The Perfect Knight Essay Example for Free

The Perfect Knight Essay We are made to believe that there are still knights in shining armor out there. That adage was probably rooted from English Literature. Stories of King Arthur and his knights were legendary that it even reached our time. It influences us on how the modern man should act towards the contemporary woman. But what are the characteristics of the perfect knight? How should he feel about love? How does he handle the honor bestowed on him by his king? Was there such a thing as a perfect knight then? The perfect knight being the counterpart of the perfect gentleman of today. We can discuss this by studying four knights: Sir Gawain from the Arthurian stories, Sir Topas from Geoffrey Chaucer’s â€Å"Tale of Sir Topas† and Sir Arcite and Sir Palamon in â€Å"The Knight’s Tale†, also by Chaucer. Sir Gawain is the nephew of King Arthur. He is also a Knight of the Round Table. He is said to be the greatest knights. He is the daughter of King Arthur’s sister Morgause and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian. Gawain is often described as a great warrior. He is formidable but he can be brash. He is very loyal to his king and his family. He is friendly to the younger knights. He defends the poor. He is quite the ladies’ man. He is a great healer because he acquires vast knowledge of herbs. If Gawain’s story were made into a movie, there would be versions wherein he is the hero and there would be other versions where he is the best friend of the hero. There are even some stories where he is the provider of the gentle comedy. However, if a reader who is studying Sir Gawain wants to see him in the best possible light, the best literature would be his search for the holy grail. On his quest, his intentions are pure. However, he is only human. He failed to use God’s grace to see his mistakes. In the Arthurian legends, he stopped his brothers Agravain and Mordred from exposing the love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere. When Guinevere was sentenced to be burned at the stake. Gawain nobly refused to be deployed in guarding the execution. His loyalty to his friend Lancelot ended when his brothers were killed in the battle between the knight and King Arthur. Their friendship turned into hatred. However, when he was mortally wounded in the battle against Mordred’s armies, Gawain apologized to Lancelot for his actions. He asked for his help to defeat Mordred. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s â€Å"The Canterbury Tales† there is a story entitled â€Å"Sir Topas. † It is about a handsome and young knight who is a hunter, archer and wrestler. Every maiden wants to be loved by him but he’s not interested. He rests beside a watering place where he dreams of an Elf Queen. When he awakes, he is determined to find her. He meets a three-headed giant who challenges him in a battle. He accepts it. He goes home, enjoys a feast and prepares for the battle with his finest weapons and excellent armor. Sir Arcite and Sir Palamon, also from Chaucer’s â€Å"The Canterbury Tales† are good friends. They were imprisoned by Theseus, the Duke of Athens. While they were there, they both fell in love with Emily, the sister of Duchess Hippolyta. After Sir Arcite and Sir Palamon both saw Emily, they fell madly in love with her which brewed up a competition between them. Their love for the same woman resulted to their despise of one another.. They were eventually released from the prison. Both Sir Arcite and Sir Palamon tried their best to win Emily’s love in whichever way necessary. They almost killed each other during the process. This is where Theseus stepped in. He arranged a battle for Emily. Palamon prayed for Emily to be his wife, Emily prayed that she married the one who really loved her and Arcite prayed for victory. All prayers were answered. Arcite won the tournament but died before he could marry Emily. Therefore, Palamon married her. All through out the introductions presented in the paper, the views on courtly love and ethical dilemmas can be seen. First off, Sir Gawain. As a knight, he was true to his word. He pleged allegiance to his king (which he did) and to his country (which he also did. ) However, his ethical dilemma was with Guinevere. When he was asked to be on guard as she burned at the stake, he couldn’t do it. As a knight, he respected women. He chose to be true to this promise rather than obey his king’s command. He was a loyal subject to Arthur and a loyal friend to Lancelot. It would have been the case had not his brothers been killed in the battle. That was when he turned against Lancelot. Again, we see an ethical dilemma in Sir Gawain. This time, he chose family over his duties as a knight. He wanted to avenge the death of his brothers. His final ethical dilemma was plotting against his brother Mordred. Camelot was in danger. The only way for Sir Gawain to save his kingdom was to ask Lancelot to kill Mordred. In his remaining hours, he was loyal to his country and kept his honor as a knight. Meanwhile Sir Topas reflects courtly love. He also mirrors the contemporary man which is the hunter. Men prefer to do the pursuing and the courting. Sir Topas had a liege of women pining over him but he ignored every one of them. He sought out the Elf Queen instead. The Elf Queen represents the girl of his dreams. Finally, Sir Arcite and Sir Palamon, like Sir Topas, also show what men of today are when it comes to courtly love. They will do anything to get the heart of the lady they desire. Even today, we hear stories, be it real or in movies, of men who used to be friends but became enemies because they were after the same girl. This only comes to show that Sir Gawain, Sir Topas, Sir Arcite and Sir Palamon view honor and love as motivations behind their actions. Some of the traits reflected in their stories can be seen in the contemporary man. One can therefore say that when a man is a gentlemen, he can pretty much be the perfect knight. The contemporary man, like Sir Gawain, is loyal to his country and to his duties. He respects women and makes sure that they are taken care of. He, like Sir Topas, prefers to be the one doing the chasing, instead of the other way around. True that some guys like aggressive girls but in the end, these girls will not be taken seriously. They will not be respected like that of those girls who were pursued by the men themselves. As for today’s men being like Sir Arcite and Sir Palamon when it comes to falling for the same girl, there are exceptions. Some men give way. They let the other guy have the girl in order for the friendship to not get affected. This is a reflection of honor today. Perhaps there are still knights in shining armor. Men who will put ladies first before themselves. Men who are true to their word and to the promises they made. Men who can be brash at times because of their emotions but will eventually maintain their composure once their logical reasoning kicks in. Honor and love are two qualities every knight take seriously. They pride being honorable and loving to their duties, their country, their families and their women. That is exactly what the modern man is.