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Characteristics of romance based on The Knight's Tale from The Canterbury Tales byGeoffrey Chaucer Who is Geoffrey Chaucer?The Canterbury Tales What is Romance and the Code of Chivalry Characteristics of romance from The Knight's TaleGeoffrey ChaucerChaucer was born in London in the early 1340s, the only son in his family. Chaucers father, originally a property-owning wine merchant, became tremendously wealthy when he inherited the property of relatives who had died in the Black Death of 1349. He was therefore able to send the young Geoffrey off as a page to the Countess of Ulster, which meant that Geoffrey was not required to follow in his ancestors footsteps and become a merchant. Eventually, Chaucer began to serve the countesss husband, Prince Lionel, son to King Edward III. For most of his life, Chaucer served in the Hundred Years War between England and France, both as a soldier and, since he was fluent in French and Italian and conversant in Latin and other tongues, as a diplomat. His diplomatic travels brought him twice to Italy, where he might have met Boccaccio, whose writing influenced Chaucers work, and Petrarch.

The Canterbury Tales (Middle English: Tales of Caunterbury is a collection of over 20 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century, during the time of the Hundred Years' War. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

The Canterbury Tales

4The Romance and Code of ChivalryAncestors of the novelThey reflect a different society from the earlier Germanic variety, and a new valuation of social activityVirtutes of chivalry were combined, they contained old Pagan ideals and Christian values

The three matters of romanceCharacteristics of romance from The Knight's TaleThe Knights Tale is a romance that encapsulates the themes, motifs, and ideals of courtly love: love is like an illness that can change the lovers physical appearance, the lover risks death to win favor with his lady, and he is inspired to utter eloquent poetic complaints. The lovers go without sleep because they are tormented by their love, and for many years they pine away hopelessly for an unattainable woman. The tale is set in mythological Greece, but Chaucers primary source for it is Boccaccios Teseida, an Italian poem written about thirty years beforeThe Canterbury Tales. As was typical of medieval and Renaissance romances, ancient Greece is imagined as quite similar to feudal Europe, with knights and dukes instead of heroes, and various other medieval features.

The main theme of the tale is the instability of human lifejoy and suffering are never far apart from one another, and nobody is safe from disaster. Moreover, when one persons fortunes are up, another persons are down. This theme is expressed by the pattern of the narrative, in which descriptions of good fortune are quickly followed by disasters, and characters are subject to dramatic reversals of fortune.The gods, whose role is to develop instability in the lives of the characters, are the instruments of Fortune. The Knights extensive descriptions of the symbolic decorations of the temples of Venus, Mars, and Diana help shed light on the gods roles.

Yet, there is some suggestion in the Knights Tale that humans can affect their own destinies.Some critics have suggested that in this pattern of intercession Chaucer presents us with an ideal form of government: no man can govern entirely on his own.

Truly good government is accomplished with the help of an outside party that stops the ruler from behaving tyrannically. These critics believe that this female intercession means that every good male governor needs and depends upon wifely counsel to keep him from becoming ruthless.Thank you for watching