Reiff, Raychel Haugrud. “Choosing Thou or You to Reveal Ideal Relationships in ‘The Knight’s Tale.’” Essays in Medieval Studies: Proceedings of the Illinois Medieval Association, vol. 26, 2010, pp. 69–84. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/ems.2010.0009.
Identifying the importance of the chivalric ideal in the 13th and 14th centuries, Reiff argues that second-person singular pronoun selection was essential to the construct of chivalry, which encompassed social awareness and the relationship between individuals (69). To create an understanding of pronoun use importance, specifically in the “Knight’s Tale,” she describes how pronoun use contributed to chivalry within Chaucer’s writing. The use of pronouns in conversation displayed chivalry by creating a distinction between the individuals conversing. It also allowed for a code of conversational conduct that aligned with social class and relationships. Reiff asserts that Chaucer selects the pronoun “you” to convey respect between characters, while he uses “thou” to portray inferiority or intimacy (79). The proper use of these pronouns are not limited to human characters, as the pronouns are also used to show relationships with the natural and supernatural worlds. Reiff concludes that Chaucer is able to achieve the chivalric ideal in his writing by careful selection of pronoun use with each knight and lady in the “Knight’s Tale” (80).
-Megan Rogosheske
