The Knight's Tale VS A Knight's Tale

    “The Knight’s Tale” from Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” and the movie “A Knight’s Tale” are similar and different in some ways. The element of courtly love can be seen in both stories. In “The Knight’s Tale,” the two wounded warriors, which are Arcite and Palamon, are being captured by Theseus and put into prison. The two prisoners fall in love with Emelye, who is Theseus’s sister-in-law, and they decide to have a duel. Similarly, in “A Knight’s Tale,” William the peasant and Sir Adhemar are fond of the noble lady Jocelyn. William and Sir Adhemar also fight against each other in the jousting tournament. However, the class of William and Sir Adhemar is different from that of Arcite and Palamon. In “The Knight’s Tale,” there are three temples to the gods: Venus, the goddess of love; Mars, god of war; and Diana, goddess of chastity. Before the battle day, Palamon asks Venus to let him get the victory in the name of love, Emelye tells Diana the desire to remain a virgin, and Arcite begs Mars to win the tournament. In the end, Arcite wins the battle, but still unable to marry Emelye due to severe wounding caused by Saturn. Everybody in Athens mourns for Arcite’s death, especially Emelye and Palamon. Theseus couldn’t stand for their long grieving, and he requests them to cease mourning. In the end, Emelye and Palamon obey Theseus’s order and enjoy their happy marriage. In contrast, the movie doesn’t is without the praising part. In addition, William not only wins Jocelyn’s heart, but also the battle. Nevertheless, the endings for both stories are joyful ones, in which Palamon and Emelye, and William and Jocelyn live happily ever after.