The representation of chivalry in The Knight's Tale

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to determine to what extent the contemporaneous state of chivalry has influenced Chaucer's Knight in his literary endeavor. First I analyze the Knight's personality, which evinces his militant and nonconformist nature: as opposed to the majority of knights, Chaucer's Knight, in an attempt to uphold the ideal of chivalry, is engaged in religious campaigns, while he refrains from taking part in the Hundred Years War. To his eyes this is an immoral war among Christians which is mainly motivated by the lucrative desires of the so-called nobles.