Additionally, the passage further illustrates the role of men and women in medieval culture. Women are expected to appeal to, rely on, and acquiesce to men’s strength, wisdom, and compassion. Men are expected to rule, maintain order, and use reason above other emotions. Thus we have the women’s pleas for mercy for the knights and Theseus’ acquiescence. Similarly, the decision regarding who shall win Emilie’s hand is the man’s, not Emilie’s.
Part III: The descriptions of the altars, the stadium, and the magnificent feasts are tedious for the modern reader in the same way that the descriptions of shields and armor in the Homeric epics are static and dull for the modern reader, but these descriptions carried a great appeal for the audience of that time because they reinforce the notion of an ideal, ordered society. The description of the feasts shows an society in which the king justly reigns over subjects. The description of the altars implies that the gods are still viable in terms of effecting people’s behaviors and rewarding pleas. The stadium symbolizes structure of an ordered society.
The prayers of each of the three principals are also consistent with their individual personalities:
* Palamon prays only for love and thus his prayer is to Venus, goddess of love, asking not that he win the battle or earn fame, but only that he somehow win Emilie or else die by Arcite’s spear.
* Emilie prays before the altar of Diana, asking first that her chastity be preserved, and then, if her first wish is not possible, to let the knight who most loves her win.
* Arcite prays to Mars, god of war, for victory. He believes that only force can win Emilie’s love.
