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The Knight's Tale
Ryan Renfro
As Chaucer’s characters begin their long pilgrimage toward Canterbury their host, Harry Bailey, proposes that they should all draw straws to determine who will begin the tale-telling contest. At first this may seem an odd proposal that they should determine the beginner by chance and not by their position in some sort of hierarchy, especially within an age as obsessed with social order as the Middle Ages. However, the notions of risk and game play a large role in The Canterbury Tales, both in the General Prologue and in the contest structure of the work as a whole. Not only does Chaucer subject his knight to the risks involved in the straw-drawing game in the Prologue in order that his honor and position at the head of the social hierarchy may be proven through the trail of chance, but Chaucer also uses the Knight’s victory to place his tale at the beginning of the contest, a placement which when combined with socially descending order of the prologue lends emphasis to the disorder of the tales themselves, a vehicle which allows characters to convey their desires in equity.
Although he is the highest-ranking member of the pilgrimage, it
is a necessity that the Knight continually prove his worth and
rank within medieval society. Needed for protection and
stability, the knight’s abilities must be frequently tried
in order to maintain his position within a class that possessed a
rather high amount of social mobility. Chaucer continually
reiterates how “worthy” (GP 44, 47, 64, 68) the Knight
is or of his “worthynesse,” (GP 50) a quality which
must be continually confirmed through trial. As Caesar said
one must risk all in order to win all: Thus, if the Knight
is to have honor, he must be willing to risk losing it. There
is no honor in being chosen to go first; the Knight must instead
win the honor of doing so.
An age commonly referred to as the Age of Faith, the Middle Ages
produced a number of religious ideas that may explain why Chaucer
would include such a contest at the end of his General Prologue.
The most authoritative of these are the writings of St. Austusine
who discusses human nature with concern to the fall. According
to Augustine mankind has lost its special relationship with God
and thus turns to other sources in an attempt to fill in the
vacuum created by the desertion of the soul by God. Hole-hearted
humans are willing to risk even their lives, as is the case with
Palomon and Arcite, in an attempt to fill in this void. Condemned
by Augustine as cupidity, this pursuit is in the wrong direction
from that in which humans should be going. Mankind’s
obsession with risks is the reason behind their love of games, a
love which Chaucer uses not only in his straw-drawing contest but
also in the contest nature of the work as a whole. Chaucer’s
pilgrims turn to worldly matters instead of spiritual ones and it
seems appropriate, considering the overall worldly and
more-than-often fleshly subjects of the tales, to believe that he
seeks to point out the utterly non-religious mood of these
pilgrims. Are they on this pilgrimage as a journey toward
God in the spirit of Abraham, or are they merely seeking
pleasure?
Despite its ties to religious philosophy, the primary issue in
the straw-drawing passage is the sociopolitical, hierarchical
structure of society. Harry Bailey offers the knight the
first draw, calling him “my mayster and my lord” (GP
837). With these words the Host, who by this point has
taken the leadership role in the pilgrimage, recognizes the
Knight as the highest-ranking member on the social ladder. Not
at all bitter toward or jealous of the Knight, the Host’s
speech in the lines following is worded as if Chaucer was
familiar with Locke’s idea of a social contract. He
refers to the drawing as his “accord,” (GP 838) a sort
of harmonious correspondence or agreement.[1] This agreement, i.e. the drawing or the
game, is a small model of the real world in which members of all
estates have banned together in order to pursue pleasure in the
case of the smaller or for survival in the case of society, both
cases in which the best will naturally rise to the top or come
before the others.
It comes as no
surprise when the Knight draws the shortest straw. Chaucer
may even have written humorously “Were it by aventure, or
sort, or cas, / The sothe is this, the cut fil to the
knyght,” (GP 844-5) as if it were by pure accident[2] that the knight becomes
the victor or as if just anyone else stood a chance.[3] The contest goes to
the Knight instead by fate[4], or rather predestination
in Augustinian terms. Fate is what ultimately determines
the Knight’s position: As worthy as he may be, he is nothing
without divine favor.
The Knight performs
perfectly in this game, just as he would in society, by observing
the rules of Mutual Charity. The Narrator describes him as
“wys…and obedient / to kepe his foreward by his free
assent” (GP 851-2). He keeps his part in this contract[5] by doing what is bidden
him by fate in and of his own free will.[6] He accepts the lot reasonably given to
him[7] in this combination[8] or covenant and proceeds
to tell his tale: “And telle he moste his tale, as was
resoun, / By foreward and by composicioun” (GP 847-8).
The other pilgrims have agreed to the terms of this game and are
“ful blithe and glad” (GP 846) when the best man is
chosen.
Chaucer by no means begins his discussion of rank with the
drawing of the straw. Before he introduces the characters
he writes:
Me thynketh it acordaunt to resoun
To telle yow al the condicioun
Of ech of hem, so as it semed me,
And whiche they weren, and of what degree,
And eek in what array that they were inne;
And at a knyght than wol I first bigynne. (GP 37-42)
Chaucer states that he thinks it is reasonable or a suitable procedure that he should tell the condition, meaning the position in regards to the grades of society concerning wealth, circumstance, manners, and morals,[9] of each of the pilgrims beginning with the Knight. By beginning with the knight in his description of the characters and later his offering of the straws followed by the Knight’s victory, he creates the expectation that the whole collection of tales will proceed in this socially descending fashion.
Why, however, is this initial ordering in descent down the social latter significant? The answer comes just after the Knight finishes his tale when the Host calls on the Monk for a tale to match the Knight’s: “Now telleth ye, sir monk, if that ye konne / Somwhat to quite with the knyghtes tale.” (MilP 3118-9) They assume that the Monk, as a member of the higher classes, is the best choice to compete with the Knight. However, the Miller interupts at this point saying, “I kan a noble tale for the nones, / With which I wol now quite the knyghtes tale.” (MilP 3126-7) Drunk as he may be, the Miller is confident that he can tell a tale just as noble as the Knight’s. The Host is not all too thrilled with this obstruction of the normal flow of things, saying: “Som bettre man shal telle us first another, / Abyd, and lat us werken thriftily.” (MilP 3130-1) The Host seems insulted that the Miller has forgotten his place and wishes to speak before his betters. The tales are being told in an unseemly, unsoundly manner.[10] Chaucer orders the Prologue and the straw-drawing contest to emphasize the disorder of the tales following the Knight’s.
If Chaucer goes through enough trouble to structure the prologue in a manner as to alert the reader to the disorder of the tales, then he surely must have good cause to structure it thusly. Chaucer’s reasoning behind his ordering is likely that it is a tool to convey not only the nature of this group and of a pilgrimage, but an idea or portrait of human desire as well. Although the straw-drawing game may go in accordance with the structure of society, it soon becomes apparent that the members of this company have steeped out of their positions in society and joined a new group in which their identities are no longer what they were in the real world. The Miller may speak when a better man, the Monk, should be speaking, just as the Squire is very rudely interrupted in the middle of his tale by the Franklin.[11] Each character is able to speak as they like with a great amount of freedom and equality, an ability which springs from the voluntary nature of the group. “So hadde I spoken with hem everichon / That I was of hir felaweshipe anon.” (GP 31-2) The Narrator becomes a member of the company merely by speaking to its members and in so doing displays how nonexclusive this group is. Due to their freedom characters are able to speak how and when they like, a tool that allows Chaucer to reveal their desires.
Chaucer permits his characters to voice their desires through their tales. The Knight is very idealist when it comes to matters of chivalry and courtesy and tells a tale that is concerned with winning an idealized Emily and not with the real flesh-and-blood woman. The Miller’s Tale, in contrast, is more concerned with bodily matters and he is undoubtedly arguing with the Knight on exactly what is desirable from the opposite sex. The Miller wants his ideas and desires to compete with the Knight’s in this game. As the other most physically powerful male, “a stout carl for the nones,” (GP 545) in the company, the Miller undoubtedly holds some animosity towards the Knight and takes control whenever he can, whether it be telling his tale when he sees fit or leading the group out of town with his bagpipes.[12] At any rate, the Miller does not want to be too overshadowed by the Knight. Both tales and their positions are vehicles, along with the company member’s descriptions in cases, of conveying the characters’ wants and desires.
The issues of the game, risk, desire, and order strike straight to the heart of the Canterbury Tales. Because Chaucer’s company is comprised of a hodgepodge of individuals of different social standings, he is able to convey observations about how these different groups interact with each other. They can also voice their desires in competition with one another, as opposed to most works that tend to stay within the confines of one particular class or estate. The interaction between individuals and indeed all classes and sexes is an interaction among equals, a rare instance in the Middle Ages.
[1] “accord” OED.
[2] “aventure” OED.
[3] “case” OED.
[4] “sort” OED.
[5] “foreward” OED.
[6]“assent” OED.
[7] “resoun” OED.
[8]“composicioun” OED.
[9] “condition” and “degree” OED.
[10] “thriftily” OED. The text gives the definition “profitably,” which according to the OED was not in use during Chaucer’s day.
[11] Squire’s Tale 673-708.
[12] “A baggepipe wel koude he blowe and sowne, / And therwithal he broughte us out of towne.” (GP 565-6)