A Comparison Of The Knight And The Squire In Chaucers The Canterbury Es

In the medieval period that is described by Chaucers Canterbury Tales,chivalry was perhaps the most recognized quality of a straight gentleman. Thisquality is explored in Chaucers cardinal characters of the warrior class, theKnight and the Squire. The squire is the son of the Knight both ridegallantly and stand the air of true gentleman warriors. However, the two arevery dissimilar despite their appearances. The Knight possesses the truequalities of chivalry, devotion to wait on, constancy in humility, andh one(a)sty. The Squire possesses none of these qualities truly instead hisdemeanor is one that is less honorable and virtuous. Although both claimthe same vocation, the Squire and the Knight display contradicting attitudesin respect to dedication, material possessions, and sincerity.The main point in the translation of the Knight was the abundance andimportance of his battles, while it was the least mentioned aspect in theSquire. The entirety of the Squires military experienc e is named in twolines, "he had seen some service with the cavalry/ If Flanders and Artoisand Picardy," perchance a direct consequence of the Squires youth (5). Thelist of the Knights battles clearly dominates the text of his description,running many lines. He had embarked ".along the Mediterranean coast" tosuch(prenominal) places as Alexandria, Lithuania, Russia, Granada, Algeciras, NorthAfrica, Benamarin, Anatolia, Ayas, and Attalia (4). Not only were thebattles of the knight more numerous, they were more extensive and requiredlengthy travels to far-away lands. The Squire had "done valiantly in diminishedspace" in these battles, nevertheless had not distinguished himself from his peers.This is implied when it is said that he had only seen "some service with thecavalry" (5).The Squire had pursued no famous errands in the interest of chivalrylike his father. The "distinguished knight", on the other hand, was very brave because of his uncond itional dedication (4). He had been in" xv mortal battles" and "always killed his men" which supports that heis committed to his work, as opposed to the Squire, who possessed adistracted attitude (4). "He could make sons and poems and recite, / Knewhow to joust and dance, to amaze and write" and so has focused his time andenergy to many other things (5). The S... ...agility", he did not use it to the full extent that his fatherused his own. In all aspects, in comparison with his own contradictorybehavior, and in comparison with the Knights behavior, the Squire is shownto be less than sincere in his chivalry.The Knight and the Squire have distinctly different attitudes towards theirvocation. As a result, they are complementing images of the medievalwarrior. The Knight is the romantic image that all true knights aspire to,generously practicing such chivalrous qualities as dedication, humility, andsincerity. Contrasting this, however, is the image depicted by the Squire,that of an imperfect knight who was to some degree boastful, lusting, orsuperficial. The Squire was never directly criticized by Chaucer, but theimplications that resulted from the description amounted to an extravagant,un-chivalrous image, perhaps a reflection of the actual knights of Chaucersday. Therefore, Chaucer was not merely comparing two knights and definingthe virtues that comprised chivalry, but on a bigger home plate was revealing thecorruption ofhumanity by comparing the difference between the realities of our humanitywith the ideal of perfection.