the Black Knight

E281375

The Black Knight is the grieving lover in Geoffrey Chaucer’s dream-vision poem "The Book of the Duchess," whose lament over his lost lady reveals the work’s central themes of love and loss.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
the Black Knight canonical 2
The Black Knight 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf fictional knight ⓘ
literary character ⓘ
male character ⓘ
appearsIn The Book of the Duchess ⓘ
appearsInGenre dream vision poem ⓘ
associatedTheme courtly love ⓘ
death of a beloved ⓘ
inability to accept loss ⓘ
associatedWith The Man in Black ⓘ
centralTo the poem’s exploration of loss ⓘ
the poem’s exploration of love ⓘ
characterType courtly lover ⓘ
communicatesTheme consolation ⓘ
grief ⓘ
loss ⓘ
love ⓘ
memory of the beloved ⓘ
mourning ⓘ
the limits of consolation ⓘ
communicatesThrough lament ⓘ
createdBy Geoffrey Chaucer ⓘ
describedAs courteous ⓘ
dressed in black ⓘ
eloquent in his grief ⓘ
melancholic ⓘ
dialogueWith the dreamer-narrator ⓘ
expressesEmotion despair ⓘ
longing ⓘ
sorrow ⓘ
firstIntroducedAs a solitary figure in the woods ⓘ
formOfRepresentation allegorical figure of mourning ⓘ
interactsWith the dreamer who questions him ⓘ
languageOfWork Middle English ⓘ
literaryPeriod Middle Ages ⓘ
literaryTradition medieval English literature ⓘ
loveInterest his lady ⓘ
mourns his lost lady ⓘ
narrativeDevice vehicle for expressing the poem’s elegiac purpose ⓘ
narrativeFunction exemplifies themes of love and loss ⓘ
revealsLoss gradually through conversation ⓘ
roleInWork grieving lover ⓘ
settingContext a forest in a dream vision ⓘ
symbolizes the experience of bereavement ⓘ
the grieving lover ⓘ
timeOfCreationOfWork 14th century ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Book of the Duchess → mainCharacter → the Black Knight ⓘ
Wesele → featuresCharacter → The Black Knight ⓘ
linked to: the Black Knight