How to Change Your Stars: the Essence of Knighthood and Chivalry

In the movie A Knight’s Tale, directed by Brian Helgeland in 2001, Heath Ledger portrays a peasant boy whose greatest ambition is to become a knight. He gets this opportunity when his master, Sir Ector, dies suddenly and Ledger’s character William has to pretend to be him at a jousting tournament. William and his friends Wat and Roland continue this charade in order to make money, eventually obtaining forged patents of nobility by none other than Geoffrey Chaucer himself. As William, disguised as Sir Ulrich of Lichtenstein, becomes more famous at jousting, he begins to embrace his knightly persona more completely. He falls in love with a princess, and does all that he can to win her favor. He comes under attack from the evil Count Adhemer and eventually prevails due to his courage and perseverance.

There are several moments in the film that are obviously not historically accurate. The most obvious example of this is the music. The film opens with the spectators at a jousting tournament chanting the song "We Will Rock You" by Queen, complete with the hand clap rhythm that is so famous today. Later in the film, the characters attend a ball and begin to dance to "Golden Years" by David Bowie. This dancing is also atypical of the Middle Ages. Several of the costumes and hairstyles look more modern than medieval, and some of Chaucer’s pronouncements do not seem to fit the culture of the Middle Ages either.

However, while there were several details in the film that were not historically accurate, the tone of the movie and the major themes all portrayed the past well. One of the most important points was William’s need to maintain his honor as a knight. He was brave to the point of foolishness, and was prepared to die in order to maintain his honor. The first glimpse of this occurred in his first jousting tournament as Sir Ulrich. A man remarks that Ulrich is fearless, and when Jocelyn asks why, Count Adhemer replies that “The slit in the visor is narrow, but splinters can penetrate it. Most knights raise their chins at the last instant. You lose sight of your opponent, but protect your eyes. Ulrich doesn’t” (Knight’s Tale). William was single-minded in his purpose of winning the joust to the point where he would risk an injury to his eyes in order to succeed. He continues to behave this way throughout the film, with the most intense example occurring at the end of the movie. He is jousting Count Adhemer and losing badly. He cannot breathe in his armor or support the lance with his already injured arm, so he takes off his armor and has Wat tie the lance to his arm. Jousting without armor could have killed William, but he insisted that he had to finish the joust in order to maintain his honor.

                                                    William jousting without his armor

William’s reckless courage is summed up by the character of Prince Edward in a scene at the end of the movie, when Prince Edward knights William. Edward remarks of William that “you also tilt when you should withdraw... and that is knightly, too ” (A Knight’s Tale). William believes that to give up or not face a challenge would be an insult to his character. This idea that a knight must be fearless and courageous to the point of injury captures the essence of chivalry.  In another exchange with Prince Edward, William remarks that “it is not in me to withdraw” (A Knight’s Tale). Although William was not technically a knight at this point, he had the chivalric spirit of knighthood that is a major theme throughout the Middle Ages.

                                                William being knighted by Prince Edward

Another theme throughout the movie that accurately represents the culture of the Middle Ages is the idea of courtly love. William meets a princess named Jocelyn and immediately falls in love with her. He spends the rest of the movie attempting to win her favor. She takes over his thoughts, to the point where he cannot sleep for thinking about her. Eventually, she becomes the one thing for which William is willing to disgrace himself. Jocelyn asks him to prove his love for her by purposefully losing the jousting tournament. Begrudgingly, William agrees in order to prove his devotion to her. William’s love for Jocelyn is an apt depiction of the ideal for courtly love during the medieval era. According to the idea of courtly love, knights would be consumed by their devotion to their lover and would do absolutely anything for them. Losing the tournament on purpose was the worst thing that Jocelyn could have asked William to do as it goes against his prideful nature. However, William’s willingness to lose for Jocelyn proves his complete devotion to her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                       William speaking to Jocelyn

 

 

This movie does not get every detail about medieval society completely accurate, and it brings in several of the elements of modern society in order to keep the audience engaged. However, what it does do really well is capture the spirit of chivalry and knighthood. William does not actually become a knight until late in the movie, but his attitude and mindset was always that of a knight. If the audience was trying to learn about the clothing or the dances of the Middles ages, this would not be the correct film, but if they wanted to better understand the themes behind chivalry and knighthood, A Knight’s Tale is a very good example.

 

Sources:

 

A Knight's Tale. DVD. Directed by Brian Helgeland. Culver City, Calif.: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 2001.