“Boys Don’t Cry” and “Fortune’s Fool”, phrases of love and fate

As I finished reading Chaucer’s first and second part of “The Knights Tale” two phrases came to my mind: “boys don’t cry” and “ O, I am fortune’s fool.” This citations link “The Knights Tale” with other works, emphasizing that themes are universal. In Chaucer’s story we find that love and fate are related and are characterized by Arcite and Palamon´s reactions towards their lives. Theseus has imprisoned them after conquering Thebes. This being a negative event to them turns out to be their opportunity to fall in love with Emelye, Theseus´s sister in law. One can note that destiny could be seen as negative or positive showing the subjective and idealized love described in “The Knight’s Tale”. These miserable prisoners soon fall in love with Emelye, and portray their courtly love with vehement dismay: “‘Cosin myn, what eyleth thee,

That art so pale and deedly on to see?

Why crydestow? who hath thee doon offence?

For Goddes love, tak al in pacience

Our prisoun, for it may non other be;

Fortune hath yeven us this adversitee.

Som wikke aspect or disposicioun

Of Saturne, by sum constellacioun,

Hath yeven us this, al-though we hadde it sworn;

So stood the heven whan that we were born;

We moste endure it: this is the short and pleyn.’ ” (lines 223-233) Arcite asks Palamon about his cry, while thinking it was related to their misfortune and imprisonment. Arcite´s guess was not completely wrong, fortune was their adversary but Palamon´s cry came from his passionate “first sight love”, not from anger due to his lack of freedom. The story continues with Arcite falling in love with Emelye and creating tension among them. Destiny interferes with the expected outcome of the story (or at least first part) by Chaucer’s appeal to a peripety, including Perotheus into the story. Perotheus intercedes for Palamon´s liberty and Theseus agrees under the condition that Palamon never returns back. Despite of this apparent positive fortune’s favor, Theseus posses an important question: Who’s less fortunate, a free man without seeing the woman he loves or the captive man with her close by?

Hence, I associate “The Knights tale” with “boys don’t cry” and that particular sentence in Romeo and Juliet. The Cure´s song expresses accurately the feeling of an impotent man whos in love. Yet, different in context, the man described on the song committed mistakes that lead to his misfortune. While Palamon´s and Arcite´s situation was given by fortune itself: external factors. Despite this, ¨boys don’t cry” says: So I try to laugh about it

Cover it all up with lies

I try to

laugh about it

Hiding the tears in my eyes

'cause boys don't cry”, resembling the same passionate feeling regardless of context. This might be a modern way to express helplessness of a man’s grief when faced an unfortunate event. Romeo`s quotation “O, I am fortune’s fool” reflect how courtly love deals with the men’s suffering and affection. When Romeo slains Tybalt, eventually leading to his banishment from Verona, consequently creating an unfavorable end as said in:“ For never was a story of more woe
/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

From three different pieces of art I see how grief and love are related and how fortune drastically affects men. It could be interpreted as: individual actions lead to misfortune, one’s life is ruled my fortune, or men’s future being determined by both personal and external factors.