus holde champartie,/For as hir list, the world than may she gye./Lo, alle thise

folk so caught were in hir las,/Til they for wo ful ofte seyde "allas!"/Suffiseth heere

ensamples oon or two/And, though, I koude rekene a thousand mo. (lines 1918-1954)

The first thing Palamon is greeted with upon entering the temple is the sighs and sleeplessness

and sadness. This is indicative of all those who “suffer” from love, or love’s servants. Palamon,

being locked away for eternity and consequently was a victim of an unattainable love. Upon

entering the temple, there is a catalogue of feelings, emotions, adjectives, etc. that relate to love

and lust. Pleasance, hope, desire, foolhardiness, beauty and youth; but also pandering, riches,

flattery, jealousy, expense, and other negative aspects of love. There are references to Greek

gods (along with a biblical character) and demigods who fell under the spells of the things listed

in the catalogue. Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection, so much so that he lost his

life by neglecting a woman who loved him, so Venus had him killed. Medea murdered her two

children to get back at their father. Solomon’s wives led him astray from God. Circe seduced

men then turned them into pigs. Turnus’s jealousy in the Aeneid leads to the fall of his nation

along with his own death and damnation. Croesus had called himself the most fortunate person

alive, and soon after he son was killed, his wife committed suicide, and he was burned alive. The

cries of all these characters caught in Venus’s net protrude through the temple. All of these

things serve as a warning to Palamon. The subjects who suffered at the hands of Venus either

took love for granted, took advantage of another’s infatuation, or let jealousy dictate their

actions. These are all traps that Fate has laid along the path of courtship—something Palamon

does not take lightly. Venus is warning him of these fatal errors, leaving it up to the discretion of

Palamon to choose which path he will take (the righteous or the self-serving).

The statue of Venus herself was naked and floating. Green waves of cloth, bright as any

glass was flowing from her naval down. She was in a garden with a citole (stringed instruments)

and before her stood her son, Cupid, carrying arrows.

The mention of Cupid’s arrows is not just an homage to Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It was

said that Cupid carried two types of arrows; one type was gold with a sharp point, and the other

type was lead with a blunt tip. Being struck with the golden arrow filled the recipient with an

uncontrollable desire for whomever Cupid had in mind. Being struck with the lead arrow caused

the recipient to feel an overwhelming sense of hostility and desire to flee from Cupid’s intended

individual. In the Metamorphoses, Apollo taunts Cupid, calling him an inferior archer. Cupid

responds by piercing Apollo with a golden arrow, making Daphne the object of his desire. He

then strikes Daphne with a lead arrow who becomes trapped by Apollo, even though his

advances are unwanted.

While Cupid is often used as a general allusion to love, the inclusion of Cupid in this

story is more complex than putting an allusion into a story as a substitute for a paragraph or two.

There is a parallel between the situation Emilie is put in and the story of Daphne and Apollo.

Emilie is the reluctant subject of infatuation and Arcite and Palamon seem to have been pierced

with golden arrows.

Arcite goes to Mars’s temple to pray for victory in battle. The temple of Mars was cold

and frosty. It is describe as so:

First on the wal was peynted a forest/ In which ther dwelleth neither man ne best,/ With

knotty, knarry, bareyne trees olde,/ Of stubbes sharpe and hidouse to biholde,/ In which

ther ran a rumbel and a swough/ As though a storm sholde bresten every bough./ And

dounward from an hille, under a bente,/ Ther stood the temple of Mars Armypotente/

Wroght al of burned steel, of which the entrée/ Was long and streit, and gastly for to see,/

And therout came a rage and suche a veze,/ That it made al the gate for to rese./ The

northren lyght in at the dores shoon,/ For wyndowe on the wal ne was ther noon,/ Thurgh

which men myghten any light discerne./ The dore was al of adamant eterne,/ Yclenched

overthwart and endelong/ With iren tough, and for to make it strong/ Every pyler, the

temple to sustene,/ Was tonne-greet of iren bright and shene./ Ther saugh I first the dirke

ymaginyng/ Of Felonye, and al the compassyng,/ The crueel Ire, reed as any gleede,/ The

pykepurs, and eek the pale Drede,/ The smylere with the knyf under the cloke,/ The

shepne brennynge with the blake smoke,/ The tresoun of the mordrynge in the bedde,/

The open werre, with woundes al bibledde;/ Contek, with blody knyf and sharp manace,/

Al ful of chirkyng was that sory place./ The sleere of hymself yet saugh I ther,/ His herte-

blood hath bathed al his heer;/ The nayl ydryven in the shode anyght,/ The colde deeth,

with mouth gapyng upright./ Amyddes of the temple sat Meschaunce,/ With Disconfort

and Sory Contenaunce./ Yet saugh I Woodnesse laughynge in his rage,/ Armed

Compleint, Outhees, and fiers Outrage;/ The careyne in the busk with throte ycorve,/ A

thousand slayn, and nat of qualm ystorve,/ The tiraunt with the pray by force yraft,/ The

toun destroyed, ther was nothyng laft./ Yet saugh I brent the shippes hoppesteres,/ The

hunte strangled with the wilde beres,/ The sowe freten the child right in the cradel,/ The

cook yscalded, for al his longe ladel./ Noght was foryeten by the infortune of Marte,/ The

cartere overryden with his carte,/Under the wheel ful lowe he lay adoun./ Ther were also,

of Martes divisioun,/ The barbour, and the bocher, and the smyth/ That forgeth sharpe

swerdes on his styth./ And al above, depeynted in a tour,/ Saugh I Conquest sittynge in

greet honour,/ With the sharpe swerd over his heed/ Hangynge by a soutil twyned threed./

Depeynted was the slaughtre of Julius,/ Of grete Nero, and of Antonius;/ Al be that thilke

tyme they were unborn,/ Yet was hir deth depeynted ther biforn/ By manasynge of Mars,

right by figure;/So was it shewed in that portreiture,/ As is depeynted in the sterres above/

Who shal be slayn or elles deed for love./ Suffiseth oon ensample in stories olde,/ I may

nat rekene hem alle though I wolde. (line 1974-2040)

The temple of Mars is describe is much more visceral detail. A dead forest, with no people or

animals with the ground quaking and rumbling. There are vocal premeditations of violence by

criminals, kings, laypersons. Scenes of double crossing friends, adorned with concealed

weapons, murdering people in their sleep. A nail driven into a person’s forehead for torture and

execution. Dead bodies with their throats cuts, anarchy, mental illness, looting, raping, cities

destroyed, even a sow eating a baby in its cradle. Conquest as a figure is standing below the

sword of Damocles, held by a thing string, ready to kill him at any moment (a nod to Fate). One

could replace Conquest with Arcite in this case.

Where Palamon sees the warnings of Venus in her temple, Arcite is shown the horrors of

violence and battle. He even witnesses how fickle Fate is, as the sword Damocles is held by such

a thin string. Yet, Arcite heeds no warnings; the battle is his to win and that is all he is focused

on. He lists the murder of Julius Caesar, the suicides of Nero and Mark Antony. Saturn

describes himself as murders due to outside sources; drowning, starvation, poison, buildings

collapsing. Foreshadowing the untimely and “accidental” death of Arcite.

Both Arcite and Palamon were appropriately warned, and neither of them made a

conscious decision to listen, or not, but their fates at the end of the story reveal their inner

desires.

At the battle, each man was allowed 100 warriors with them, all noble. The items and

crew of each’s armies is indicative of their intentions going in to battle. Palamon’s general

Ligurge has a black beard. “Ligurge himself, the grete king of Trace,/Blak was his berd, and as

manly was his face.”(2129-2130). Black, in the bible, signifies judgment. It also signifies the

sackcloth. The sackcloth in the Old Testament was often mentioned along with ashes. It was seen

as a symbol of debasement, mourning or repentance. When somebody dies, those who felt

sorrow would wear one. This is labeling Palamon’s army as the “deciders” of the fate of Arcite

and Palamon. Had Palamon’s army won, Arcite would not have got what he wanted, and these

two knights who are equal in every respectable aspect would not have gotten equal repentance.

Also, the meaning of sackcloth is foreshadowing of the death and mourning to come. “The

cercles of his eyen in his heed,/ They gloweden bitwixen yelow and reed;/” (line 2131-2132).

Yellow, in tandem with gold, represent wisdom, knowledge and faith. As a general, wisdom and

knowledge is important for the job. He also is a fitting selection for Palamon, as he is in battle

for the “right’ reason (this is not to say that Arcite was wrong, but that his death was the result in

the misguided need to win the battle rather than win Emilie’s hand). Faith is a common theme,

brought up subtly throughout many works of the time. Faith in Venus gets Palamon his wish to

marry Emilie. “And lyk a griffon looked he aboute,” (line 2134). The griffin, in medieval times,

represented monotony and respect for the sanctity of marriage. It also was thought to have

medicinal properties, a claw from a griffin could heal blindness. Describing the general as a

griffin is ironic in the sense that he helped with the downfall of Arcite. It is worth entertaining

the thought that Arcite only died because he won the battle.

The general had “a beres skin, col-blak for old.”(line 2142), in regards to his flowing hair

“as any ravenes fethere it shoon for blak;”(line 2143) emphasizing the theme of judgment and

foreshadowing the death of Arcite. Palamon is not intending either thing to happen, he is not

going into the battle with the intent to kill anybody in reality, and the battle is not to judge who is

more deserving of Emilie’s love, (it is under the surface, but to the characters in the story, it is

not) it is to see who can compete the “best” in order to win Emilie.

Gold and yellow make their appearance many more times throughout he description of

Ligurge “a char of golde”(line 2138), “[over his armor] with nayles yelewe and brighte as any

gold”(line 2141), “a wreth of gold arm-greet”(line 2145), and wolfhounds with muzzles

“Colored of gold, and tourettes fyled rounde.”(line 2152). There is a lot of gold wear adorning

the general, but how could this be since the general represents the underlying (not opposite)

intentions of Palamon and his army. Notice that most of the descriptions of gold are

complimentary to the items they are described with. The nails of the black bear skin are gold, the

muzzle of the wolfhounds, his helmet—laying on top of his black hair and beard. The gold is

helping the black look significant, but the black maintains its dominance when the eye is drawn

to him. In the same way, as I had mentioned before, Palamon is fighting for Emilie, not for truth,

not for wisdom or judgment, yet the higher powers, Venus, Saturn, Mars, etc. are arguing over

the merits and deservedness of the battle, and while they play no direct part in the conflict or

outcome (nobody would credit Saturn with scaring the horse, after all), they have the biggest

influence on what happens. They find the deeper meaning, and make it significant in the mortal

world from behind the curtains.

On the side of Arcite, he enlists the great Emetreus, the king of India. Emetreus is

wearing a wreath of green, symbolic of victory, another element of foreshadowing from the other

general. Emetreus also has a lot of gold and yellow mentioned with him. “Upon a steede bay

trapped in steel,/ Covered in cloth of gold diapred weel,”(lines 2157-2158), “And that was

yelow, and glitered as the sonne.”(line 2166). He even has “Betwixen yelow, and somdel blak y-

meynd”(line 2170). Much like how Palamon and Arcite are radically the same yet slightly

different, so are their generals chosen for battle. We see the differences with Emetreus with the

color red. “Bret-ful of rubies rede as fyr sparklinge”(line 2164), “His lippes rounde, his colour

was sangwyn;”(line 2168). Red is symbolic of human nature and sin. This is not referring to his

or Palamon’s love for Emilie (their love, since it is courtly and of knights, is seen as noble and

almost divine), but it directly reflects Arcite and his need to win the battle because this

supersedes all notions of love that he has (we know this because of his interaction with Mars).

Lygurge has a griffin on his armor, while Emetreus has an eagle by his side. The eagle has both

negative and positive connotations in the bible. It is said that an eagle, when it gets old and its

eyes grow dim and its wings too heavy, flies to the sun and burns the old feathers off and

rejuvenates. And its beak grows so long that it cannot eat, so the eagle breaks it on a rock so that

it can grow again. The positive connotation stems from an interpretation of rejuvenation of an

old man who should seek a spiritual rebirth and the sharpening of the beak is a man sharpening

his soul on Christ. The negative connotation comes from the word “Eagle” in the Holy Scriptures

where it is believed that an eagle is a ravisher of souls. It also signifies an earthly power, which

is in stark contrast with the heavenly power it possesses in its “good” connotation. Both

connotations of the eagle could and do help to describe Arcite and his ambitions.

The soul ravishing eagle and its lust for earthly power directly reflect Arcite’s need to

win in battle. Courtly-love was a noble act and in the same vein as divinity, whereas the need for

conquering and violence was more of an ungodly concept, something that stemmed from our

inability to understand the bigger picture, the inner workings of the plans of God. In this sense,

everything Arcite has done, leading up to this battle, has been in the name of war and conquest

and so he has been seeking earthly power.

The noble eagle, the eagle that sheds its feathers and rejuvenates its eyes, comes to Arcite

as he is nearing death, and eternally thereafter. As Arcite is laying in his deathbed, he comes to

the realization that he had gotten what he wanted all along, victory. He realizes that he will not

be around much longer to enjoy the spoils, so he bequeaths Palamon his prize. This is the first

step that Arcite takes in terms of shedding his old feathers. The rest of his journey is not told

through the knight, but is heavily implied when placed alongside Chaucer’s other works. When

Troilus (also in an ancient Greek setting) dies, he sees the light of God and realizes the absurdity

of his earthly follies and ambitions as he literally ascends to the heavans. While Arcite manages

to get what he wants while still on earth (one could argue that after Troilus accepted the loss of

Criseyede, all he wanted was death, which he got), his death was the final step in his

rejuvenation and spiritual rebirth. His eyes are now able to recognize the importance of eternity

rather than what he thought was important in mortality. And his feathers are shed as he alleviates

the weight of mortality.

While at first glance, Arcite and Palamon seem like to completely opposing characters

designed to conflict naturally with one another, it is clear that they are more dynamic than that.

Chaucer follows suit from his previous works and adds layer after layer of detail to fully flesh

out each character making sure to never designate one or the other as “good” or “bad” but rather,

was each character’s ending fitting and deserving.