The Two Mayings in Chaucer's 'Knight's Tale': Convention and Invention

Author / Editor
Stock, Lorraine Kochanske.

Title
The Two Mayings in Chaucer's 'Knight's Tale': Convention and Invention

Published
Journal of English and Germanic Philology 85 (1986): 206-21.

Description
Chaucer creates structural, linguistic, and thematic affinities between the Mayings of Emelye and Arcite. Emelye's Maying implicitly presents her as a flower; her wearing of green clothes suggests both carnal Flora and chaste Diana. Arcite's song may be interpreted as a near-obscene request to deflower Emelye.

Chaucer Subjects
Knight and His Tale.