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Explain how Chaucer's Squire reflects the medieval definition and expectations of the roles of its knights
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Recommended: Explain how Chaucer's Squire reflects the medieval definition and expectations of the roles of its knights
In the General Prologue, Chaucer describes in details the appearance or behavior of the pilgrims to suggest the character’s psychological or moral temperament. By doing this way, one can understand more about the characteristic or the inner person of the pilgrims. The pilgrims are introduced according to their standing in the society with the highest person introduced first. This order of introduction implies the hierarchy of the society during that time. The Knight is introduced first because he has the highest social standing on the pilgrimage. The Knight is described as a humble yet professional soldier. He is “as meek as is a maid”. He has never rude to anyone in the world. Chaucer supports this point by describing The Knight’s appearance in details. The Knight is described to not “gay”, which means not fashionable. He is wearing a rusted coat and yet, his horse is at a very good condition. Indirectly, this shows that the Knight is just back from a foreign war and go straight to the pilgrimage. One would conclude that The Knight is an ideal man from the descriptions given by Chaucer. Next, Squire, a young man in around twenty-year-old was introduced. He is the son of the Knight. Chaucer describes him as a lover and strong young …show more content…
He is a manly man who is a good rider and love hunting around. He doesn’t follow or respect his monistic rule because according to him, it was old and unrelated to his life. Instead, he loves riding and hunting. So, he is modern Monk who follows modern fashions rather than old customs. According to the Chaucer, he wears a good modern outlook. For example, he has the finest fur at his sleeves edged at the wrist. Then, to describe his physical appearance, Chaucer describes him as a sleek, fat lord with a baldhead. Thus, in short, one would summarize that Monk is a modern person who doesn’t care about others mind, instead, he does what he likes to do, like hunting and
Lambdin, Laura C. and Robert T. Lambdin, ed. Chaucer's Pilgrims: An Historical Guide to the Pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales. London: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Knights are one of the most mistaken figures of the medieval era due to fairytales and over exaggerated fiction novels. When medieval knights roamed the earth, it was known that they were only human and, like humans, had faults. These knights did not always live up to the standards designated by society. However, in The Canterbury Tales, the knight is revealed as a character that would now be considered a knight in shining armor, a perfect role model in how he acts and what he does. Modern day people see them as chivalrous figures instead of their actual role as mounted cavalry soldiers. As time passes, the idea of what a knight is changes from a simple cavalry soldier to a specific type of behavior.
When looking at children’s versions of The Canterbury Tales it is interesting to take note of which tales are included and which are left out. Each of the children’s books looked at include some sort of prologue and conclusion to give the tales context the same as Chaucer’s story. The children’s versions of “The General Prologue” tend to simplify things by sticking to the basic plot points, the pilgrims all meeting at the inn and Bailey’s suggestion of each taking turns telling stories as they travel and drawing straws to decide what order to tell the tales in. They leave out the detailed description of each pilgrim and poetic, sensual descriptions of spring seen in Chaucer’s opening verses as seen in the Norton edition. An e...
As Chaucer does with all of his characters, he is producing a stereotype in creating the persona of such and ideal man. Chaucer in describing the Knight, is depicting a chivalric ideal, when in fact the actions of the knight in the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” is the actual portrait of the knight that existed in those times. I pose that the essence of Chaucer’s Knight was no more real in his day than it is today, and he was simply giving the people and ideal character to admire. He never intended his fictional star to be interpreted as a reality, and he was only giving his readers what they wanted. Today, our mass media delivers the same package and on a grander and even more fictional scale than ever
The General Prologue provides a great deal of information regarding the Knight’s appearance. The Knight entitled by rank to wear the finest of garments and clothes, is dressed in armor that is shabby, rusty, and possibly useless. The fact that he humbly adorns the uncomfortable suit, and even carries his bloodstained sword, indicates the knight’s sense of honor and tradition, but also shows the means by which...
As the great J.R.R Tolkien once said, “Not all those who wonder, are lost.” In Chaucer’s, The Canterbury Tale, there are many extraordinary people that go with him through this pilgrimage. Each character brings something different to the table. Just like any other group, it is good to have a diversity of personalities, and backgrounds. Chaucer knew that the spring was a time for rebirth, and a time for new life. This was his way of expressing the things that he needed to do to be freshened again. In Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tale,” there are many characters that go along with the narrator three of these characters are: the Knight, the Squire, and the Prioress.
Writing about pilgrims drawn from almost every rank of 14th century English society, The Canterbury Tales takes a look at medieval life from (what seems like) every angle and every class, displaying the actuality of the Church by illuminating and emphasizing the wanton ways of those individuals who purportedly represented it. In essence, Chaucer uses religious characters within his text to broadcast to his audience what was wrong with the Church during his era. Chaucer's salty feelings towards these crooked types of individuals are showcased when he discusses five of six ecclesiastical characters included as part of the group of pilgrims. The five flawed characters (who also happen to command most of the spotlight) are, in order of depravity, the Monk, the Prioress Nun, the Summoner, the Pardoner and worst of all, the Friar. The only character that fulfills generic expectations placed upon members of the clergy during medieval times is the Parson, who actually embodies what clergymen should have been. The others, whom we must also assume are symbolic of actual clergy members during Chaucer's era, typify an extravagantly sinful and unscrupulous bunch. This immoral (five) to moral (one) ratio of Church-related characters is the weapon used b...
Today we look back at knighthood, chivalry, and “curteisye” as romantic and unreal. It is true that a code of behavior did exist, and Chaucer presents the Knight as a real representative of the code. However the Knight in the Wife of Baths tale, is the complete opposite of this one, and violates all of the rules of Knighthood. By way of contrast the Knight in The Wife of Bath’s Tale is more common during the Middle Ages, and stories of rape by knights were not uncommon. Chaucer goes against the normal chivalric ideal of a knight by presenting a knight as he really might have been, which is the knight presented in The Wife of Bath’s Tale.
In the medieval period that is described by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, chivalry was perhaps the most recognized quality of a true Christian gentleman. This quality is explored in Chaucer's two characters of the warrior class, the Knight and the Squire. The Squire is in fact the son of the Knight; both ride gallantly and have the air of true gentleman warriors. However, the two are very dissimilar despite their appearances. The Knight possesses the true qualities of chivalry, devotion to service, constancy in humility, and honesty. The Squire possesses none of these qualities truly, instead his demeanor is a shell that encloses a less virtuous constitution. Although both claim the same vocation, the Squire and the Knight display contradicting attitudes in respect to dedication, material possessions, and sincerity.
As the reader enters the Canterbury tales, they are first introduced to the idea of this journey as a pilgrimage and how common it is for people of this time period to embark on such journeys. Readers are then greeted by the list of characters whom our narrator describes in detail, the first of which is the Knight, Why does the knights description come first? is it embracing the hierarchy of society or simply saying he is the most noticeable prominent character that joins this journey, it should also bring into question why the author chose such an archetype character for this description.
An interesting aspect of the famous literary work, "The Canterbury Tales," is the contrast of realistic and exaggerated qualities that Chaucer entitles to each of his characters. When viewed more closely, one can determine whether each of the characters is convincing or questionable based on their personalities. This essay will analyze the characteristics and personalities of the Knight, Squire, Monk, Plowman, Miller, and Parson of Chaucer's tale.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem, The Canterbury Tales, follows many pilgrims and their travel from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas. Along the way the pilgrims share their stories, in hopes of telling the best tale. The Wife of Bath, one of the pilgrims, tells a story of a knight and his interesting quest in repentance for his sin.
In his story titled "The Canterbury Tales" Chaucer seems to truly admire some of the pilgrims while displaying disdain and sarcasm towards the others. The pilgrims that he most seems to admire are the Knight, the Oxford Clerk and the Parson. The knight he seems to admire based on his notation of all the campaigns in which the knight has participated in service to just causes. Chaucer makes mention of the knight 's worthiness, wisdom and humility "Though so illustrious, he was very wise And bore himself as meekly as a maid." (67,68 Chaucer). It seems as though Chaucer admires the knights great ability both in warfare and practicing what he preaches. This can be seen in his description of all those he seems to admire in the tale. The Oxford Clerk
Through his description of the Knight in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales, as
Chaucer portrayed the knight as a "worthy man" who "loved chivalry, truth, honour, freedom, and all courtesy". He was also "honoured everywhere for worthiness". The knight has fought in multiple crusade. ( ) Out of all the characters in the Prologue, the knight was portrayed close to his job. In real life the knights were responsible for leading the troops and lead the king 's army. A knight also played the right hand man to the king as well as being the king 's friend. The knight would engage in activities such as archery, chess, or horse riding. Even though the knight may not have enjoyed these tasks normally, he would complete these tasks with joy in order to spend time with the king and fulfill his knightly duties. The knight would also act as an advisor to the king and give his advice or opinion on the king’s decisions. The knights were also responsible with acting as a modern-day police officer. They would manage the citizens of kingdom and aid them in farming. They would also be the kingdom