Lesson video

Hi, welcome to today's English lesson.

This is less than seven of "The Canterbury tales", "The Knight's Tale" series, and today we're going to be looking at the idea of who suffers the most.

So far in our series of lessons, we've met our main protagonists, Duke Theseus of Athens, Arcita and Palamon, the two imprisoned Thebes Knights.

Both of these young men have fallen in love with Theseus' sister-in-law Emily, and we are today going to look at which of them is suffering most because of the courtly love that they feel.

But before that, let's do a recap of what we've seen so far.

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

It's a tale of chivalry and courtly love, two key terms that we've come across again and again, throughout our story.

Duke Theseus of Athens saves the lives of two injured knights, Palamon and Arcita.

Theseus locks them in a tower with no hope of ransom.

From the tower, the two knights see Emily and fall madly in love with her.

They both exhibit examples of courtly love.

That means pain and suffering through their feelings of intense emotion.

If at any point you're not 100% sure as to what's happening in our story so far, do feel free to go back and look at some of our earlier videos in the series that explore both "The Knight's Tale" and the story itself in greater detail.

Obviously we've seen that both Palamon and Arcita fallen madly in love with Emily, but why is this a problem? So what we see is our two Thebes Knights, Palamon and Arcita who have already sworn an oath of loyalty to each other.

They are noble knights and they've sworn an oath of loyalty to promise that they will support each other in all matters of love.

If Palamon loves a woman, then Arcita will support him in winning that love.

Equally, if Arcita's in love with a woman, then Palamon will support him in helping to win that woman's love.

However, when Palamon spies Emily, and feels the intense emotions of courtly love, the pain and suffering that come from having such intense emotion, we imagine that Arcita will now support him in his striving attempt to win Emily's love.

However, instead, Arcita spies out the window and sees Emily too, and he feels such intense courtly love as much as Palamon does that it physically pains him, and he decides that he's going to break his oath of loyalty.

Courtly love is prized above all else love is the most important thing.

It comes above loyalty, it comes above honour, and therefore both knights decide that they are going to be in it for themselves.

Palamon says "I know not if she's woman or goddess." He is so intensely in love with Emily, that he doesn't understand whether she is a woman or a goddess, a problem that we've already seen Arcita uses a technicality to excuse his lack of honour.

Arcita on the other hand says "It's each man for himself." He's so intensely in love with Emily, he doesn't care about the honour and the oath of loyalty he has for his friend Palamon.

Let's take a moment now to check our learning at this stage.

In a second, I'm going to ask you to pause the video, and copy out and complete the sentences below by filling in the gaps.

Pause the video now and complete these three sentences.

Great effort, let's have a little look to see how we've done that.

Sentence one then, courtly love is when love, in works of literature, feature suffering and drama.

The words we're looking for, are love, literature and suffering when it comes to courtly love.

Sentence two, an oath is a promise that is sworn by a Knight, it should never be broken.

That word promise says everything that we need to know about that oath, it's something they have sworn to do on their honour.

To break that promise is to break their honour.

In this particular case, because courtly love is prized above all else, they feel that breaking their honour is justifiable.

Sentence three, Palamon and Arcita both fall in love with Emily.

Here we're look at our three main protagonists, Palamon, Arcita and Emily.

Both of these Knights have fallen in love with the same woman, and the problems that that then causes.

What we see here from this shared love for the same woman is that both Knights are excusing their breaking of their oaths with various different reasons.

Palamon makes the point that I loved her first and told you all my woe.

He says that he was the first to spy Emily out of the tower window, which he was, and he explained his problems to Arcita.

However, Arcita uses a technicality, he says "You know not even now, whether she is a woman or a goddess! Yours is a worship as of holiness, while mine is love, as of a mortal maid." Arcita accepts that Palamon did in fact, see Emily first.

However, when he saw her, he suggested that she might be the goddess Venus.

Arcita is therefore suggesting that Palamon loved Venus as anyone would love a God or a goddess when they saw them.

And it was he, Arcita, that loved Emily as a human woman, and therefore he loved her first.

Needless to say, this causes problems. Great was the strife, and long betwixt the two, if I had put the time to tell it to you.

Now here, Geoffrey Chaucer doesn't just look for a convenient rhyme, what he does here is he says that the strife was so great that he hasn't got the time to explain it in detail, because he wants to move on with his story and explain how this conflict between the two can be resolved.

Let's take a moment now to have a check of our learning.

In a second, I'm going to ask you to answer the question why are the two Knights in conflict? You're going to pause the video and decide which of the four options refers to the answer.

Is it option one, both love Emily, but she says she will only marry one of them? Is it option two, Arcita refuses to help Palamon win Emily because he dislikes her? Is it option three, both love Emily and have broken their oaths of loyalty? Or is it option four, both are breaking their oaths to never fall in love? Pause the video now and make your selection.

Excellent work there, let's see how you got on.

Of course option three is the correct answer.

Both Palamon and Arcita are in love with Emily and both have broken their oaths of loyalty to each other, to support each other in matters of love, because they both feel such courtly, intense emotion for Emily.

If you got that right, congratulations.

If you weren't quite sure, feel free to go back in the video and review your learning.

This leaves us in a very difficult situation, both Knights conflicting and contesting the love of Emily, but equally trapped and imprisoned together in a very small tower.

Let's continue with our story now and see what happens next.

A worthy duke men called Pirithous, who had been friend unto Duke Theseus since each had been a little child, a chit, was come to visit Athens and visit.

Here we see Geoffery Chaucer telling us about Pirithous, a different duke who is Duke Theseus' best friend.

He comes to visit Theseus in Athens.

And Theseus loved him as truly, nay, so well each loved the other, old books say, that when one died, it is but truth I tell, the other went and sought him down in hell.

Pirithous and Theseus are such good friends, they love each other so dearly, that if one of them died, the other one would go down to Hell, the worst place you can imagine, to seek him out.

They're such good friends.

Pirithous loved Arcita too, that Knight, having known him in Thebes for many a year, and finally at his request and prayer, and that without a coin of ransom paid, Duke Theseus released him out of shade.

So it seems that Pirithous also knew Arcita from Thebes, and because he was such good friends with Arcita, he asked Theseus to allow him to go free.

And without paying a single penny of ransom, Duke Theseus, because he loved Pirithous so much, he allowed Arcita to go free.

Let's take a moment now to check our learning.

Here are four statements.

They are true or false.

In a second, you're going to pause your video and go through and decide which of each statement is true, or is it false? Statement A, Arcita prays to be released and eventually Theseus agrees.

B, Pirithous and Theseus are best friends from childhood.

C, Pirithous was friends with Arcita in Thebes, and begged Theseus to release him.

Or is it D, Pirithous pays a huge ransom for Arcita's release? Pause the video now and decide which of these statements is true, and which is false.

Feel free to write AT or AF depending on which is the case.

Great effort there, I hope you didn't find that too challenging.

Let's see how well you've done.

Sentences A then, Arcita prays to be released and eventually Theseus agrees, this is false.

It is not through Arcita's begging and prayer that Theseus agrees to allow him to go, it is from Pirithous.

Sentence B, Pirithous and Theseus are best friends from childhood, this is true, both Pirithous and Theseus have known each other since they were very small, and are the best of friends.

C, Pirithous was friends with Arcita in Thebes, and begged Theseus to release him.

This is also true, it is because of Pirithous being such good friends with Theseus, that Arcita is allowed to go free.

And sentence D, Pirithous pays a huge ransom for Arcita's release.

This is false.

We've seen in the text that Geoffrey Chaucer wrote that not a penny of ransom was paid.

He allowed, Theseus allowed Pirithous to get Arcita's freedom simply because of their friendship.

So Arcita's now been allowed to go free from the tower, but is he allowed to simply wander around Athens? Let's find out.

The compact was, to set it plainly down, as made between those two of great renown, that if Arcita, any time, were found, ever in life by day or night on ground of any country of this Theseus, and he were caught, it was concerted thus, that by the sword he straight should lose his head.

So Theseus sets some conditions that if at any point Arcita is found on any ground or any part of a country that belongs to Theseus, so especially if he comes back to Athens, then by a sword, Arcita will lose his head.

He will be executed.

Let's check your learning then, what did these you say would happen if Arcita returned to Athens? In a moment, I'm going to ask you to pause the video and decide which of these four options explains the answer to this question.

Option one, Theseus would put Arcita back in prison.

Option two, Theseus would have Arcita's head cut off with a sword.

Option three, Theseus would allow Palamon to marry Emily.

Or option four, Theseus would imprison Emily forever.

Pause the video now and make your decision.

Okay, fantastic effort.

Let's see which of these options answers the question what did Theseus say would happen if Arcita returned to Athens? It was of course, option two.

Theseus said that if Arcita was to return to Athens or any ground that belonged to him, then he would have his head cut off with a sword, he would be executed.

So Arcita has been freed from his prison.

However, at the same time, he's been banished from Athens, where Emily lives.

Let's move on with our story and see what his reaction is to this turn of events.

How great a sorrow is Arcita's now! How through his heart he feels death's heavy blow.

He weeps, he wails, he cries out piteously, he thinks to slay himself all privily.

Said he "Alas the day that I was born! I'm in worse prison now and more forlorn.

Now, am I doomed eternally to dwell no more in Purgatory, but in Hell.

Arcita here feels that having to leave Athens and never see Emily is a fate worse than death, it's like being sent to hell, and he's upset at his banishment.

Here, Chaucer uses words such as Purgatory and Hell to describe the idea that when in prison, there was at least a chance of freedom, the chance of returning to Heaven, as Arcita would think it, but when not in prison in Athens and not able to see Emily, it is as though he's in Hell.

So we've seen some new language here.

Puragtory.

Purgatory is a middle ground between Heaven and Hell.

People in Purgatory suffer while waiting to be judged worthy of Heaven or Hell.

While Purgatory is worse than Heaven, it is better than Hell.

Arcita feels that the tower was like Purgatory, because while he was in suffering and didn't like being in the tower, at the same time it was still better than the Hell that he now finds himself in, not being able to see Emily.

"Alas, the day I was born! I'm in worse prison now and more forlorn.

Now am I doomed eternally to dwell no more in Purgatory, but in Hell." Remember that last statement, now am I doomed ally to dwell no more in Purgatory, but in Hell.

Firstly, we can see this heroic couplet putting together the fact that clearly Arcita's emotions a born out from his feeling of love, and that loss of that love from Emily is what is hurting him most.

However, he uses this as a metaphor.

Remember from our previous lessons, what a metaphor is.

a word or a phrase used to describe something as actually being something else.

It says that something is so much like something else that it might as well be it.

Some examples, the battle was a raging thunderstorm.

Now, in this particular case, that battle was not actually a raging thunderstorm, there wasn't thunder in the sky, but in the case of this particular metaphor, it was so loud and so dangerous and so chaotic that the battle is described as almost being a raging thunderstorm.

Equally, if we go back to Palamon's metaphor that he used when describing Emily.

Venus she is verily.

Now we know now that Palamon did not actually think that Emily was Venus, but he says she's so beautiful and he loves us so much, she might as well be.

Venus she is verily, he uses that metaphor.

Let's look at the metaphor that Arcita uses here.

Now am I doomed eternally to dwell no more in Purgatory, but in Hell.

Here he uses these references.

Hell is a place of the most extreme suffering.

Hell is something that people are very much aware of in Christian religions.

Purgatory is a place to suffer while waiting for judgement.

He uses these two terms at the same time.

Arcita feels that he is no longer waiting for judgement with a chance of redemption, he now lives forever in Hell.

This metaphor suggests that he's life now freed, but banished from Athens is worse than it could possibly have been while in Purgatory.

This seems like a strange way to react for someone who's just been freed from prison, but let's have a little look to see how we can weigh up the judgement from Arcita here.

He sees Purgatory, being imprisoned in the tower, as being a halfway house between Heaven and Hell.

While he's in the tower, there is at least some possibility of redemption.

Whereas he sees Hell as being anywhere where he can not see Emily, in a difficult position where he can never redeem himself.

So while he's in Purgatory in the tower, he A, could see Emily, and he was enjoying that sight of her every single day.

However, he had no way to win her beyond seeing her every day.

Also, Theseus had stated that he would never be free, so we at this point can see no way that he could have got out of prison and ever got to fulfil his love for Emily.

However, now he is in Hell or he is banished from Athens back to Thebes, he cannot see Emily anymore, and this seems to be the overweighting idea that causes problems for Arcita.

He can, however, now raise an army to win Emily, and he is free to live his life in whatever way he wishes.

However, these things seem to be secondary to the pain and suffering that Arcita feels at not being able to see Emily every single day.

He says "Only the sight of her that I would serve, though I might never her dear grace deserve, would have sufficed, oh well enough for me! 'O my dear cousin Palamon,' said he, yours is the victory, and that is sure, for there, full happily, you may endure.

In prison? Never, but in Paradise!'" So Arcita here says that not being able to see Emily every day is a Hell, it is something that he cannot stand.

And in fact to the point where he says that Palamon, still there, trapped in prison, but in sight of Emily on a daily basis is the victor, he's the one who has won here.

And in fact, although Palamon remains in prison, Arcita makes the point that he is the victor and that he is living in paradise.

Paradise, of course, being a reference to the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve originated, or indeed the idea of Heaven itself.

While Arcita is in Hell without the sight of Emily, Palamon remains in Heaven, in paradise, where he can see her every single day.

So we've encountered some more new language here.

Paradise.

Paradise is the perfect garden, Eden, created by God for Adam and Eve.

Paradise is also often a reference for heaven itself.

Paradise is still often used today to refer to a perfect or beautiful place.

You might go on holiday and suggest that it is a paradise, it is idyllic, the exact place that you would want to be.

So when Arcita refers to the prison, being in sight of Emily, Palamon being able to see Emily every day, he suggests that he is in Heaven, while he himself Arcita is banished and therefore in Hell.

Let's take a moment now to check exactly what Arcita means here.

In a second, you're going to pause the video and read the question what does Arcita mean when he says "For since I may not see you Emily, I am, but dead, there is no remedy." He makes this statement, and one of the four options is what he refers to when he sees it.

Read all four and then make your decision.

Is it option one? If Arcita cannot see Emily, then he might as well be dead.

Is it option two? If Arcita cannot see Emily, then he will die.

Option three? Arcita wishes that Emily was dead if he can't see her.

Or option four? If Arcita is trapped in prison, then he will never be able to see Emily.

Pause the video now and make your decision.

The answer is of course option one.

If Arcita cannot see Emily, then he might as well be dead.

He feels that without the sight of Emily, regardless of his freedom, he might as well be dead.

If he can't see her on a daily basis, that it is Palamon that is the victor.

But while all this is going on, what is it that Palamon thinks? Let's continue with our story and find out.

And on the other hand, this Palamon, when that he found Arcita truly gone, such a lamentation made he, that the tower resounded of his crying, hour by hour.

So Palamon realises the Arcita is truly gone and isn't returning, and he laments, he cries and cries in the tower, hour after hour.

"Alas!" Said he, "Arcita, cousin mine, with all our strife, God knows you've worn the wine.

You're walking now in Theban streets at large, and all my woe you may from your mind discharge." Now he's not upset here about the idea that Arcita is gone and he's now lonely, he's upset that Arcita seems to have won the wine, as he refers to.

Arcita is the one that now has an opportunity, a possibility of winning the heart of Emily, and that is why Palamon is upset.

He says "Won the wine." This metaphor refers to Emily as a prize, as a luxurious wine to be won by the victor.

And it is in this case Arcita that has won it.

You may too, since you've wisdom and manhood, assemble all the people of our blood and wage a war so sharp on this city that by some fortune or by some treaty, you shall yet have that lady to your wife.

Here, Palamon makes the suggestion of what he would've done in Arcita's place.

He says that because Arcita is wise and manly, he's strong and brave, he will gather the people of Thebes together and wage a war so sharp on Athens that somehow, or by some treaty, Theseus will have no choice but allow Arcita to marry Emily, and that is what he's upset about.

Okay, you've worked ever so hard here.

In a second, I'm going to ask you to pause the video and move on to the next slide for our main activity.

It's a sorting activity today.

What I'm going to ask you to do is to copy out table A and B.

The table A titled Palamon, and the table B entitled Arcita.

In the middle there, you can see three statements.

Those statements refer to either Palamon or Arcita.

What I'd like you to do is to complete that table by filling each statement into the correct column.

So for example, you might choose statement one, freed from prison but banished from Athens, you might think that this refers to Palamon.

If so, then write it in column A.

If you think it refers to Arcita, then write it in column B.

Do the same thing for the next two statements, feels that the other Knight could raise an army and win Emily, and feels that without seeing Emily, he might as well be dead.

Pause the video and complete this activity now.

Okay, that was a tricky one, let's see how well you've done.

So, freed from prison but banished from Athens.

This is Arcita, Arcita has been freed from prison by Pirithous who is friends with Theseus, but he's banished from Athens to never see Emily again.

Who feels that the other Knight could raise an army and win Emily? Well, Palamon does, he says that if he were in Arcita's place, then he would raise an army to come back and win Emily.

Who feels that without seeing Emily, he might as well be dead? Well this is Arcita.

While he doesn't feel that he's got the strength or the know how to raise an army, to raise a ransom or in some way make it so that he can come back and win Emily himself, he knows that without seeing Emily, he might as well be dead.

Now you've worked incredibly hard there and done a fantastic job.

If you've got all three of those right, then give yourself a big round of applause and a pat on the back.

If not, then feel free to go back in the video or back in our earlier videos and just review your learning.

However, I know at this stage that you're in a position to challenge yourself, so in a second, we're going to move on to a challenge question.

What I'd like you to do in a moment is to pause the video and have a go at the following.

Try to answer the following question as part of your review work on this lesson.

So you can do this question now while we've paused the video or alternatively you can wait till after the video, when you're reviewing your learning and have a go at it then.

who do you think is suffering the most? To answer this question, you'll need to consider the following, Arcita's thoughts after banishment, Palamon's thoughts about Arcita's freedom, and what may happen now that Arcita is free.

Give extra thought to all three of those and decide for me who is suffering the most? Is it Arcita, banished from Athens, not being able to see Emily anymore? Or is it Palamon, able to see Emily on a daily basis, but trapped in a tower with no hope of ever being freed? Make your decision, and hopefully let's see how you get on in reviewing your learning.

Okay, so we've reached the end of our English lesson today, and that's the end of lesson seven on the Canterbury Tales in the Knight's Tale series.

Today we've addressed who suffers the most out of Palamon and Arcita, Arcita now having been released from prison.

When the video ends, it's time to review your learning.

I'd like you to do a few things for me.

Firstly, go back through your notes and pick a new piece of vocabulary.

Have a little look to see what new words we've learned today, or words that you've learned a new definition for.

Review those, go back through, write them down a few times or think of a few examples.

Second thing I'd like you to do is to review the plot from today's lesson.

Things have moved on quite a lot today, with Arcita being freed, Palamon's views on what that means for him, and also the introduction of a new character.

So just go back through and review the plot, perhaps write down two or three key aspects that you've learnt.

And then finally, don't forget to do those complete activities and those extra exercises, especially the challenge activity.

It'll really help you to embed and review your learning and make sure that you really understand exactly what's happening.

Until next time, folks, when we come back with lesson eight of "The Canterbury tales." Congratulations, well done, and bye for now.