Introduction:In his outstanding work Canterbury Tales, Chaucer in the very prologue introduces all the characters who will be telling their tales during their pilgrimage to Canterbury. The more we consider the fact that one of the most magnificent, the most important features of his writing is subtle irony and satirical treating his characters, the more we are interested in portrayal of the first mentioned pilgrim, namely the knight. It seems that the only person whom Chaucer depicted with respect and described as honorable and worthy is precisely he. The very fact that the author introduces the knight before all others characters and is given the honor to present his story first tells us enough of the narrator's highly positive thinking of the knight and the concept of behavior which is inevitably related to him. The knight is described as the embodiment of an ideal, honorable person and an ardent, Christian, bold warrior:And heôd fought for our faith at TramisseneThree times in lists, and each time slain his foeâ¦â¦He was a truly perfect, gentle knight.
Geoffrey Chaucer, whose Canterbury Tales shares ma...
English: Scan of Ellesmere manuscript of Canterbur...
KnightsThe knight presented is not just a glorious warrior, but an honest Christian serving his faith which is illustrated in the fact that right after a battle, he goes to pilgrimage as a dedicated Christian: For he had lately come from his voyageAnd now was going on this pilgrimage.
This short glimpse into the knight's character and its treatment by the author was rather necessary for the further speaking of the knight's tale, since a significant trait of the Canterbury Tales is a close relation between the teller and his tale. The rule to which the author consistently stick is overlapping of a teller's character and ideas presented in his story. The themes and the moral of a tale are always reflected back on its teller's...