Despite the many years spanned in The Knight’s Tale, the story appears to be perpetually situated in the month of May. Palamon and Arcite first glimpse their love, Emily, as she sings and braids flowers in the hair “to doon honour to May”(I. 1047. pg 27). Similarly, both the duel in the woods and the climactic final battle to determine Emily’s hand occur under May’s reign. The month itself derives from the Latin “maius”, meaning “larger” or “greater”. True to its namesake, the events occurring in May prove to possess far greater implications and meanings than they provide at surface level. Far from a commonplace tale of squabbling over a lover, The Knight’s Tale addresses the higher themes of passion vs. gentility, the uglier face of Love,…show more content… 1625-26. pg 40). Just as Arcite and Palamon duel, so do passion and gentility. There are, of course, moments when lordship prevails. When proposing the match, Arcite is sure to suggest terms which are fair on all accounts, choosing to win Emily’s love through a proper duel than to vanquish his foe on the spot. This suggests, perhaps, that the savagery that overtakes the knights in the battle is only permissible within the bounds of gentility-- that a primitive lust for blood hasn’t completely taken over the cousins. This notion appears again in line 1647 as the battle commences: “So ferden they in the chaunging of hir hewe”(II. 1647. pg 40). “Ferden” denotes acting or performing, and thus provides hope that the fight for Emily has not completely dissolved their brotherhood-- perhaps they are merely acting as mortal foes. Additionally, as Arcite returns alone on his horse the next morning to commence the duel, the image evokes a knight setting off on a noble quest. In fact, Chaucer describes Arcite as riding off to “bataille”(II. 1632. pg 40), rather than an unofficial duel. Lordship also triumphs during a nostalgic scene where the two cousins arm themselves “as friendly as he were his owne brother”(1651). The Knight’s diagnosis of the…show more content… Despite their struggles and battling, the characters are not their own masters and therefore will eventually fail. This becomes particularly clear before the duel, where the Knight uses the passive voice in describing a great deal of Arcite and Palamon’s actions. “Arcite is riden”(1628) to town, he “is born” on his horse back to the wood the next morning, where “Arcite and this Palamoun ben met”(1636). By using the passive voice, Chaucer exposes that some other being is completing the action of drawing these two cousins together to