As you read "The Knight’s Tale," respond to the following. Give specific line numbers from the text where appropriate. Bring your responses to class on Thursday.
1. Chaucer writes this tale in the high style which requires rhetorical devices "to produce elegantly adorned verse." See if you can find specific passages where Chaucer uses these rhetorical devices:
A. Epanaphora (occurs when one and the same word forms successive beginnings for phrases expressing like and different ideas)
B. Apostrophe (is the figure which expresses grief or indignation by means of an address to some man or city or place or object)
C. Occupatio (is the refusal to narrate or describe, yet nonetheless ends up narrating and defining)
D. Continuatio (is the pithy expression of a thought)
E. Dubitatio (when the narrator doubts what to say or how to say it or his ability to say it)
2. Throughout the tale, Chaucer incorporates Boethian passages about fortune. Identify several such passages.
PART ONE
1. Find the narrator’s intrusion in the opening lines.
2. Whom has Theseus conquered at the beginning of the tale?
3. As he returns from Femenye, Theseus encounters some weeping women. Why does he originally think they are weeping?
4. Why, in fact, do the women weep?
5. Why does Theseus agree to seek vengeance on their behalf?
6. Where does Theseus find Arcite and Palamon?
7. How are Arcite and Palamon related?
8. Why don’t Theseus’ men kill Arcite and Palamon?
9. Note the description of Emelye. It is a conventional description of a courtly lady.
10. Who first sees Emelye?
11. In line 1081, why does Arcite believe that Palamon is upset?
12. Note the passage in which Palamon first sees Emelye: "and with that sighte hir beautee hurte hym so" (1114). As this line and the subsequent actions evidence, courtly love is not a meeting of the minds but can be based solely on appearance.
13. Why does each knight believe that he has the right to love Emelye?
14. What vow have the knights made to each other regarding love?
15. Why does Arcite argue that their earlier vow does not hold in this situation?
16. How is Arcite released from prison?
17. Why is Arcite unhappy about his freedom?
PART TWO
1. What happens to Arcite after he is released from prison?
2. Why does Arcite decide to return to Athens?
3. What new name does Arcite take upon his return?
4. What position does he assume? (And how is it possible that he manages to climb the social ranks?)
5. How does Palamon escape from prison?
6. Where and under what circumstances do Palamon and Arcite meet again?
7. Why don’t the two knights fight on the spot?
8. How does Theseus chance upon the two knights when they fight?
9. Again, why doesn’t Theseus kill them on the spot?
10. How does Theseus propose to remedy the situation?
11. What does Emelye have to say about this?
PART THREE
1. Note the elaborate description of the tournament arena, the rules for fighting, and the fight itself. Through this fictional account, what can you tell about medieval tournaments?
2. To what three gods are temples built?
3. What characteristics are associated with each god?
4. To which god does Palamon pray?
5. Specifically, what does he ask the god to grant him?
6. What response is he given?
7. To whom does Emelye pray?
8. Specifically, what does she ask the god to grant her?
9. What response is she given?
10. To whom does Arcite pray?
11. Specifically, what does he ask the god to grant him?
12. What response is he given?
13. What happens between the gods following these prayers?
PART FOUR
1. What rules does Theseus give for the battle?
2. Describe the battle.
3. Who wins the fight? Describe the events leading up to this defeat.
4. How does Emelye react?
5. How does Saturn intervene?
6. What happens to Arcite? Be specific.
7. What are Arcite’s last words?
8. Now, how does Emelye react?
9. Who is Egeus?
10. What advice does Egeus give?
11. Describe the funeral.
12. What Boethian elements do you find in Theseus’ long speech?
13. The knight, we later learn, likes a happy ending. How does this tale ultimately end on a happy note?