Anthony Slaughter 10/27/11 The Knight’s Tale Essay In the beginning of the movie Will is just a peasant, squire but by the end of the movie, upon finding his newfound talent of jousting, he transformed is his social status from peasant to royalty by becoming a knight. In the beginning of the movie, The Knight’s Tale, William Thatcher and his two friends, Wat and Roland, start off as three ordinary squires. Right before a jousting match their knight that they serve dies; with their knight dead there is no one else of royalty to ride in his place.
However, with the threat of forfeiting approaching, William decides to ride in his knight’s place, risking being caught and put to prison or worse. Once Will was done getting ready for the joust, it was time to see what he could do and to the surprise of Will, Wat, and Roland he had won the joust. After winning, they received prizemoneyin which they divided up among themselves. Wat and Roland wanted take their share of money and go to the bar, but Will had other plans.
Will convinced them to put all their money together and train him to become a better jouster. Wat and Roland agreed and they began to train Will; after a while of training and practicing Will got it down, yet the one thing he didn’t have was documentation that he was born of royalty, which was the only qualification of becoming a knight. Luckily, one day while traveling they came across a man named Geoffrey Chaucer, he was a writer/scribe who had a gambling problem and because of his problem he had lost his cloths and was completely naked on the road.
Chaucer promised to create documentation for Will, if Will clothed, fed, shoed, and let him travel with them. Will agreed and all four of them were off to their first jousting tournament. At Wills first tournament, he competed in joust and in sword fighting. Also at this tournament he saw a beautiful woman who peeked his interest, her name was Joseline. Will jousted first and did very well until he faced the cocky and undefeated, Count Adhemar who had mocked him and made him look like a fool in front of Joseline.
Will competed in swords next, winning first prize in the competition, but Will was not happy because all he wanted to do was beat Adhemar in jousting, which meant Will had to invest all his time into jousting to have a chance to meet Adhemar in the jousting championships. With his goal in sight, Will began winning all the tournaments he competed in, making his name known throughout Europe. His new armor forged and crafted by the women blacksmith, Kate, who now traveled with them, helped him win his tournaments because of its lightness and strength.
Joseline also noticed Will, not because of the fame he had earned but because of her unannounced love for him and invited him to a dance after one of his wins, and their love for each other grew from there. Because of Will’s success he was able to move on to the championships, which took place in his hometown. While in his hometown, Will searched and located his father, John Thatcher who he had not seen in 12 years. Unfortunately, Adhemar watched Will try to sneak out. That next day, before the joust with his adversary, Adhemar, Will was arrested for using fake documentation that said that he was born of royal blood.
However, Prince Edward, who had greatrespectfor Will because Will didn’t forfeit the jousting match to him just because he was the Prince, was in the crowd with his personal bodyguard. Prince Edward said that Will was a descendant of ancient royalty, freeing Will. The Prince then knighted Will, enabling him to compete in his jousting championship match between Adhemar. When the match started, Will jumped to a quick lead, Adhemar didn’t like that so he decided to use a lance with a solid, metal tip to intentionally hurt Will……………………….. Characterization is the process by which the writer reveals thepersonalityof a character.
There are two ways the author can reveal characterization, direct characterization and indirect characterization. Direct Characterization tells the audience what the personality of the character is. Indirect Characterization shows things that reveal the personality of a character. In the movie the author uses indirect characterization by describing Will’s personality through his actions and choices he makes throughout the movie. One example is at the end, when Will still goes out to joust Adhemar, instead of trying to run away, even though he knows he will most likely get arrested.
Will’s act in this situation showed his heart, determination, and relentlessness to complete his goal of defeating Adhemar. Will’s personality led him to follow morals such as bravery, determination, respect, and chivalry. Through these morals Will learned some lessons. Will learned the chivalry of a knight, when jousting Prince Edward, he learned respect when he fell in love with Joseline. Through these lessons he became a noble and honorable man, far different than the peasant life he once lived.
