Hypocrisy In The Knights Tale And The Wife Of Bath

In the Canterbury Tales a variety of characters are mentioned, many of which fit into well-known societal roles. Some of these characters, however, are quite hypocritical and do not follow the standards set upon them either by themselves or by society. Two wonderful examples of this hypocrisy can be found in The Knight’s Tale and The Tale of The Wife of Bath. A pair of knights that appear in The Knight’s Tale displayed this regarding chivalry while The Tale of The Wife of Bath showed hypocrisy towards consent. The Knight’s Tale began by introducing a knight named Theseus, the lord and governor of Athens. On his venture home after marrying, he encountered a group of women, shrouded in black clothes and filled with sorrow. When asked why†¦show more content†¦Having heard his wife and sister-in-law’s pleas for mercy upon the men Theseus did not kill them and instead instructed them to each assemble an army and that in one year they would battle for h er hand. The two men later returned with their armies and a tournament was held, Arcita being the victor, however, after a sudden earthquake he was thrown from his horse and mortally wounded. With his final breaths Arcita tells Emily that nobody could be a better husband for her than Palamon and after a speech by Theseus Emily marries him. Hypocrisy is displayed in this tale through the two knights of Thebes. Arcita and Palamon are royal knights are meant to be chivalrous, as expected of any knight during this time. Knights during this time were expected to be the ideal man, being honest, honorable, and courteous. The tale quickly presents Theseus and gives the impression that he is a chivalrous knight as it states, â€Å"Giving them comfort understandingly: And he sword his oath, that as he was true knight, He would put forth so thoroughly his might Against the tyrant Creon† Theseus is selfless and happy to help the women, seeking nothing from it for himself. Shortly after this though the knights of Thebes are introduced, and it is quickly apparent that they do not follow chivalry. When Palamon sees Emily he says, â€Å"I know not if she’s woman or goddess;Show MoreRelatedUse Of Satire In Canterbury Tales1301 Words   |  6 PagesChaucer’s Satyric Attack (An analysis of Chaucer’s use of satire to reach his intended audience in his Canterbury Tales) Satire is defined as â€Å"the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize peoples stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues† (Oxford). Another term that people would be more familiar with to describe this would be sarcasm. Language can be utilized in a nasty way, especially when wanting to demoralizeRead MoreWilliam Chaucer s The Wife Of Bath1347 Words   |  6 Pagesliterature begins to introduce a new archetype for women that writers follow in stories by describing them with motherly characteristics and taboo ideas in texts, such as the epic poem, Beowulf, Geoffrey Chaucer’s â€Å"The Wife of Bath’s Prologue† and â€Å"The Wife of Bath’s Tale† in The Canterbury Tales, and the play named The Beggar’s Opera, which brings forth the idea of what is morally acceptable characteristics for women in literature and why writers portray women as antagonist or protagonist with misunderstoodRead MoreThe Portrait of Medieval Social Classes as Presented in the General Prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer’s the Canterbury Tales4628 Words   |  19 PagesIntroduction The General Prologue fulfils two functions: it tells the story of how the tales came to be told, and it introduces the tellers. There are about thirty pilgrims travelling to Canterbury to pray to the holy blissful martyr- St. Thomas of Becket. These characters can be considered the portrait of the whole Middle English society. All the pilgrims can be divided into particular hierarchic structure of classes. The simplest division of society was into three estates: those who fight, thoseRead MoreFigurative Language and the Canterbury Tales13472 Words   |  54 Pagesones. Often this term is used interchangeably with both the literary technique and the larger story itself that contains the smaller ones, which are called framed narratives or embedded narratives. The most famous example is Chaucers Canterbury Tales, in which the overarching frame narrative is the story of a band of pilgrims traveling to the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. The band passes the time in a storytelling contest. The framed narratives are the individual stories told by the