In the medieval times there wasn't a strict set of rules to follow, it was rather being loyal to the catholic church. But on the other hand the knights had a special code of honor that they had to follow. There existed a code of chivalry which was expected that each knight would follow it. A knight in the middle ages had to be very skilled at battle to be able to survive and be great in the middle ages which were usually described as violent. In addition he had to have a chivalrous side which is the soft and gentle side. There were qualities included in that moral code such as the knight has to be brave at all times, courtesy and honor were also key ideas of this code, and the knight had to show gallantry when around women. In the story Theseus is faced with a big problem when the woman says: "To do the dede bodyes vileynye Of alle oure lordes whiche that been yslawe, Hath alle the bodyes on an heep ydrawe, And wol nat suffren hem, by noon assent, Neither to been yburyed nor ybrent, But maketh houndes ete them in despit." (ln 942-947) The honoring of dead bodies is a very important theme because it represents the dignity of the person. If a dead body isn't burned nor buried and it is left to rot or left to be eaten by the hounds then it is a big sign of disrespect. Theseus being such an honorable man accepted these women petitions and went away to take the bodies that were being dishonored and bury them in a honorable way. This event of dishonoring the dead body of a person has also happened in many stories and in the war of troy the same happened. When Hector killed the best friend of Aquilles, Aquilles became so mad he just wanted to kill Hector to revenge the death of his friend. Hector faced Aquilles on a one on one fight and was killed. After this Aquilles tied Hector's body to his cart and moved many miles with the intention of destroying and dishonoring this body. I really think this is an act that shows how inhuman can the human race get to be when it has been blinded by anger. How can a person still be trying to torture the dead body even though it has been killed? This event has happened in many places for example when they find dead corpses that have been disfigured even after the person has lost conscience and will not feel anymore.
Sharing a dream or a common goal with someone can be very nice because it would feel as if you had a companion along the way who is providing you help. The fact that two persons have the same goal can also be negative because it will make these two persons fight over who gets to that goal first and who deserves it more. The same thing happened to Arcite and Palamon when they have the same girl as their desired person to marry. The narrator says: "Thou shalt nat love my lady Emelye, But I wol love hire oonly and namo." (ln 1588-1589) Since they have the same goal in mind they start fighting over who gets to keep the girl. This situation where two people want the same thing and they start fighting is very common and I have seen it happen many times. If the two persons that are fighting don't know each other then they fight nut if they are very close friends for example one will give in and let the other one take over. If they are two very close friends fighting and none of them wants to let go, then the prize or the motivation they have is very big because they don't mind hurting a close person to get the prize.
Gallantry: Courtesy and polite attentiveness to women.
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