Essay -- Misrepresenting Medieval Tradition: The Multilayered Appeal of A Knight's Tale
The 2001 film A Knight's Tale , written and directed by Brian Helgeland, is set in medieval Europe. The film contains era-appropriate themes such as courtly love, nobility, and chivalry. However, the depiction of events and actions frequently deviates from the ideals and conventions held in medieval times. These deviations can be seen to appeal to different kinds of audiences, to create interest and comedic effect on different levels. Three kinds of audiences can be identified, each possessive of a different degree of familiarity with the film's subject matter. First is the lay modern audience that is unfamiliar with the medieval era. For this audience, the deviations from medieval conventions serve to make the movie more accessible. The film incorporates physical love scenes and contemporary comedy for this type of audience, whose interest would not have easily been maintained by chaste, moralistic courtly love. Second is the audience that has a general knowledge of the co...