Knightly Taste Aversion … Is There an End in Sight?

The first time I was introduced to Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale (as I suspect is true for most) was in a high school English class. Even though I have fond, fond memories of the two days I spent watching Heath Ledger parade around a fictional medieval world with perfectly tousled hair and sexy, shiny armor… I can’t remember one interesting piece of information from our class’ actual discussion of the tale itself. The only thing I do remember (save for Heath’s lovely smile) is the lasting sour taste the story of Arcite and Palamon left behind in my mind.

The ‘taste aversion’ to The Knight’s Tale that I began to develop in high school (much to my dismay) only grew stronger over the following years as I subsequently encountered the text again and again. Try as I might to connect with the story, there was always some aspect of it that simply put me off. The most glaring example is of course the character of Emelye, who has basically no say (except for her ability to pray) or choice in the matters that directly affect her life. Although I understand that this is due to the social structure of the medieval world... it is still enraging as a modern female reader to encounter a story where the women are depicted as such. In all reality, this is probably the number one reason why I have such an aversion to the character of the Knight and to his tale (although there are many other reasons as well). Even though I do value the tale a great deal on the whole, the fact remains that I simply do not enjoy reading it. Or at least that was what I thought.

After being faced with the reality of having to read The Knight’s Tale yet again, I decided that, even though I had officially filed the story away into my ‘unpleasant reads’ folder (or to borrow a term from Sherlock and the ancient Greeks, my mind palace), I would try as much as possible to resurrect it and remain open to new insights. Although the tale isn’t my favorite choice, I was determined to find something about it that I had previously overlooked to like. Thankfully, I succeeded.

Although it may seem a bit dark, re-reading the tale and paying closer attention to the prayer’s of Emelye, Palamon and Arcite helped me to better understand (and take a bit of pleasure in) the latter’s death. In previous readings of the tale Arcite’s death puzzled me and I have never quite been able to resolve my feelings about it. Now however, I’m certain that I am able to derive a great deal of satisfaction from it. By praying to Mars and desiring victory in battle above all else (in an attempt to obtain Emelye, who he sees as having to be won by force) instead of putting his love for her first and praying to Venus like Palamon, Arcite looses both his life and his ‘love.’ Palamon on the other hand, eventually wins Emelye’s hand in marriage and even though my somewhat feminist heart is screaming that he is still undeserving of her, I feel much more contented after finishing this latest reading. At least Palamon put love before war. In my book this makes him the lesser of two evils.

Overall even though this tale my not be my personal cup of tea, I am certainly glad that there is a possible end in sight for my ‘taste aversion’ to it. In previous readings I considered Arcite and Palamon to be almost one in the same (perhaps the reason I was so puzzled by why Arcite had to die and not Palamon) but now that I have paid more attention to the subtle differences in their actions it is looking less and less like this is the case. Finding something new to enjoy during this reading of Chaucer’s tale has certainly given me hope for the future (although I don't think I'll be pulling this out of the 'unpleasant reads' folder anytime soon).