As love ebb and flows through "The Knight's Tale," hearts and minds of characters are changed in a beautiful way. Love in the beginning of the story is seen as something that tears apart and causes jealousy but when the end of the tale arrives, love mends instead of mangles. The fable depicts a tale of two cousins (named Arcite and Palamon) who are captured by their adversary and put at the top of a tower overlooking the rival's kingdom. While in the tower, they spot a gorgeous young lady tending to her garden outside. Both cousins fall desperately in love with the lady. Little to their knowledge however, this young lady is the rival king's daughter. The two cousins grow envious of each other's love for the lady and long to break out of the …show more content…
Arcite's heart is broken. He would rather rot in that tower then leave the kingdom where his love resides. Arcite becomes all the more envious towards his cousin. Palamon will be able to wake up every morning and see his love while Arcite can only dream of what once was. Arcite leaves the kingdom and vows to never return. However, Arcite is clever, he returns to the knigdom from which he belongs, and takes the appearence of another man. The crafty cousin then goes back to the kingdom in which his lady remains. He acquires a job and gradually works his way up the ranks until he is the king's duke. Everything seems to be on the right path for Arcite until Palamon escapes from prison and finds out what Arcite is devising. The two cousins begin to fight but the king happens upon them and learns of their stories. Although the king was their rival, he understood the pain that love causes among men. He formulated a way for them to decide who should win the young lady's heart. A battle. The battle would be fought between the two and knight's that each cousin would appoint. Blood would not be shed but rather whoever came crashing down off their horse would be eliminated from the battle. The clash was set to commence a year from the time the king had the