Curtis
argues that although most see “The Knight’s Tale” as focusing on a world that
is pagan, Chaucer intentionally embedded Christian analogies of love and order
in the tale to highlight the need the world has for both ideals. Curtis points out that the Athenians and
Thebans in the poem are oblivious to these analogies, but Chaucer and his
Christian audience would not be. Curtis
draws on the Bible, as well as the work of other scholars to highlight how
lines from “The Knight’s Tale” correlate with Biblical text, and how those
lines have been interpreted before as pagan.
Curtis adds his own interpretation by illustrating how those same lines
can be interpreted as Christian. For
example, Curtis illustrates the similarities between Palamon and Arcite seeing
Emelye through a window to David seeing Bathsheba through a window in the
Bible. He points out that while there
are differences, there are many similarities in these two stories that Chaucer
would know and that his Christian audience would understand. While one of the simpler examples found in
his article, Curtis builds his article upon comparisons of stories from “The
Knight’s Tale” and how they tie to Christian themes of love and order.
-Rachelle Durrant
Curtis, Carl C., III. “Biblical Analogy and Secondary Allegory in Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale.” Christianity & Literature, vol. 57, no. 2, 2007, pp. 207–222. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/014833310805700203.
