He works his way into Theseus's household, becoming Emily's manservant. Palamon, on the other hand, thinks that Arcite is a lucky dog because he can assemble an army to win Emily in battle.Īrcite returns to Thebes for a while, but, unable to stay away from Emily, quickly returns to Athens disguised as a servant. Arcite moans and groans and feels sorry for himself, convinced that Palamon is better off than him because he gets to see Emily every day. The only catch is that Arcite has to leave Athens and never set foot in the city again. Soon, Arcite gets out of jail because he and Theseus have a mutual friend, who petitioned to get Arcite released. Arcite finally decides that it's a dumb argument to have since both knights will be in prison forever, they'll just have to love Emily from afar with no hope of consummation. The knights argue about who gets dibs on Emily. But as soon as he lays eyes on Emily, he falls for her too. Hearing his cry, Arcite runs to his cousin. Palamon sees her from the prison window and immediately starts crushing on her. One day in early May, Emily walks in the garden, gathering flowers. Theseus throws Palamon and Arcite in the slammer (a tower next to his garden), without ransom. In the process, he wins two noble Theban hostages, cousins Palamon and Arcite. They beg Theseus to take vengeance on Creon, King of Thebes, because of his refusal to allow them to give their husbands' bodies a proper burial. Sounds like a pretty successful trip, right? Along the way, Theseus & Co. The noble Duke Theseus of Athens is on his way home from his invasion of Scythia, where he has won a wife, Hippolyta, and a sister-in-law, Emily.

Laing Purves 'for popular perusal' and the language is mostly updated.įor more free audiobooks, or to find out how you can volunteer, please visit Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale Summary The characters, introduced in the General Prologue of the book, tell tales of great cultural relevance. The genres also vary, and include romance, Breton lai, sermon, beast fable, and fabliau. The themes of the tales vary, and include topics such as courtly love, treachery, and avarice. The tales, some of which are originals and others not, are contained inside a frame tale and told by a group of pilgrims on their way from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse).

LibriVox recording of The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer.

The knight's tale by geoffrey chaucer