“…loved chivalrie,
Trouthe and honour, freedom and curteisie.”
The words used here suggest that the Knight had high moral standards and strived to uphold these qualities within himself. The word ‘trouthe’ could suggest commitment and truthfulness, which the Knight could be towards his country, during times of war and battle, and to his family. Chaucer comments that the Knight is polite and considerate to others when he says that he has ‘cuteisie’, which seems to be a feature about himself that the Knight wants to uphold around others. The Knight appears to be fearless, modest and wise; Chaucer emphasises these points when he says that he,
“…hadde he ridden, no man farther,”
This suggests that he had ridden to the end of world, is well travelled and therefore fearless of countries and the people within in them. Chaucer does this by giving the reader a list of the places that the Knight has been an fought in and against.
Chaucer expresses the Knight to be modest by suggesting that he is ‘a worthy man’ as his introduction to his description of the Knight. The word ‘worthy’ is used many more times throughout the portrayal and is also used by Chaucer to describe the Wife of Bath, however in her case it leads the reader to believe something else. The full extent of the knight’s honour is expressed when Chaucer remarks that he was,
“…evere honoured for his worthynesse:”
The word ‘honoured’ indicates that the Knight was respected and admired by his country and people for being ‘worthy’ of respect, as Chaucer treats him. It also suggests that the Knight had a good reputation among his peers as being a good fighter and force on the battlefield. Chaucer uses the word ‘worthy’ to say that the Knight was,
“Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre,”
This phrase implies that the Knight was very worthy in his Lord’s war – the use of ‘lordes were’ suggests that he followed God and was religious and fought for his religion. The Knight is a Christian and Chaucer suggests this when he says that the Knight fought,
“As wel in cristendom as in hethenesse,”
This implies that the Knight had fought all over the world and in places that were considered to be evil; Chaucer confirms the Knight’s Christianity when he says ‘No Cristen man’; the Knight appears to fight on behalf of his beliefs.
The Knight has many military values and many people are proud of his battle, which is implied when Chaucer commented that the Knight was honoured for his worthiness. The Knight is shown to have much experience on the battlefield when Chaucer talks at length about the wars that the Knight had been at,
“At mortal batailles hadde he been fifene,”
This suggests that the Knight had been at fifteen worldly and deadly wars about the world during his life.
Chaucer does not describe the attire of the Knight, or how his appearance. This could be because he does not want to waste time mentioning something that is not important about him. However, Chaucer does say that the Knight had a horse that was ‘goode’ but he was ‘nat gay’. The words ‘nat gay’ suggest that the Knight was not outgoing or lively. Chaucer does say that the Knight’s clothing is stained from his armour because he has just returned from a battle,
“For he was late ycome from his viage,
And wente for to doon his pilgrimage.”
This suggests that the Knight wants to continually be doing something to look good to his fellow countrymen to retain his high moral standards.
Throughout the description of the Knight Chaucer does not criticize him as I think that he feels is too worthy for criticism, it could also be because Chaucer does not want to mention the faults that the Knight possess. However, Chaucer gives the reader no indication of any corruptness that the Knight could contain.
I think that the Knight is at the top of a hierarchy within the tales and is therefore placed first in the General Prologue. I think that he is at the top both morally and socially amongst the rest of the characters; he is the opposite of the pardoner, who is placed last in the General Prologue, as the pardoner has no morals. The Knight provides moral guidance for the other pilgrims throughout the poem, as he has ‘curteisie’ and ‘honour’ which are just some of the characteristics needed to be a moral guider.
Chaucer appears to have created an ideal with the Knight and uses him as a comparison with the other characters throughout the General Prologue as he has high morals and standards that he tries to uphold. I think that the way Chaucer writes about the Knight affects the way I view him because Chaucer does not criticize him, as he does to the other character’s, and is constantly repeating words such as ‘worthy’ and ‘honour’. This suggests that Chaucer admires and respects the Knight for his morals and his social status within medieval England; the characteristics that the Knight represents and possess also present the morals respected of humanity today.
The way the Knight is portrayed does affect my view of morals and standards within the medieval times as the Knight is illustrated as an ideal moral person. This makes me think that all knights in the medieval century fought for God and their country, and were of a high moral standard. However, this is known to be untrue as some knight’s were corrupt and tried to over-throw their King, who is appointed by God. The Knight is defined in terms of his morals and virtues and not with his faults and criticisms, which leads me to suggest that the Knight is the most admirable of all the pilgrims as he is the most noble and honoured by Chaucer.
