Hello.
All line references below refer to the text of "The Knight's Tale,"
courtesy of the online Canterbury Tales Directory.
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Hall/1170/chaucerhtml/medknight.html
In this edition, the Knight's Tale begins with line 859. If your
edition numbers each tale separately, simply subtract 858 from the
line numbers below.
One might argue that the knight reveals his attitude toward women in
more than just two passages. However, since you just want two, let's
start with a couple of his more obvious displays of his views on
women.
2115: To fighte for a lady, benedicitee!
2116: It were a lusty sighte for to see.
Here, the knight is essentially saying, "To fight for a lady, God
bless us! It's a joyous sight to see." Thus, the knight displays a
very chivalrous attitude.
2820: What helpeth it to tarien forth the day
2821: To tellen how she weep bothe eve and morwe?
2822: For in swich cas wommen have swich sorwe,
2823: Whan that hir housbondes ben from hem ago,
2824: That for the moore part they sorwen so,
2825: Or ellis fallen in swich maladye,
2826: That at the laste certeinly they dye.
Here the knight is essentially saying:
"What good would it do to spend the day
Telling you how she wept evening and morning?
For in such cases, women have such sorrow
When their husbands have gone,
For the most part, they're so sorry,
Or else they fall into such malady
That at last they certainly die."
In other words, women get so upset when their husbands are gone, that
they cry night and day or get so sick that they die. It's obviously a
rather patronizing view!
Other passages for you to consider:
2680: And she agayn hym caste a freendlich ye
2681: (for wommen, as to speken in comune,
2682: Thei folwen alle the favour of fortune)
In this passage, the knight is basically saying, "And she cast a
friendly eye on him (for women, generally speaking, they follow the
favor of fortune)." In other words, women like men who are
beneficiaries of good fortune.
In the two following sections, women are weeping excessively:
898: A compaignye of ladyes, tweye and tweye,
899: Ech after oother, clad in clothes blake;
900: But swich a cry and swich a wo they make
901: That in this world nys creature lyvynge
902: That herde swich another waymentynge;
903: And of this cry they nolde nevere stenten
904: Til they the reynes of his brydel henten.
1748: The queene anon, for verray wommanhede,
1749: Gan for to wepe, and so dide emelye,
1750: And alle the ladyes in the compaignye.
On the whole, I see the knight's attitude toward women as chivalrous
but condescending. Women are worth fighting over, but they are
excessively emotional.
I hope this helps. Good luck with your research. |
Clarification of Answer by
juggler-ga
on
13 Aug 2002 21:55 PDT
In all of the passages cited, the knight is directly expressing his
opinion of women.
He's directly expressing his opinion of women when he says, "To fighte
for a lady, benedictee!"
Also, in the passage that begins "What helpeth it to tarien forth the
day," the knight is directly expressing his views about women (i.e.,
he believes that it is in the nature of women to cry and become ill
when they lose their men).
Same thing for the passage when the knight says that "wommen, as to
speken in comune, Thei folwen alle the favour of fortune." That sort
of thing directly expresses his attitude toward women. In that
passage, he's essentially saying, "Women like men they believe are
lucky or fortunate."
I don't know if you're doing this for homework, but if you are, these
are the passages that you'd want to cite if your assignment is to
find places where the knight directly expresses his attitude toward
women.
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