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    The Knight's Tale, Parts 1-2

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    Lorenzo Vaez
    1) Theseus, the ruler of Athens, takes pity on four widowed women and avenges their husbands killed in Thebes by conquering the city. He spares two wounded Theban soldiers, Palamon and Arcite, imprisoning them in a tower. 2) Both prisoners fall in love with Emelye after seeing her in the garden. They argue over her but realize they cannot have her as prisoners. Arcite is later freed but banished from Athens on pain of death. 3) Arcite returns to Thebes but grows jealous of Palamon. He disguises himself and returns to Athens, gaining a job near Emelye. Palamon escapes and discovers Arcite

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    The Knight's Tale, Parts 1-2

    Uploaded by

    Lorenzo Vaez
    171 views2 pages
    1) Theseus, the ruler of Athens, takes pity on four widowed women and avenges their husbands killed in Thebes by conquering the city. He spares two wounded Theban soldiers, Palamon and Arcite, imprisoning them in a tower. 2) Both prisoners fall in love with Emelye after seeing her in the garden. They argue over her but realize they cannot have her as prisoners. Arcite is later freed but banished from Athens on pain of death. 3) Arcite returns to Thebes but grows jealous of Palamon. He disguises himself and returns to Athens, gaining a job near Emelye. Palamon escapes and discovers Arcite

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    tale of a knight

    Original Title

    Knight Tale

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    1) Theseus, the ruler of Athens, takes pity on four widowed women and avenges their husbands killed in Thebes by conquering the city. He spares two wounded Theban soldiers, Palamon and Arcite, imprisoning them in a tower. 2) Both prisoners fall in love with Emelye after seeing her in the garden. They argue over her but realize they cannot have her as prisoners. Arcite is later freed but banished from Athens on pain of death. 3) Arcite returns to Thebes but grows jealous of Palamon. He disguises himself and returns to Athens, gaining a job near Emelye. Palamon escapes and discovers Arcite

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    171 views2 pages

    The Knight's Tale, Parts 1-2

    Uploaded by

    Lorenzo Vaez
    1) Theseus, the ruler of Athens, takes pity on four widowed women and avenges their husbands killed in Thebes by conquering the city. He spares two wounded Theban soldiers, Palamon and Arcite, imprisoning them in a tower. 2) Both prisoners fall in love with Emelye after seeing her in the garden. They argue over her but realize they cannot have her as prisoners. Arcite is later freed but banished from Athens on pain of death. 3) Arcite returns to Thebes but grows jealous of Palamon. He disguises himself and returns to Athens, gaining a job near Emelye. Palamon escapes and discovers Arcite

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    ESCUELA PROFESIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN - ESPECIALIDAD DE IDIOMAS

    CURSO: English Literature


    PROFESORA: Lorenzo VAEZ ROCA
    1
    4º IDIOMAS – 2018

    The Knight’s Tale, Parts 1–2


    From the beginning through Theseus’s decision to hold the tournament Fragment 1, lines 859–
    1880

    Part 1

    Long ago in Ancient Greece, a great conqueror and duke named Theseus ruled the city of Athens.
    One day, four women kneel in front of Theseus’s horse and weep, halting his passage into the
    city. The eldest woman informs him that they are grieving the loss of their husbands, who were
    killed at the siege of the city of Thebes. Creon, the lord of Thebes, has dishonored them by
    refusing to bury or cremate their bodies. Enraged at the ladies’ plight, Theseus marches on
    Thebes, which he easily conquers. After returning the bones of their husbands to the four
    women for the funeral rites, Theseus discovers two wounded enemy soldiers lying on the
    battlefield, nearing death. Rather than kill them, he mercifully heals the Theban soldiers’
    injuries, but condemns them to a life of imprisonment in an Athenian tower.

    The prisoners, named Palamon and Arcite, are cousins and sworn brothers. Both live in the
    prison tower for several years. One spring morning, Palamon awakes early, looks out the
    window, and sees fair-haired Emelye, Theseus’s sister-in-law. She is making flower garlands, “To
    doon honour to May” (1047). He falls in love and moans with heartache. His cry awakens Arcite,
    who comes to investigate the matter. As Arcite peers out the window, he too falls in love with
    the beautiful flower-clad maiden. They argue over her, but eventually realize the futility of such
    a struggle when neither can ever leave the prison.

    One day, a duke named Perotheus, friend both to Theseus and Arcite, petitions for Arcite’s
    freedom. Theseus agrees, on the condition that Arcite be banished permanently from Athens
    on pain of death. Arcite returns to Thebes, miserable and jealous of Palamon, who can still see
    Emelye every day from the tower. But Palamon, too, grows more sorrowful than ever; he
    believes that Arcite will lay siege to Athens and take Emelye by force. The knight poses the
    question to the listeners, rhetorically: who is worse off, Arcite or Palamon?

    Part 2

    Some time later, winged Mercury, messenger to the gods, appears to Arcite in a dream and
    urges him to return to Athens. By this time, Arcite has grown gaunt and frail from lovesickness.
    He realizes that he could enter the city disguised and not be recognized. He does so and takes
    on a job as a page in Emelye’s chamber under the pseudonym Philostrate. This puts him close
    to Emelye but not close enough. Wandering in the woods one spring day, he fashions garlands
    of leaves and laments the conflict in his heart—his desire to return to Thebes and his need to be
    ESCUELA PROFESIONAL DE COMUNICACIÓN - ESPECIALIDAD DE IDIOMAS
    CURSO: English Literature
    PROFESORA: Lorenzo VAEZ ROCA
    2
    4º IDIOMAS – 2018

    near his beloved. As it -happens, Palamon has escaped from seven years of imprisonment that
    very day and hears Arcite’s song and monologue while -sneaking through the woods. They
    confront each other, each claiming the right to Emelye. Arcite challenges his old friend to a duel
    the next day. They meet in a field and bludgeon each other ruthlessly.

    Theseus, out on a hunt, finds these two warriors brutally hacking away at each other. Palamon
    reveals their identities and love for Emelye. He implores the duke to justly decide their fate,
    suggesting that they both deserve to die. Theseus is about to respond by killing them, but the
    women of his court—especially his queen and Emelye—intervene, pleading for Palamon and
    Arcite’s lives. The duke consents and decides instead to hold a tournament fifty weeks from that
    day. The two men will be pitted against one another, each with a hundred of the finest men he
    can gather. The winner will be awarded Emelye’s hand.

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