In a relationship, Love is a feeling that humans share with a special person. Some bonds could be mutual, while others are dissociated. During the Medieval period, love affairs were dominated by one gender, men, and the women had little or no control over decisions. Before a gentleman married a lady, the gentleman first boasted about her beauty, championed the cause of the lady, and did whatever the lady requested. The era was influenced by knights, and dictated by honor and chivalry that each knight had to display to their king and queen. As a gentleman, a knight had to be just at all times, especially toward ladies. At this time, there was a king named Arthur. King Arthur had a flourishing kingdom that abruptly ended. Later on, many authors recounted the story of the reign of King Arthur. Sir Thomas Malory published Le Morte d’Arthur, and Geoffrey Chaucer published The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Although both of these books recount the reign of King Arthur, the stories are very diverse and unique in their own way. Both stories demonstrate for a relationship to be successful, both partners must be submissive, must be brave, and must be willing to learn from mistakes. For instance, Launcelot and Gwynevere have a submissive relationship. During New Year, Launcelot returns and all the knights that he defeated where there. They all recognize Launcelot as the greatest knight. At this time, Launcelot meets Gwynevere, and he is awed by her beauty and falls in love. Unfortunately, Launcelot and Gwynevere relationship is halted because Launcelot is on a new quest called the Holy Grail. There, at Camelot, Gwynevere waits passively for the day Launcelot would return so their relationship will be restored. Launcelot, Sir Galahad, and many other ... ... middle of paper ... ...ueen. As nobles, knights had to be always fair, especially toward ladies. After all, in a successful relationship, both members must be submissive, brave, and learn. Although I’m young and not marry, I believe that if any relationship were to succeed there someone has to passive. In a good relationship, both partners are willing to listen and accept the opinions and actions of the other. I also believe that both have to be brave. When both sides are devoted and brave, the relationship will succeed. I highly believe that both sides must be willing to change. When a relationship is not functioning, it is because both side must change and adapt a mutual ground. Works Cited Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale.” The Canterbury Tales. Logan: Perfection, 2010. Print. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte d’Arthur. Trans. Keith Baines. New York: Signet, 2001. Print.
The story of Dame Ragnell and "The Wife of Bath's Tale" are works that are very similar yet have differences that set the two apart. The most obvious comparison between the two works is the dilemma faced in each. In both stories a man's life is at stake and all he has to do to be spared is to answer one question. That question has to do with what women really want. Another similarity involves the outcome of each story. The differences between the two stories are revealed in the plots. The differences that stand out the most are the circumstances leading up to the question being asked and the attitude of the person that has to marry the old hag to get the answer to the question. There are many small differences between the stories but they are not as important as the two mentioned.
Forbes, Shannon. "'To Alisoun Now Wol I Tellen Al My Love-Longing': Chaucer's Treatment of the Courtly Love Discourse in the Miller's Tale." Women's Studies 36.1 (2007): 1-14. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 May 2013
Michael Camille ,The medieval art of love : objects and subjects of desire (New York : Abrams, 1998.),11-13http://www.metmuseum.org/publications/bulletins/1/pdf/3258994.pdf.bannered.pdf Internet accessed 24 March 2011
Bloch, R. Howard. Medieval Misogyny and the Invention of Western Romantic Love. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991.
In an essay on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, William Kittredge defined the idea of courtly love that is illustrated in MAAN. Kittredge said that courtly love must involve a love that is extremely idealized and superficial, with the vassal or servant-like suitor, who is often a valiant knight, devoting himself completely to an ideal woman who is often the daughter of a powerful man (Kittredge 528-529). When this definition is applied to the relationship between Hero and Claudio in MAAN, one is able to recognize a perfect match. For example, Claudio, a young lord of Florence, is a valiant soldier as is shown in the first scene of the play with the comments made by the Messenger: "[Claudio] hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing ...
In the Middle Ages, when The Canterbury Tales was written, society became captivated by love and the thought of courtly and debonair love was the governing part of all relationships and commanded how love should be conducted. These principles changed literature completely and created a new genre dedicated to brave, valorous knights embarking on noble quests with the intention of some reward, whether that be their life, lover, or any other want. The Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, accurately portrays and depicts this type of genre. Containing a collection of stories within the main novel, only one of those stories, entitled “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, truly outlines the 14th century community beliefs on courtly love.
Love in Knight's Tale and Wife of Bath's Tale. The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer around 1386, is a collection of tales told by pilgrims on a religious pilgrimage. Two of these tales, "The Knight's Tale" and "The Wife of Bath's Tale", involve different kinds of love and different love relationships. Some of the loves are based on nobility, some are forced, and some are based on mutual respect for each partner.
In the tale that Geoffrey Chaucer had wrote, The Wife of Bath’s Tale, a man was described as a Knight. This Knight wasn’t like any normal Knight, he messed up and raped a girl. This is a big mistake, giving a lot of Knights a bad name, and having those that look up to them start to be disappointed in them. Usually the punishment that is given to those that rape, or in general any other crime, is death or time in the slammer, however, the Queen says no because he is a good looking guy. Instead of death, he had find out what women most desire from men. He is given a year and a day to find out, and on the last day, when he nearly had given up all hope, he sees an old woman in a field who makes a deal with him. The old lady gives the Knight a choice: to have an old, but faithful, wife, or to have a drop-dead gorgeous woman, but to have her never to be faithful, before she tells him what the Queen wants to know. The old lady and Knight get married and she wants him to sleep with her, like husbands are supposed to do with their wives. They argue and she gives him the two choices again; to have an ugly wife, but she is faithful. The other choice is to have a drop-dead gorgeous wife, but is never faithful. With this, he learns a lesson, and sufficient punishment.
A love triangle it is defined as a situation where one partner is romantically involved with another person. A perfect love triangle to me would be, a Queen who is married to a rich King with a love for her Kings knight. Guinevere is a young beautiful queen who marries King Arthur. Lancelot is a knight of King Arthur, but Guinevere is romantically involved with Lancelot.
The tales of King Arthur and many of their numerous characters are well known in literature. The Arthurian world is one of the great myths of modern times. Those great pieces of literature have many common themes, one of them being courtly love “L’amour Courtois”. This paper talks of courtly love as seen in King Arthur’s world especially examining “Yvain or the Knight with the Lion” and “Lancelot: or the Knight of the Cart”. Furthermore, one of the goals is to show how that courtly love could be seen in today in our world.
The elements of courtly love operate at several levels simultaneously in The Knight of the Cart; they are expressed by the behaviors of Lancelot, Queen Guinevere, Meleagant and other characters in the story. Two vividly deployed elements are the concepts of loyalt...
Marie de France’s “Lanval” is a Breton lai dominated by themes common to 12th century literature, which through its exploration of love, erotic desire, wealth, gender and community, tells the story of a young knight who finds himself caught between two worlds: his lover’s and his own. Forced to separate these societies by a warning in which his lover states, “do not let any man know about this…you would lose me for good if this love were known” (Lines 145-148), Lanval must keep his love a secret and exist apart from the Arthurian world into which he was born. Consequently, romantic love between Lanval and his fairie queen exists conditionally, that is upon Lanval’s physical and emotional isolation. This restriction suggests that romantic love, as described in terms of erotic desire and physical/emotional devotion throughout “Lanval,” is unsuited for existence in the mundanity of Arthurian society. Therefore, Lanval’s solitude is necessary for his maintaining his relationship with the fairie queen, a fact that suggests the incompatibility of romantic love with Arthurian society, as Marie depicts it.
In The Lais of Marie de France, the theme of love is conceivably of the utmost importance. Particularly in the story of Guigemar, the love between a knight and a queen brings them seemingly true happiness. The lovers commit to each other an endless devotion and timeless affection. They are tested by distance and are in turn utterly depressed set apart from their better halves. Prior to their coupling the knight established a belief to never have interest in romantic love while the queen was set in a marriage that left her trapped and unhappy. Guigemar is cursed to have a wound only cured by a woman’s love; he is then sent by an apparent fate to the queen of a city across the shores. The attraction between them sparks quickly and is purely based on desire, but desire within romantic love is the selfishness of it. True love rests on a foundation that is above mere desire for another person. In truth, the selfishness of desire is the
With the lady, and demands of the court, the future of knights was shifted in a different direction; she demanded that a knight act with strength on one hand, and courtesy and respect on the other. A knight should respect women; he should defend them in their hour of need, shunning the magnetic gravity of mere lust. Love could be a powerful influence over a knight, a force that could propel him to greatness beyond his own abilities; the church declared that only the spiritual love of Christ was superior to the love of a woman, the important aspect here is love was added as a chivalric element.
The consequences for the knight are disastrous, as he’s caught in the snare of her beauty and wiles, blinding him to the warnings of the changes in nature that surround him. This is exactly the case of conflict in Wuthering Heights, where Heathcliff is entranced by Catherine and her beauty in the early stages of his life. This is disastrous, as he is fuelled by jealousy of others close to Catherine resulting in the majority of conflict present in the latter stages of the novel.