Slavery and Freedom in The Knight's TaleIn The Knight's Tale, the lives of Palamon and Arcite are filled with adversity and slavery. Not only do they live in physical imprisonment, bound like prisoners of war in a tower, but they fall into the imprisonment of Love, which causes them to suffer the cruel decrees of the classical gods. Cooper writes that “there can be no moral or metaphysical justice in the various fates that befall them; yet one dies miserably wounded, while the other lives his life with Emily “with all happiness”” (76). We could compare their destiny to that of Jacob and Esau: one is blessed, and the other cursed so that God's providence may persist. This essay will argue (1) that even though Palamon and Arcite are enslaved as prisoners of war, prisoners of love, and prisoners of Saturn's decree, both knights are still responsible for their actions, and (2) that the Arcite's death brings unity and restores order to Athens. Palamon and Arcite are introduced into the tale as the only two surviving knights of Creon's army. Once found by the scavengers, they are brought before Theseus and he sends them to “remain in prison/perpetually” (1023-4). It is through their physical imprisonment in the “room an high” (1065) that leads them to see Emilie and fall into the imprisonment of Love. But Love's imprisonment affects Palamon and Arcite in different ways. Arcite "falls in love with her irresistibly, out of natural necessity...[while for Palamon,] Emelye's love is a matter of choice rather than nature, as shown by his repeated demand that Arcite simply stop love him (1142- 43, 1593-95, 1731)" (Roney 62). But even if their vision of love is different, they are...... middle of paper...... Elbow, Peter. "How Chaucer Transcends Oppositions in Knight's Tale." dialogue between romance, epic and philosophy." Chaucer Review. Vol. 27. No. 2. Ed. Robert Franck. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University, 1992. Frost, William. "An interpretation of Chaucer's knight's tale." Review of Chaucer. Vol. 1. Ed. Richard Schoeck: University of Notre Dame Press, 1960. Miller, Robert. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. Chaucer's Knight's Tale and Theories of Scholastic Psychology. Tampa: University of South Florida Press, 1990. Spearing, A. C. The Knight's Tale. London: Cambridge University Press, 1966.