Knights in the Canterbury Tales, The Knight's Tale, And The Miller's Tale

The narrator in the Prologue of "The Canterbury Tales" paints a noble view of the Knight. For instance, we are told that the knight is a distinguished man who practiced "chivalry,/Truth, honour, generousness and courtesy" (20).

We are also told he is wise, and he fought in "fifteen mortal battles" across the world. (21) While the narrator may have an ideal view of the noble knight, Chaucer has another.

For instance, in The Knight's Tale, we have two imprisoned knights who are cousins born of "Royal Blood" (46). As fate would have it, Arcite and Palamon fall in love the lovely Emily and this causes great strife between them while they are in prison. This is the first example of how Chaucer is using satire because the two knights are certainly not behaving in a noble manner. The...
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