Reflection For The Story of The Knight's Tale

Reflection for the story of The Knight’s Tale
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories .It was written by Geoffrey Chaucer in
Middle English at the end of 14th century. It includes a lot of histories. These stories are told by
a group of pilgrims on their way from Southwark to Canterbury. Courtly love, treachery, and the
ambition of money are themes in Canterbury Tales .The knight's tale is one of the tales.
The Knight's Tale is a romance and it is set in mythological Greece.The main theme is
courtly love. In this tale, the knight is the first pilgrim and the teller of the first tale. He is a
brave, experienced and prudent man greatly admired by the narrator. He has participated in the
fifteen of the great crusades of his period. The knight is a great conqueror named Theseus in
Ancient Greece. He rules the city of Athens .Other characters are Palamon and Arcite. They are
prisoners because of being enemy soldiers on the battlefield. Also, they are cousins and sworn
brothers. Both cousins live in an Athenian tower for several years .Another important character is
Emelye. She is a beautiful girl and Theseus's sister-in-law.
One spring morning , she makes flower garlands , both couisins see this beautiful girl
when they look out the window from the prison tower .Both Arcite and Palamon fall in love
with the beautiful girl , Emelye .They argue over her , but neither can ever leave from the prison
tower .
One day, Perotheus who is friend with both Theseus and Arcite, petitions for Arcite's
freedom from Theseus and then the great conqueror Theseus banishes the prisoner Arcite
permanently from Athens but Arcite still loves Emelye because he sees her every day from the
prison tower.
Sometime later, winged Mercury appears to Arcite in his dream and insists upon him to
return to Athens. Then he returns to Athens, but his cousin Palamon has escaped from the prison.
A great conqueror Thesus learn that both enemy soldiers love Emelye and he holds a tournament.
The winner will be awarded Emelye's hand.
Reflection for the story of The Miller’s Tale
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Miller’s Tale, Nicholas, a tenant of a John the carpenter, is in
love with Nicholas’ wife, Alison. Nicholas devises a plan that will allow he and Alison to be able
to spend the night together, getting John out of the way. Nicholas goes ‘mad’ and tells John they
need to stay the night on the roof with supplies in preparation of the oncoming flood. Nicholas
then goes down to stay with Alison, while John is still on the roof. Various comical events occur
making John think that the flood is actually coming, while all of his supplies for the fabricated
flood, including a tub, fall from the roof and come crashing though the ceiling. The fact that
there was indeed no flood as predicted made John seem ‘mad’ to the townspeople as well as
Alison and Nicholas’ act of pretending ignorant.
Quite a few conclusions can be drawn, themes can be explored, and questions can be
asked. For example, what is Chaucer’s purpose in writing this tale? Perhaps this provided the
collection with a bit of comic relief. Considering the introduction to this story started off with the
Miller being drunk and telling quite a joke of a story, the story of this tale is quite light and more
exciting to the reader. Various twists happen that make the reader want to know how the story is
going to end. The Miller’s Tale was actually regarded as somewhat crude and inappropriate in
the earlier times, highlighting the difference between the classes of people in Chaucer’s day.
Again, although drunk, the Miller uses colloquial language and tells the tale as a form of life that
he knows; without taking into consideration any audiences, being sensible, or censoring. Perhaps
the role of the Miller in and of himself has an explicit purpose. The higher classes of people in
Chaucer’s time tended to have higher values than the common people like the miller.
Because of the focus on relationships and love, maybe Chaucer’s underlying message is
actually a comment at the role of marriage. Perhaps it is somewhat of a warning to the readers
that those who marry should be similar and must be able to get along in many circumstances,
regarding age. Chaucer describes this marriage as though it is doomed from the start in a sense
because of the age differences. Another purpose of this tale may be to emphasize the importance
of trusting others. I know that seemed very relevant to me, as the reader. It really did make me
think who was important to trust not only in this fictional story, but also applying it to my life
today, thousands of years later. In the context of the story, the carpenter faithfully trusts his wife,
causing Nicholas to go mad.

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Reflection for the story of The Knight’s Tale

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