Beowolf, The Art of Courtly Love, and The Wife of Bath and

The term â€Å"Hero† has been in our civilization for centuries. On the surface, a hero is a person of honor, integrity, and the will to fight for what he or she believes in. Nearly every story that is told is centered around a character who in one way or another is a hero. They are a person whom the common people are supposed to strive to be; but does this icon truly exist? While the author of Beowulf is still a mystery, the greatness of the character that he or she created will live on forever. Beowulf is the model of what a hero was supposed to be in the middle ages. He was fearless in the face of death, nearly undefeatable, and cunning. Even as a king, Beowulf was generous and helped his people however he could. â€Å"It was never†¦show more content†¦It insinuates that the higher class men should not even think of the poorer class as human beings, but tools for them to fill their desires if they should so unfortunately lust after a woman of lower class. This is clearly not how a hero is normally displayed, but this story was written for the hierarchy by the hierarchy, whom the lower and middle class were supposed to look up to. This brings the question, who were the real heroes? What even was a hero during this time? Was it a real thing, or were heroes just a work of fiction? Geoffery Chaucer was a king’s yeoman, esquire, and a messenger. This allowed him to meet a variety of people from across the globe, as well as those of nobility. This allowed him to write a story that accurately captured different people’s personalities, which was called the Canterbury Tales. It is the tale of 29 Pilgrims on a religious journey together. They all share stories and the tale des cribe each character in detail. The first character described is a knight, whom were thought to be among the highest of society. Chaucer talks briefly about his great service and the many battles the knight had fought in, and then he goes to describe his appearance. â€Å"He rode a good horse, but his gear was plain, for he had lately served on a campaign His tunic was still spattered by the rust left by his coat of mail [†¦]† Clearly, he is not the iconic image of a knight that we, even today, think