In the Knight, Essay Example

Order and Passion in the “Knight’s Tale”

In The Knight’s Story, Theseus is the duke, prince, and ruler of Athens. He is portrayed as a wise and virtuous man who has conquered many kingdoms and won numerous battles. Theseus is crucial to the plot for several reasons. He is a man of great power who helps the story to grow and advance. The Knight seems to be preoccupied with order and passion. To make sense attempts to make systematic what, amid these values, appear to be governed by chance and emotions are visible. As the Knight’s spokesperson, Theseus has a set of codes for dealing with life and talks with authority and wisdom. However, underneath the controlled narrative form’s stately veneer, there is a fear of chaos and bestiality in the plot, volcanic passions, and disorder. The term “to and for” denotes either a sense of futility or an accumulation of energy. In a metaphysical context, the Knight may be considered a “soldier of fortune.” In my essay, I will examine Theseus’s fascination with order (both civic and cosmic) and his profound fear of disorder, taking into account his social rank and chivalric duties. Additionally, I will be considering, in particular, how successful this model sovereign, Christian, conqueror, and courtly lover, is in preserving the order he reveres.

Theseus is the ancient world’s version of a high school principal: he’s in charge of implementing the rules, breaking up battles, and even coordinating the creation of a new playing field where competing parties can battle it out. Theseus portrays authorities and order in the world of “The Knight’s Story.” He exudes “wisdom and chivalry.” From the moment we meet Theseus, it’s evident that his outstanding reputation has spread all over the story. Theseus tries to bring order to disorder for the first time as he resolves to save Thebes’ city all by himself. Following a good war against the Amazons, Theseus feels it is his responsibility to bring order to Creon’s chaos. “swoor his ooth, as he was trewe knyght, He wolde doon so ferforthly his myght. Upon the tiraunt Creon hem to wreke. That al the peple opeoplece sholde speke. How Creon was of Theseus yservedserved that hadde his deeth fdeathl deswelled.” (Chaucer, 959-964) Theseus claims that it is his duty as a leader to restore order and peace to the chaos that Creon has made, including the bodies stacked up in the streets. This is one of the few occasions that Theseus’ efforts to restore order can be considered successful. He is greeted by a large group of damsels in distress who had waited fourteen days at the Temple of Clemence to implore him to avenge Creon, a dictator king, who refuses to allow them to bury their spouses’ bodies (which breaks the Greek rules surrounding the proper burial of the dead). They have certainly heard of Theseus and his fame, and they assume he’s the right guy for the job of avenging Creon. Theseus is unable to deny the damsels in distress. As the courteous and rule-enforcing person that he is, Theseus must ensure Creon is not left unpunished. Similarly, he must settle the feud between Arcite and Palamon, not just because it concerns his sister-in-law but also since it is causing civil strife in his territories and jeopardizing his authority.

Theseus, on the other hand, isn’t just a ruler. He also devotes a significant amount of time to contemplating life’s laws and sharing his observations. He does this for the first time when he comes across Palamon and Arcite fighting in the forest and learns the reason for their conflict. “The God of love, a benedicite! How mighty and how great a lord is he! Ayeyns his myght the gayneth none obstacles, He may be cleped a god for his miracles, For he kan maken at his owene gise Of everich herte as that hym list divyse.”( Chaucer, 927-932). According to Theseus, love does have the ability to transform each heart to its will. Arcite and Palamon are perfect examples of this since they can break their affirmed brotherhood oaths and, in Arcite’s scenario, one is ready to risk death to gain their respective lover. As a result, they show how love triumphs over all other considerations.  He links this debate to the basic general principle that love is superior to all other gods and focuses on all the foolish things people can do for love similarly. As Arcite dies, Theseus is unable to stay silent. He relates Arcite’s death to the universal rule that all passes and uses it as proof of an ultimate being with a well-thought-out plan for his existence. Theseus’ thoughts reveal something about his personality: he is a guy who enjoys abstractions – deducing universal laws from particular situations. He’s a kind of king-philosopher. It is not to suggest that Theseus resides in a lofty perch with his head in the clouds. Theseus, on the other hand, uses his observations to find out how he and others can behave. “He hath considered shortly in a clause. The trespass of hem bothe, and eek the cause, And although that his ire hir gilt accused, Yet in his resoun he hem both excused. As thus: he thoghte well that every man. Wol help himself in love, if that he kan, And eek delivere hym-self out of prison; And eek his herte hadde compassion. Of women, for they weren’t ever in oon.”( Chaucer, 905-913). As he interrupts Arcite and Palamon’s combat, he chooses to be merciful to them since one of the rules of “discretion,” or making the right decisions, is to differentiate between items. Theseus considers that since Palamon and Arcite behave with modesty, he should not regard them as though they were acting with pride. Similarly, Theseus reasons that the correct approach to demise is to keep the living from the law that all dies. As a result, he arranges for Emily and Palamon to wed.

Theseus, similar to the Knight, is a personification of the model of Human Justice — logic. Theseus’ two significant wars — the first with the Amazons, a band of fearsome female warriors headed by Hyppolyta, and the second with Creon, a rigid dictator — illustrate two forms of social dysfunction. The Amazonian culture is fundamentally fine, but it lacks the male rationality law. Hippolyta (described as “fair” and “hardy”), a female monarch, reflects social disorder. Theseus (who is known for his “wisdom” and “chivalry”) is the ruler of Athens, the city of justice and learning, and as such, he must subdue Hippolyta. Besides, Creon’s dictatorship reflects a more severe type of social disorder: Creon’s lower nature (filled with indignation and iniquity) has taken over his reasoning. In another way, the two wars are important. They depict the perfect Knight’s female relationships. Theseus conquers and chastises Hippolyta before marrying and governing her. Later, during his war with Creon, he lends his masculine power to the helpless women of Thebes. In giving in to the women’s pleadings, Theseus demonstrates that his guiding characteristic is reason: despite his own emotion (in this case, anger), he is moved to logical compassion. Theseus recognizes the knights’ actions, as ludicrous as it may be, as he’s been a follower of love himself. Similarly, Arcite reveals in his lament that he is oblivious to his good fortune and is preoccupied with physical matters. Palamon demonstrates his ability to live (and possibly die) by the chivalric code by insisting that both he and Arcite be executed for their crimes.

God (“the First Moevere”), according to Theseus, is the one who sets the limits. Theseus refers to the “faire cheyne of love” as a list of all that exists. Aristotle and Plato, for example, assumed that divine influence kept everything together. God ties the universe in this chain (“cheyne”), defining the limits of everything’s life. Nothing will move beyond this, says Theseus. “The First Moevere of the cause above Whan he first made the faire cheyne of love, Greet was the effect,and heigh was his entente; Wel wiste he why, and what therof he mente, For with that faire cheyne of love he bond. The first, the eyr, the water, and the lond, In certeyn boundes that they may nat flee.”( Chaucer, 2129-2135) The orderliness of life, according to Theseus, demonstrates the First Mover’s existence as eternal besides stable. If Heaven is orderly and governed, and all of life is orderly and ruled, then God ought to be tidy and judged as well. The nature of life, according to Theseus, is parts extracted from God’s whole. The theory is that objects derive their life from God’s existence, derived from ancient Greek philosophy once again. The only difference between things is how much they engage in this life or how much “being” they have. Items made by humans are flawed and “corruptable” or subject to alteration. On the other hand, all are derived from God, perceived to be perfect and “stable,” or unchanging. “Thanne may men by this ordre wel discerne. That thilke Moevere stable is and eterne. Wel may men knowe, but it be a fool, That every part deryveth from his hool; For nature hath not taken his bigynnyng Of no partie nor cantel of a thing, But of a thing that parfit is and stable, Descending so till it be corruptible”.( Chaucer, 2145-2152)”And therefore, of his wise purveyance, He hath so well biset his ordinance, That species of thynges and progressions. Cullen endure by successions, And nat eterne, withouten any lye.” (Chaucer, 2153-2157).Theseus tries to bring into light that the primary reason for God’s “ordinance,” or design for our universe was to last by “successions,” from the creation of one thing to another. Hence, a leader needs to have the passion to conduct the people he is leading in a reasonably orderly manner.

Works Cited

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Knight’s tale. Cambridge University Press, 2016.