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Love in literature essay
Theme of love in Shakespeare plays
Aspects of love in shakespeare
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I think that “The Knights Tale” is mostly about love and the different emotions it creates. The two cousins Palamon and Arcita who are knights in the Theban army are imprisoned for several years after being found. “Pierced through with many a grievous bloody wound, two young knights lying side by side” (1010-1011). Sharing prison together they see a beautiful woman Emily who I believe Palamon sees first. Does that really matter when it comes to love? It never has! He tells his cousin Arcita about her who also falls in love with her as well! Go figure! I think Palamon and Arcita need to be taught the most chivalric code of them all. There is plenty of fish in the sea, always. Even though they are cousins and there are plenty fish in the sea, love turns them emotional and competitive against each other. I believe at one point Arcita wants to remain in prison so that he can be around Emily. At this point i’m face palming, I just don’t agree with this way of thinking. They both eventually get out and end up fighting over her. Thesus The King wants them dead but find an alternate solution of them fighting it out in year with 100 knights and the winner to gain Emily’s …show more content…
A crazy twist though, Arcita is fatally wounded after being thrown from his horse. Before he passes he realizes that there is no better man for her than Palamon. So eventually Arcita and Palamon get married. In my opinion this was a complete shocker. The one thing I really loved about this story though is what the power of love can do. These two men are knights and pretty much brothers. They had jealousy and hate towards each other because of the love. You can also say that the love was also positive because Arcita acknowledged that Palamon was a suitable husband for Emily. I think at the end Palamon forgives their differences and makes sure he honors his fallen brother by being the best husband he can be to
The Arthurian legends of Iwein and Gawain and the Green Knight are two examples of the medieval initiation story: a tale in which a character, usually in puberty or young adulthood, leaves home to seek adventures and, in the process, maturity. Through the course of their adventures, including a meeting with the man of the wilderness, temptations at the hands of women, and a permanent physical or mental wounding, the character grows from adolescent awkwardness and foolishness to the full potential knightly honor. While both Arthurian legends fit this format, the depth of character development, specifically in terms of relationships, is vastly different. Whereas Gawain and the Green Knight does little more with relationships than demonstrate the evils of female temptations, Iwein effectively explores the formation, destruction, and resurrection of numerous male and female relationships.
In conclusion, the Knight basically go anything he could’ve ever wanted in life. He did crack the code of women, but not on his own although it does make him more wise then most men which still don’t quite get it to this day. The Knight should have been sentenced to death in the very beginning and no, in fact he did not get the punishment he deserved his crime was a very awful one.
There are many aspects of The Knight's Tale that strike the reader as unusual or disturbing. When Palomon first spots Emily, he “cries out” as if he were physically injured, the injury of course being located in his heart (32). The concept of a character being struck with “love-at-first-sight” pains (reminiscent of Ovid's signs of love sickness) is a fairly common convention for a romance to use; Anyone of Chaucer's time who had read a romance before would recognize this. Even Palomon's short monologue about claiming to be able to die from Emily's beauty, and his questioning of whether or not she is a human or a goddess, safely fit into one's expectations of a typical romance, however exaggerated they may sound (32). The knight, in telling the story, likewise shows no surprise at Palomon's sudden burst of emotion; to him this sort of reaction is expected. Because the knight is supposed to represent the typical status quo of high-ranking aristocracy, this is the sort of story he is used to himself- it's likely that he is simply repeating a story he knows by memory, without any thought of questioning it. One the things this does for Chaucer is demonstrate how well he “knows his stuff”; basically he is able to show off h...
She is a patient of asylum, also a prisoner. There are more than one changes in her miserable life. Start from her childhood, her father, that arrogant rich man looked down every person of Jefferson. What he has taught Emily it is his selfish dignity. Emily grows up in this kind of situation. For her teen period, the time girls will have oodles of fantasy and dream of love, her father broke it harshly. He shut those guys who asked Emily for a date out of the door as he thinks they are not good enough for her. Emily just surrenders as a good girl. That causes the first twist of her life when it comes her father's death. Emily thinks he left her alone after keeping her in prison all these years. She doesn't know how to stay with people and it is his responsibility. Thus, she wants revenge, she wants to treat her father like what he has done to her, trapped him. Emily tells the Jefferson that her father was still alive and denied the truth. "After her father's death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all." It is her second change, Emily's lover leave her. We can find out that one more person she loves has abandoned her, again. It brings the following terror, she kills Homer, the unmarried man. Poor Emily cannot bear separation any longer, so she upgrades her action of escaping the truth, leading Homer's death to keep his body like exactly what had happened when her father died. Besides, she sleeps next to him, it shows
First, it is important to discuss the similarities between the two stories; once the similarities are presented, it will be easier to compare the two stories and their shift in meaning. Both stories are grounded in a story that involves a love triangle, an authoritative figure, and a fight for love. In the Knight’s Tale, there is a love triangle between Sir Palamon, Sir Arcite, and Lady Emelye, all of whom are members of nobility. In contrast, The Miller’s Tale features a love triangle between Absolon, a parish clerk, Nicholas a clerk, and Alisoun an 18 year old wild spirit, all of whom are members of the middle class. In both stories there is an authoritative figure that tries to control the future of the lady in the love triangle. ...
Chivalry was a set of codes and values that the knights would follow to show loyalty to their king, respect to their lady, and humbleness to the poor. Next, courtly love was more of a tradition that was beheld usually by a knight and a lady such as Lady Bertilak, they would engage in a relationship and it would be kept a secret. The two have conflicts with each other because while Sir Gawain was courting Lady Bertilak’s he was to do as commanded but also was to not betray the loyalty of King Bertilak who was his host. Furthermore, while Sir Gawain was receiving kisses he also had a deal with his Host, anything he received in his castle would be given to King Bertilak and in exchange, he would receive what the king killed during his hunt. Throughout the first and second time that the king left and came back from hunting Sir Gawain gave him the kisses he received but on the third he failed to give him what he received since Lady Bertilak had given him a green griddle and told him to take it as well as to not to tell her husband about it. Sir Gawain was not to say a word about the gift but in receiving this gift and doing what she commands he breaks the deal between his host and he fails to be
In the story A Rose for Emily I did not find Emily’s character to be fully twisted or grotesque. In my eyes I found her to be someone who took her fathers word very highly no matter what anyone says. Though she might have had some weird fantasy, she definitely went through a lot, which probably played a factor in some of her decisions in life. You definitely can find Emily’s character to be looked at as sympathetic. Faulkner says certain things to show sympathy for Emily. Not only just her father passing showed Emily to be a sympathetic character, she also gets sick and could never find love. Due to Emily taking her father words very highly, she couldn’t find love because her father felt as if know one was good enough for his daughter. Emily
Love is a powerful emotion, capable of turning reasonable people into fools. Out of love, ridiculous emotions arise, like jealousy and desperation. Love can shield us from the truth, narrowing a perspective to solely what the lover wants to see. Though beautiful and inspiring when requited, a love unreturned can be devastating and maddening. In his play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare comically explores the flaws and suffering of lovers. Four young Athenians: Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Helena, are confronted by love’s challenge, one that becomes increasingly difficult with the interference of the fairy world. Through specific word choice and word order, a struggle between lovers is revealed throughout the play. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare uses descriptive diction to emphasize the impact love has on reality and one’s own rationality, and how society’s desperate pursuit to find love can turn even strong individuals into fools.
Closely associated to the romance tradition are two idealized standards of behavior, especially for knights: courage and chivalry. The protagonist within many medieval romances proved their worth by going on quests, as many a knights went in those times, thus returning with great tales of their travels and deeds. Many modern people think of chivalry as referring to a man's gallant treatment of women, and although that sense is derived from the medieval chivalric ideal, chivalry could be seen as more than that. Knights were expected to be brave, loyal, and honorable-sent to protect the weak, be noble to...
The Knight's tale, tells the story of Palamon and Arcite who are kinsmen and brother, they are both taken prisoner during the siege and destruction of Thebes by Theseus, the ruler of Athens. While in prison they both fall in love with Emily, Theseus sister-in-law, who is taking a morning walk in the garden below their window. After a bitter rivalry, they are reconciled through a tournemant in which Emily is the prize. Arcite wins the tournament but he lies dying after being thrown by his horse, before his death a makes a noble speech which encourage Palamon to marry Emily. The Knight's Tale might be one of the more complex tale of the Canterb...
The knight from The Wife of Bath Tale is the least moral of all the knights, because of his unbelievable actions towards women. “He saw a girl...alone as she was born, and, despite her resistance, he ravished her” (Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath Tale” 184). He clearly didn’t care about being chivalrous or having any morals when he molested this girl. Even though he is considered a knight, or squire, by King Arthur’s court “..King Arthur had in his court a lusty squire..” (Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath Tale” 184). The knight still had the nerves to undertake such a disgraceful and despicable action towards someone whom he was suppose to have courtesy for. His actions have not only dishonored King Arthur but every knight of the court as well. Although the knight is hopelessly adulterated in his own selfish desires, he does show a scant amount of chivalry when he says to the old lady“You have my word” (Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath Tale” 187). By saying this the knight shows that he possesses honor, a virtue of chivalry, the virtue of being able to keep one’s word. But after being saved by what the old lady taught the knight, he tries to bail on his word when she requested him...
Many tales of courtly love are also tales of chivalry. Chivalry began to develop in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and since then, chivalric literature has existed as one of the main sites of human rights and social criticism (Wollock 266). In chivalric theory, an honorable knight gives respect to others in all matters of action and of speech (267). Chaucer describes the knight in The Canterbury Tales by saying, “He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde / in al his lyf unto no maner wight. / He was verray, parfit gentil knyght” (Chaucer 70-72). While Chaucer’s knight is not a true example of courtly love, for Chaucer assigns the Squire that trait, he does possess the qualities of chivalry, which allow him to present a story of courtly love in his tale.
Throughout the events which unfold in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare delivers several messages on love. Through this play, one of the significant ideas he suggests is that love is blind, often defying logic and overriding other emotions and priorities. Helena loves Demetrius unconditionally and pursues him despite knowing that he loathes her; conflict arises between Helena and Hermia, childhood best friends, over Demetrius and Lysander; and because she is in love, Queen Titania is able to see beauty and virtue in the ass-headed Nick Bottom.
True Love in The Merchant of Venice Among the various themes presented in the Merchant of Venice most important is the nature of true love. The casket plot helps illustrate the theme of the book. Through a variety of suitors the descriptions of the caskets, Shakespeare shows the reader how different people view true love. He also shows what is most important to the suitors and in some cases it is not true love, but material things and outward appearance. The first suitor who tries to win Portia's hand is the Prince of Morocco.
Emily, was the kind of girl who completely gives herself for her love ones, and now her first love, one cannot just imagine how committed she was to him and to their whole relationship. Call her old fashion but she thought of marriage and children from the very first