Gandolf In The Lord Of The Rings

9 Pages 2143 Words

Geoffrey Chaucer began the Canterbury tales in 1387. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories set within a framing story of a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral, the shrine of Saint Thomas a Becket. The poet joins a band of pilgrims, vividly described in the General Prologue, who assemble at the Tabard Inn outside London for the journey to Canterbury. There were approximately 30 pilgrims going to the shrine of Saint Thomas a Becket. These pilgrims ranged anywhere from a knight, a miller, to a priest. Each pilgrim was supposed to tell 3 to 4 tales, Chaucer only wrote 22 tales. The two tales that will be compared and contrasted in this paper are the Knight’s tale and the Miller’s tale. When the two tales are compared and contrasted we will be looking at the characters, the theme, and the different endings of each tale.
In the Knight’s tale, a great conqueror and duke named Theseus ruled the city of Athens. Theseus conquers Thebes, but finds two wounded enemy soldiers lying on the battlefield, nearing death. Rather than kill them, he mercifully heals the Theban soldiers' injuries, but condemns them to a life of imprisonment in a tower in Athens. The prisoners, named Palamon and Arcite, are cousins and sworn brothers. Both live in the prison tower for several years. They both fall in love with a woman named Emeyle. They argue over her but realize that they will never get out of the prison they are in. One day, a duke named Perotheus, friend both to Theseus and Arcite, petitions for Arcite's freedom. Theseus agrees to let Arcite go. Arcite returns to Thebes jealous at Palamon because he can still see Emeyle everyday, and Palamon is scared that Arcite will try and take Athens by force to have Emeyle. Arcite returns to Athens to be closer to his beloved. He enters the city disguised so that he cannot be recognized. Arcite takes on a job as a page in Emelye's chamber under the pseudonym Philostrate. This puts hi...