The Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale Death Quotes Page 1
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| Quote #1 I wrecche, which that wepe and waille thus, |
The figure of the lamenting woman is a familiar one from both classical and medieval epic literature. Her role in the story is to remind the men of the consequences of their war-mongering. The widows in "The Knight's Tale" are a little different, though, because they actually encourage Theseus to go to war to avenge the desecration of their husbands' bodies.
| Quote #2 [He] swoor his ooth, as he was a trewe knyght, |
Creon's death is necessary to make the public understand that his failure to perform the rituals of burial is unacceptable. The irony here is that by desecrating the dead, Creon becomes one of them himself.
| Quote #3 To ransake in the taas of bodyes dede, |
The image of pillagers sifting through a pile of dead bodies is a gruesome one, which, like the figures of the lamenting women, reminds us of the horrors of warfare.
