Cant Hardly Wait Compared To The Canterbury Tales

Literature of the Middle Ages can not be discussed without acknowledging the undeniable importance of chivalry. Chivalry in relation to the middle ages is defined as “the code of conduct adhered to by Medieval knights with gallant knightly values including honor, bravery, courteousness and honesty.” This key characteristic is essential in defining an ideal knight as well as his expectations. A knight must live by a chivalric code in which he becomes indebted to the people, his fellow knights, and most importantly, his lord. No other knight displayed more of a devotion to upholding the code then Lanval of Marie de France’s lai “Lanval.” Lanval demonstrates his chivalric nature in essential every action from maintaining comitatus amongst the

In the time period between 1066 and 1485, better known as the medieval age, a set of standards and how people are placed into order of importance in society is known as feudalism. In this caste system there are four groups; Kings, Barons, Vassals, and Serfs. The main individual of focus comes from the vassals, better known as the knight. Knights from this time period start out around 7 years old and are taught a code of chivalry (code of conduct) and the basics of knight hood. The knight in the Wife of Bath’s tale forcibly violates a young madden and punished with execution by decapitation. He is saved by the queen but is sent on a twelve month and a day quest. The knight in the Wife of Bath’s Tale doesn’t display chivalry by his actions

Hodges, featured in April 1995 edition of The Chaucer Review, Hodges examines the reasons behind Chaucer's decisions on the clothing of his Knight. After examining the introduction of the Knight's character in the General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales, Ms. Hodges said that Chaucer intended his Knight to be the one true to life portrait of a knight of the 14th century-an every knight of sorts. She also concluded that Chaucer wanted to go against the normal chivalric ideal of a knight by presenting a knight as he really might have been: a basically good person, but with imperfections. I disagree with Hodges about Chaucer's intentions when characterizing the knight. I don't think the knight was meant to be a true to life portrait of "the every knight".

The Knight and the Nun are two significant pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous poem The Canterbury Tales. The Knight is respected by many and his main job was to defeat enemies successfully. The Nun had a lower social position than the Knight and her overall job was to praise the Lord and serve others. While the Knight appears to be a more respected pilgrim in comparison to the Nun, Chaucer uses both of the characters to contribute to the overall theme of humankind’s tendency to strive to be accepted and respected by their peers.

Upon entering his description of the Knight, Chaucer wastes no time to praise this pilgrim in every way. Not only does he note the strength and bravery that the Knight shows in his battles but also his “softer side”, where he speaks about how he “never had foul-spoken in his life”, and wears chainmail “begrimed with rust” (Chaucer 4-5). Compared to the descriptions of many of the other pilgrims, Chaucer only states positive things about this character, using no time to speak negatively about his life. Even when speaking about his “dated” clothing, he spins it around to make it sound like a positive by showing off his selflessness. Along with this, the Knights section

The Canterbury Tales were written by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. This masterpiece is one of the greatest classics of English Literature, it was and continues to be still very popular. Many manuscripts survived and it was the first work to be printed by William Caxton. It is a story about pilgrims travelling together, who tell stories on their journey to Canterbury, to pay tribute to Saint Thomas Becket. As it is a collection of tales, it varies in genre (there is beast fables, romances, fabliaux, saints’ lives…), subject, mood, length (some tales are 80-page long whereas some are much shorter), form (in verse –several verse-form are also found- or in prose). For this

The Knight’s true character is portrayed through his modest apparel. His character is displayed by the way he chooses to show himself in public, which is a noble knight, that is why he wears dirty clothes and chooses to come on the pilgrimage straight from battle. “A Knight there was and that a worthy man, that from time that he first began. To riden out, he loved chivalry. Truth and honour, freedom and courtesy,”

of the poor outfit of the Knight. Instead he attempts to point out that the

The Knight never said anything boorish, showing he was a wise man. 6. He possessed fine horses, showing he was looked upon as a great man because me must have been given the horses for something good he did, because he couldn’t afford them normally. 7. He wore a fustian tunic, stained and dark with smudges where his armor had left a mark, showing he was a very simple man not worried about his appearance. 8. After he finished serving in wars, he came home to do his pilgrimage and render thanks, showing he was religious and a hard worker. SQUIRE The Squire is defined by his settings. 1. The Squire had wonderful agility and strength displaying how he was prepared and fit to be a warrior and has chivalrous qualities. 2. The Squire’s shirt was embroidered like a meadow, bright and full of fresh flowers, red and white, illustrating he was concerned with his appearance and getting a lover. 3. He was singing and fluting all day, always joyful and trying to meet a lady. 4. He knew how to sit on a horse and ride; he could recite songs and poems; he could joust and dance, draw, and write, showing he was almost flawless. 5. Andrew says in The Canterbury Tales: The General Prologue "The Squire is like the Knight with the germ or perhaps greater perfection skill, as he blends literature and the arts with his warlike studies." (43) 6. Andrew goes even further by saying "The Squire is described as a young, loving, enthusiastic, poetical, romantic, and

In the General prologue Chaucer gives a description about all the characters. First he talks about the Knight who has values of freedom, truth honor, courtesy, and chivalry. He depicts the nobility aspect of the three

In “The Canterbury Tales” by Chaucer there is a knight that he talks about. I choose the night as one of my favorite because in his description he sounds like someone you would want to walk a long journey with him. The knight is truthful and I think that is already a good start because sometimes when you are truthful people like to talk to you and be around you. It’s also something good that people say about you and being truthful is a good thing. I think that he has been taught well because he also has some honorable knight and I visualize a good knight having a lot of respect and also being respectful too. With the respect that he has I would think that he didn’t

Chaucer shows facts about the Middle English through the people of the court system in society. In the “Prologue” Chaucer reveals the honorable qualities of the Knight during this time period. Through the speakers words “To ride abroad had

In the Medieval Time period of world history the literature was mainly written in the dominant languages of the time: French, and Italian. English language did not have the world dominance it does today, therefore not many people embraced the idea of writing in a language that the majority of people did not know. On the literary side the situation was the same; Italian, and French were the dominant languages in Europe. For someone to write in a less prominent language such as English was unheard of and bizarre. The literary topics of the time mainly revolved around chivalry. Chivalry is the way knights should behave, later it became more widely accepted to all men. It was a moral code one must live by and never disobey. Chivalry revolved around the following three topics: respect and protection of the poor, respect to all women, and respect to God. By respecting women knights would prioritize them over anyone else, they must show love, sincerity, jealousy, and honor. The respect to God refers to a knight's duty of being faithful to God, and the church. God must be the number one priority in their life. Not even the king could overtake the priority of serving God first. The combination of these two elements of medieval writing, (Italian, and French being the language of poems, and these poems being about chivalry) made it almost nearly impossible to be able to get any sort of acknowledgement, or praise for one's work. Englishman Geoffrey Chaucer who in spite of

Chaucer describes the court system of 14th century England with the use of the characters from the prologue of The Canterbury Tales. The Knight is a prime example of an idealized member of the court segment of society. Chaucer uses direct characterization to show the Knight’s idealized values. “There was a Knight, A most distinguished man, who from the day on which he first began to ride abroad had followed chivalry, Truth, honor, generousness, and courtesy”(43-47). This displays how honorable the Knight is because of his value of chivalry and other good qualities. From this description we can see that there were at least a few very noble members of society in the court system. The Squire is another character used to reveal how certain members of the court system lived in 14th century England. The Squire may not be evil, but does not hold the same value honor of and self sacrifice like the Knight does. The Squire is more self-indulgent and focuses on

This story tells me that Chaucer holds the knight in high regard. As the creator of this character and his tale, he displays his fondness of the characteristics which he attributes to the knight. Chaucer uses many great adjectives to describe the knight in the general