'You lovers ask I now this question: Who hath the worse, Arcite or Palamon?'
Today we spending some time at the Tabard Inn and meeting our fellow pilgrims. Then we will set off on our journey to Canterbury Cathedral and tell some great stories along with way.
We're focusing on the General Prologue and the Knight's Tale today, which involves a discussion about romance, epics, chivalry, estates satire, Chaucerian irony, medieval war games, Fortune's Wheel, how high art is born out of tragedy, why the best journeys never end, and much more.
Please do feel free to enjoy the discussion even if you haven't read these parts of the Canterbury Tales yet. You can enjoy our talk before, during, or after your reading of the beginning of this masterpiece in the way that best suits you.
Timestamps:
0:00 welcome to the Tabard Inn
2:00 meeting Geoffrey Chaucer
4:00 the value of imagined journeys
6:00 how great journeys never end
8:00 one of the most iconic openings
10:00 understanding estates satire
12:00 appreciating Chaucer’s irony
14:00 expectation/ideal vs reality
16:00 the need for historical context
18:00 medieval social mobility
20:00 Ovid, Chaucer, Shakespeare
21:00 meeting our fellow pilgrims
22:00 the crusades of the Knight
25:00 knightly code of chivalry
28:00 the Squire & the Yeoman
31:00 Prioress/Madame Eglantine
33:00 meeting the Monk & Friar
37:00 Merchant & Clerk of Oxenford
40:00 about William the Conqueror
41:00 Anglo-Saxon vs Old French
42:00 Franklin, Cook & Physician
45:00 meeting the Wife of Bath
47:00 the irony of Chaucer’s Parson
49:00 the irreverence of the Miller
51:00 Manciple, Reeve & the humours
52:00 the Summoner & church courts
53:00 meeting the Pardoner character
55:00 Harry Bailey & dream visions
56:00 a medieval trigger warning
57:00 the storytelling contest begins
1:00:00 appreciating the Knight’s Tale
1:02:00 Boccaccio & the Italian tradition
1:04:00 ‘whilom, as olde stories tellen us’
1:06:00 Chaucer’s compression & subtext
1:08:00 the protagonist of Duke Theseus
1:10:00 understanding the romance genre
1:12:00 Chaucer’s question d’amour
1:14:00 cliches of courtly chivalric tales
1:16:00 Palamoun, Arcite & Emilye
1:18:00 states of mind & world as prison
1:20:00 subject matter vs inner meaning
1:21:00 Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy
1:23:00 the paradigm of Fortune’s Wheel
1:25:00 can you control your inner virtue?
1:27:00 deeds of love & arms in romance
1:29:00 tournaments/medieval war-games
1:32:00 Palamon & Arcite duel for Emily
1:33:00 Ovidian/Homeric fighting of the gods
1:35:00 the glory of the Knight’s war music
1:37:00 phenomenal battle scene set-piece
1:39:00 the climax of the Knight’s tale
1:40:00 Theseus’ profound closing speech
1:41:00 constant transmutation of the world
1:43:00 endure gloriously in the face of death
1:45:00 Thomas Aquinas & the First Mover
1:47:00 Chaucer’s thoughts on religion
1:48:00 happy endings contingent upon pain
1:49:00 momento mori therefore carpe diem
1:50:00 the importance of the Knight’s Tale
1:51:00 preparing for our next discussion
1:52:00 meeting the Miller & Wife of Bath
1:53:00 what are you making of this work?
Resources to Explore:
Documentary: Here is a wonderful documentary on the rise and murder of Thomas Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury, that will make our pilgrimage all the more profound: The Life and Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket. The BBC also has this documentary that takes us into Canterbury Cathedral. For fun, check out this 'interview' with Henry II on the murder from Horrible Histories. And, if you're interested in medieval war-games, then check out this video from History Hit: We Experienced a Real Medieval Jousting Tournament.
Historical Deep-Dive: Helen Castor, the great historian and author of She-Wolves, recently released a phenomenal chronicle of the lives and reigns of Richard II and Henry IV, both monarchs under whom Chaucer served. If you're interested in the socio-political climate around the time of the Canterbury Tales, this book is well worth checking out: The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV.
Philosophy: Chaucer drew primarily from Boccaccio, Boethius, and Aquinas for the Knight's Tale (though indeed scholars have found well over a hundred influences in the work). If you're interested in the philosophy of how to live under the reign of Fortune and her wheel, check out Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy. If you're interested in the idea of the First Mover, and how Aristotle's classical ideas were expounded upon in medieval Christian theology, then check out some selected writings from Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica.
Source Appreciation: As detailed in the lecture, Chaucer drew significantly from Boccaccio's Teseida for the Knight's Tale. But, if you're interested in reading the writers that shaped the father of English Literature, I would suggest checking out Boccaccio's Decameron at some point and comparing its frame narrative and its stories with that of the Canterbury Tales.
Romance: We recommended Sir Gawain and the Green Knight previously (Brian Stone, Simon Armitage, and J.R.R. Tolkien all have splendid modern translations), but if, you'd like to dig deeper into the chivalric courtly romance tradition of medieval England, you may also find Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur a rewarding work to dip into. There's also a really wonderful compilation by A. R. Moncrieff called Romance & Legend of Chivalry.
Film Appreciation: You might like to treat yourself to a viewing of the 1964 film Beckett, starring Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, and John Gielgud, which dramatises the tumultuous relationship between Thomas Becket and Henry II. For something more light-hearted, why not enjoy the hilarious parody of Arthurian Romance that is Monty Python and the Holy Grail?
Compare: It would be rewarding to hold Chaucer up against your reading of three other titans of literature that we have read together: Ovid, Dante, and Shakespeare. Can you see the Ovidian influence upon Chaucer and his reading of the Metamorphoses? Can you see where he was inspired by Dante? And can you see Chaucer's influence upon Shakespeare? In the next few days, we will have a special discussion on The Two Noble Kinsmen, which is inspired by the Knight's Tale. So it will be powerful exercise to contrast and compare these two writers.
Audiobooks: For the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale, I personally adore Dame Peggy Ashcroft's reading. For the Miller's Tale, there is a really excellent narration in Modern English, in an edition narrated by Philip Madoc, Anton Lesser, and Clive Swift, that is wonderful to listen to whilst reading.
Reading Assignment:
Our next discussion will have a special focus on the Miller's Prologue and Tale and also the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale. We're going to have a lot of fun with these parts and meet some iconic protagonists, so I'm excited to hear what you make of them.
Our alternating weekend release rhythm continues, so we will be back to Faulkner again this weekend coming, which means our next Chaucer will be the weekend after. Continue journeying through the work with great energy, listening to readings, relishing the poetry, and appreciating the superbly comic comments upon the human condition.
Questions for You:
1) What did you personally make of the Knight's Tale?
2) What makes a great story? What do you value the most in your narratives?
3) How does one best live when bound to Fortune's Wheel?
4) Who was your favourite pilgrim from the general prologue?
5) What have been the greatest challenges and rewards of reading so far?
If this is your first experience with The Canterbury Tales, I would love to know how the work is meeting your expectations. If this is a reread for you, what is it like engaging with this story compendium again? And please do share with us your favourite passages, characters, and ideas from the pilgrimage so far.
Happy reading, everybody!