Lesson video

Hi, welcome to today's English lesson.

This is lesson 10 of "The Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale" series, where we go through the plot to the point of the tournament between Palamon and Arcite.

If you've missed any of our earlier lessons and aren't quite sure where we are at this point in the plot, then feel free to go back and look at some of the earlier videos in our series.

Before we move on today, let's make sure that you've got something to write with and something to write on, a pen and paper with you.

If there are any notifications or apps that might distract you during the lesson turned off and that we are ready and focused on today's lesson.

If you need to do that, then pause the video now.

Fantastic.

Let's make a start then.

So before we return to the tournament itself, let's just do a quick recap on what's happened so far.

"The Knight's Tale" is one of the series of tales told during a pilgrimage that happens in Geoffrey Chaucer's mediaeval epic, "The Canterbury Tales".

It is a mediaeval romance of chivalry and courtly love.

And if you remember, we explored the term chivalry, courtly love and "The Canterbury Tales" as a whole earlier in our lesson series.

In "The Knight's Tale" itself, we meet Theseus, the Duke of Athens, who in a battle in Thebes takes prisoner two Theban knights, Palamon and Arcite, who are grievously injured.

He takes them prisoners so that he can firstly, save their lives and heal them but secondly, so they cannot lay to fight against him and he locks them in a tower with no hope of ransom.

From the tower window, both knights spy Emily, who is Duke Theseus' wife's sister.

Both fall madly in love and that concept of courtly love we mentioned earlier, means that they're so in love that they've placed their love of Emily above all else, and feel a physical pain at the sight of her.

However, this causes a problem as both knights have sworn a loyal oath to each other, to help each other in all matters of love.

As a result, they're breaking their oath and are immediately pitched into conflict.

Duke Theseus has both knights locked in the tower.

However, when his friend Duke Pirithous arrives, who also knows Arcite back from Thebes, he's begged to allow Arcite to go free.

He does this and allows Arcite to leave Athens and return to Thebes, however, under the proviso that Arcite never again, returns to Athens on pain of death.

Poor Palamon in the meantime, is left languishing in prison.

Here we come into conflict.

Arcite feels that Palamon is the lucky one because he's remaining in Athens where he can see Emily on a day to day basis.

However, at the same time, Palamon feels that Arcite is the lucky one because you can return to Thebes raise an army, and then come back to Athens to try and win Emily's heart.

While in Thebes Arcite, however, feels so sad and so morose at the idea of not being able to see Emily again, there is physically suffering.

This suffering takes the image of the idea that he cannot eat, he cannot sleep, and he is physically changing as a person.

His actual outlook, his personality and his physical attributes, including what he looks like, change completely.

Also, his voice changes completely.

However, this formulates a plan in Arcite his head, and he decides to return to Athens disguised as Philostrate, a labouring man who seeks to gain employment in Athens so that he can see Emily on a daily basis.

Here he gets a strike of luck.

He ends up working for Emily as a chamberlain within her household, where he is seeing her on a day to day basis.

However, at the same time, he feels a deep dishonour at disguising himself as Philostrate.

Later in the story, we see that Philostrate, feeling this deep destroyer goes out to a grove nearby to Athens to complain and basically to tell the gods how upset he is at having to become Philostrate.

At the same time by fate, it is this moment that Palamon has decided to escape from prison and with the help of a friend, he manages to escape Athens and hide in the same nearby grove.

He overhears Arcite complaining about his lot in life and attacks him.

The two just to decide that they're going to battle to the death for the love of Emily.

However, Arcite still being a noble knight and realising that Palamon has just escaped from prison and he's tired and weak, gives Palamon the opportunity to rest, to eat and the next day he brings him arms and armour so that the two of them can fight a fair battle.

At this point in our story, while the two knights attack each other in the glare like wild boars, butchering each other in a chaotic battle, Theseus rides along.

Fate seems to be playing an important part in our story at this point.

Theseus is out riding with Hippolyta and Emily on the hunt and he comes across our two knights battling.

He immediately stops the fight and decides that the two should be put to death for their betrayal.

However, at the same time, what we see is that the ladies of the party beg for him to not allow Palamon and Arcite to be put to death immediately.

As Theseus is a chivalric knight, he decides that this is something that he must do to honour.

And he decides to, instead of making Arcite and Palamon put to death, instead, he decides he will do a tournament in their honour.

This tournament is going to be put on so that Palamon and Arcite can fight a real battle, a real tournament without death to see who wins Emily.

Theseus orders the two knights to leave Athens for 50 weeks.

During that time he will build a tournament ground, the likes of which has never been seen.

He employs master builders to create the greatest amphitheatre anyone has ever seen.

In the meantime, the two knights, Arcite and Palamon, must raise 100 other knights each, to comeback and do battle with each other in the tournament ground, the winner of which will win the heart of Emily.

In the amphitheatre, Theseus creates shrines to the three key gods.

The night before battle, Arcite goes and visits the Western gate with the god Mars and prays for victory in battle to destroy and beat Palamon.

On the Eastern gate is a shrine to the goddess Venus, the goddess of love, and Palamon himself goes there and prays not for victory, but to win the heart of Emily.

All he wants is the love of Emily whatever the situation may be.

On the Northern gate is a shrine to the goddess, Diana goddess of chastity and the hunt.

Here Emily goes and prays to never get married.

She doesn't want to marry either Arcite or Palamon.

In fact, what she really wants is for them to make friends again and forget about her.

Let's take a moment now to check our learning up to this point, recapping our story.

In a second, I'm going to ask you to pause the video and copy out these three sentences, filling in the gaps to make them make sense.

Pause the video now and complete those sentences.

Okay, hopefully they didn't challenge you too much.

Let's just check where we're up to.

Sentence one then.

Theseus stops Palamon an Arcite from fighting as the women beg him to.

Indeed Theseus as a chivalric knight, honours women above all else and he accepts their request to stop Palamon and Arcite from fighting.

Sentence two, Theseus tells the princess to gather 100 knights and return while he builds an amphitheatre for a tournament.

This is very much the case.

They have 50 weeks to collect 100 knights each to come back to the amphitheatre and battle in the greatest tournament that anyone has ever seen.

Sentence three, Palamon, Arcite and Emily pray to the gods, Diana, Mars and Venus before the tournament.

Palamon, of course, praying to Venus for the love of Emily, Arcite, praying to Mars for the victory in battle and Emily praying to Diana for the two knights to make friends again and forget about her so that she can remain a maid forever.

Hopefully you didn't struggle too much with those.

If you at any point are struggling with the plot at this point, feel free to go back in our video and recap your learning.

So, on with our story at this point then.

"The morning of the tournament arrives and Theseus is happy with the arrangements.

The people of Athens pack the amphitheatre.

The voices of the people rent the skies, such was the opera of their merry cries." We can imagine here as Chaucer has written, that the people are packing this glorious stadium, the best stadium ever created in the most exciting tournament ever to happen.

And they are so excited about the idea of these 100 knights on one side and 100 knights on the other, doing battle for the glory of love.

This would be an incredibly exciting moment for all around.

Theseus says before the battle begins, he makes a decree.

He says, "Wherefore in order that no man may die, he does his earlier purpose modify." So Theseus makes a decision here.

He doesn't want death in the middle of this glorious tournament.

He doesn't want people to die and be sad and in mourning as a result.

He still wants the knights to fight for the love of Emily, but he doesn't want them to be physically injured or at least not mortally injured.

So he makes a decree that all knights must try their best not to kill each other.

He makes a couple of decisions about this.

He says that they must only fight with spear, with lance and with broadsword, that's a big, long sword that is mainly for hacking rather than stabbing.

He says particularly that they can't use short swords or daggers to attack each other.

These would be piercing weapons that are likely to do more serious and mortal damage.

Theseus says that once a knight is knocked from his horse or struck down with a blow, that he must instead withdraw from the tournament and go to the central area of the tournament ground.

Here, he will be out of the tournament, no longer allowed to take part and the moment that Palamon or Arcite fall and can no longer compete, that is when the tournament will be over and the winner will be crowned.

Let's pause for a moment here then to double check our understanding.

What does Theseus decree before the tournament? There are four options here.

I want you to pause the video and make your decision.

Is it option one, that knights will fight to the death? Is it option two, that knights will not use swords of any kind? Is it option three, that knights will not ride on horses? Or is it option four, that knights will avoid killing each other in battle? Pause the video now and make your decision.

Okay, let's see how we got on there.

What does Theseus decree before the tournament? Well, he decrees option four, that knights will avoid killing each other in battle if they possibly can.

And the second that a knight is out of the tournament, he is struck down on horse, then he must go to the middle of the centre of the arena and withdraw from battle.

Now, at this point in our story, here we have Arcite and Palamon, 100 knights each in their entourage entering the battle.

"Westward through the gate of Mars, right hearty, Arcite and the hundred of his party with banner red is entering anon." So we see here that Arcite enters through the gate of his patron, Saint Mars and he has a red banner, the colour of Mars.

"And in that self-same moment, Palamon is under Venus, Eastwood in that place with banner white and resolute a face." Similarly Palamon and his entourage enter under the Eastwood gate, under the patron Saint of Venus and here he has a white flag, the colour of Venus, the goddess of love.

The two are about to battle.

"And the sharp spurs are thrust, now, into side.

Now see men who con joust and who can ride.

Helmets are hewed, the lacings ripped and shred.

Out bursts the blood, gushing in stern streams red." The battle is vicious and the battle is pitched.

We can see that regardless of the knights not wanting to kill each other, at the same time, the blood is gushing, the physical injuries are very real.

"With mighty maces bones are crushed in joust.

One through the thickest throng begins to thrust.

One flails about with club, being overthrown, another on a mailed horse, rides him down." We can see here Chaucer uses language that describes the physical violence, the chaos of the fight, that maces are crushing bone, even though they're trying not to kill each other, they're still trying to do each other serious injury, that somebody is flailing around with a club, that another a horse is riding them down.

Let's focus for a moment then, on Chaucer's use of language.

"Sharp spurs, helmets hewn, mighty maces." These are lovely couplets that Chaucer is using here.

Pairs of words that have the same opening letter.

So each of these statements sharp spurs, helmets hewn, mighty maces, start with the same consonant.

This creates a rhythmic sound that I'm sure you can hear while they're being read.

This is called alliteration.

You may have come across alliteration in your previous lessons, but just a quick reminder, the same letter or sound is repeated in a sentence.

Often the words and next to each other, the sword slashed swiftly, the knight noticed.

You'll see in that second sentence that actually the first letter of knight and the first letter of noticed are not actually the same letter 'cause knight starts with a silent letter "k", but the sound is the same and that is absolutely fine.

It can be the same letter or the same sound that is repeated within a sentence.

And this has a particular effect, "sharp spurs, helmets hewn, and mighty maces." Let's see what effect they have.

The repeated consonants create a rhythm in the speech.

The rhythmic words imply rhythmic actions or rhythm to the actions that are happening.

The use of alliteration suggests the skill of the fighting in this case, but also the continuous attacks.

We can imagine here, the speed and the continuous nature of the attack.

It's unending, unceasing and constantly happening.

The skill that these knights fight with is skillful and impressive.

Sharps, spurs, helmets hewn, mighty maces.

That rhythm, that rolling nature and flowing nature of the words make it seem more like a dance than a fight itself.

And here we have Palamon and Arcite met in battle at this point, "No tigress in the veil of Galgophey, whose little whelp is stolen in the light, is cruel to the hunter as Arcite." Here, we have Arcite described as being like a tigress, a female tiger whose whelp, whose cub, has been stolen by a hunter.

It is at this point that Arcite's behaviour is described.

He is like that tigress, angry at having had her cubs stolen.

So cruel and vicious and desperate for justice and revenge in his attack on Palamon.

At the same time, Palamon is described, "Nor is there a lion, wild for want of food, that of his prey desires so much of the blood as Palamon the death of Arcite." Palamon here is described as a lion starving to death whose prey is nearby and he desires so much to take that prey, to taste its blood, that this is how Palamon is described.

He is desirous in the same way to taste the blood of Arcite, perhaps not literally, but in this case, it means to kill.

Here we see two similes being used.

Don't forget a simile is a word or phrase used to describe something as being like or similar to something else.

We came across this earlier in our videos and in some of your other learning.

Arcite's described, "No tigress whose little whelp is stolen is cruel to the hunter as Arcite." Take a moment now to pause the video and think about what is meant in this simile.

Look at the simile used and talk about what you think it means.

Label your image if you're using our downloadable resource or simply write down a couple of sentences, considering what this means.

Pause the video now.

Okay, let's see how we got on with that one.

"No tigress whose little whelp is stolen is cruel to the hunter as Arcite." Well, what do we think it means? A tiger, first of all, is a powerful and dangerous animal.

That is why he's described as a tiger.

Mothers are fiercely protective of their children.

The tiger in this particular case is a tigress, a female tiger and she has had her whelp, her cub, stolen.

So here Arcite is being described as, as fierce and violent to Palamon as the tiger would be to a hunter who has stolen her cub.

Hopefully you've got something similar to that.

If you didn't, then don't worry too much.

As long as the language is there and the gist is similar, then you're doing very well.

If you struggle to understand that one, go back in the video a little way and will get an explanation during Chaucer's words himself.

Let's have another go at this then.

While Chaucer is describing Palamon, "Nor is there a lion, wild for want of food, that of his prey desires as much blood as Palamon, the death of Arcite." Look at this simile and pause the video and make a decision about what you think it means.

Make a couple of notes, three sentences or label the diagram if you're using our downloadable resource.

Pause the video now.

Fantastic.

Let's see what we think this means here.

"Nor is there a lion wild for want of food, that of his prey desires so much the blood as Palamon, the death of Arcite." A lion is also described as a powerful and dangerous animal, but equal of the tiger at least.

The lions are dangerous and single-minded, particularly when they're hungry.

Palamon here is described as wanting Arcite's blood as much as a hungry lion wants it's prey.

He is desperate and starving and wanting to get that blood in the same way that the lion would.

If you've got something similar to that, then congratulations.

Hopefully you had words or language that were in the gist.

Similarly, if you were struggling a little bit there, feel free to go back in the video and recap your learning.

Let's move on with our story now.

"The battle between Palamon and Arcite is fierce and evenly matched.

Neither man will give any advantage to the other." We can see this in the way Chaucer uses language to describe the two knights and their behaviour.

And it's this behaviour and Chaucer's use of language that we're going to spend a few minutes thinking about now in our main activity.

In a second, you're going to move on to the next slide and pause the video where you'll see a couple of those similes that we've already explored during today's lesson.

You're going to use your skills and your learning from today's lesson to explain these similes in more detail.

Let's make a start.

For the statement in pink here used below to describe Palamon's actions, you're going to explain what you think is being shown.

In a second on the next slide, you'll see a modelled example for the other simile, the one regarding Arcite's actions.

Follow through the way that we describe this simile and talk about Chaucer's use of language, and try to use that in your own writing.

Let's take a look.

The simile we're looking at here, "No tigress whose little whelp is stolen is cruel to the hunter as Arcite," describes Arcite's actions and behaviour.

We've put together here a modelled example that talks about the technical language used, simile, describes the quotation and then gives two levels of meaning when referring to the simile itself.

Let's have a look at what we've got.

Chaucer uses a simile to describe the actions of Arcite when battling Palamon.

He writes, "No tigress whose little whelp is stolen is cruel to the hunter as Arcite." By comparing Arcite to a tiger, Chaucer says he's dangerous and powerful.

However, by referring to a tiger who's had her cubs taken, he makes Arcite seem single-minded and desperate for revenge.

Now this explanation makes perfect sense and explains exactly what our simile is showing, but let's look at the component parts, the pieces that we've put together in this puzzle to make our paragraph make sense.

Firstly, we've used that underlying term, simile.

We've said that Chaucer, the writer, has used a simile.

This technical accuracy is important to refer to.

We've then used the quotation itself to emphasise the simile we're referring to.

We then in our explanation of the simile, have looked at two levels of meaning.

Firstly, that Chaucer says that he, Arcite, is a dangerous and powerful creature like a tiger.

This is a good basic level response.

We all know that tigers are dangerous and powerful.

I certainly wouldn't want to be in a cage with one.

And this is our very low level answer.

However, what we then do is develop it one level further.

This isn't just a tiger that Arcite is being described to, it's a tiger who's had her cubs stolen, who is after the hunter for revenge.

So we add this idea of her being single-minded and out for revenge.

However, by referring to a tiger who has had her cubs taken, he makes Arcite seem single-minded and desperate for revenge So remember in your own writing, we refer to the technical device being used in this case as simile.

We use the quotation to explain it further and then we do a basic level response to this simile, to show what it explains and then a deeper level response.

It's this deeper level response that makes our answer more impressive.

Let's have a go at this yourself now.

For the statement in pink used below to describe Palamon's actions, explain what you think is being shown.

"Nor is there a lion, wild for want of food, that of his prey desires so much the blood as Palamon the death of Arcite." In a moment, you're going to pause the video and make some sentences here that explain this simile.

Remember the previous modelled example that you've just seen and if you want to go back in the video and look at that again, then you can of course do so.

Pause the video now and have a go at explaining this simile.

Okay, this was a challenging response here.

So let's see what you could have written.

"Nor is there a lion, wild for want of food, that of his prey desires so much the blood as Palamon the death of Arcite." Here we see Palamon's actions being described by Chaucer.

And again, we start with, Chaucer uses a simile to describe the actions of Palamon when battling Arcite.

He writes, "Nor is there a lion, wild for want of food, that of his prey desires so much the blood as Palamon the death of Arcite." By comparing Palamon to a lion, Chaucer says he is brave and strong.

However, by referring to a starving lion, he suggests that Palamon is single-minded and desperate to succeed.

Here we see a similar example to that of Arcite.

Chaucer uses a simile, we refer to the technical language.

We then use the quotation emphasising which simile we're referring to.

And then we use the cursory basic level response of Palamon compared to a lion as brave and strong.

But then we go one step deeper referring to the starving lion, the lion in want for food.

He suggests that he is single-minded.

We've already established that a lion who is hungry is desperate for food, desperate for success in the kill.

If you've written something approaching this, then you've done ever so well here.

If you're happy with what you have and it follows the general gist, don't worry too much.

If it's not the exact words you can see in this example.

If you struggled with this a little bit, feel free to go back in the video and spend a bit of time recapping your learning.

But for the moment you've done fantastically well.

Okay, you've done fantastically well here today then.

We've come to the end of English lesson 10 of "The Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale" series.

And today we've looked at the tournament.

We've looked at Palamon and Arcite raising 100 knights in 50 weeks and a pitched battle in the tournament amphitheatre created by Theseus, whether two are locked, almost unable to find a victor.

We'll return to the story in our next lesson, lesson 11, to see which of the two knights faces victory.

In a moment you're going to finish the video and what I'd like you to do once that has happened is a couple of things.

Firstly, go back and look through for any piece of new vocabulary or any piece of vocabulary that we've covered again for a second time, especially those technical language uses.

Try to go back through those and spend a bit of time reminding yourself of what that language means.

Secondly, a lot of things have happened today in terms of plot.

We've had the tournament begin, we've found out about what in the tournament amphitheatre ground, and we've looked at language describing how Arcite and Palamon are fighting.

Spend some time going back through and reviewing your learning on that.

Perhaps you want to use pictures, perhaps you want to use a storyboard or perhaps just a list of things that happen within the plot.

Either of those are perfectly fine in order to make sure that you're recapping and remembering the key aspects of the plot.

And lastly, don't forget to complete those exercises.

If you haven't done that final big exercise or some of the ones from earlier on with the matching and sorting, then please download the downloadable resource or use the worksheets to go back and make sure you complete those.

Until next time, when we look deeper at the victor of our battle.

Another huge well done and see you next lesson.