I just read Geoffrey Chaucer's "Knight's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales (ca. 1390). The obvious themes are 1) love will drive man to violate law and order and 2) man's destiny is controlled by fate.
The first, regarding love and, by extension, emotions in general, is still very true today. Not only will people act irrationally when head-over-heels in love, but passion, greed, jealousy, and hunger are the root causes of probably most crimes.
On a cultural note, I thought it was peculiar that it was only the men's emotions that mattered. The lady had no say and had to marry whoever won the competition.
The second theme, regarding fate and destiny, doesn't seem as relevant today, but maybe it's more relevant than we realize. We believe with planning we can control our destiny. Actually it's more like what I call driving on snow--you're not in complete control and there's always a chance that things will go wrong, but with care and attention you usually get to where you're going--or close enough. Life is like that.
For me though the most amazing feature of the "Knight's Tale" is the marvelous quality of the style and verse. I was more in awe of the verse than I was of the story itself, the action, emotions, or lifestyle it so vividly portrays. The verse is absolutely amazing. It doesn't follow a rigid structure nor does every line rhyme, but it's somehow beautiful--too beautiful for words. I read a modern English translation of course (by Burton Raffel, 2008), but the forward claims he tried to retain the original style and meaning, so I believe I read the real thing. Chaucer in Modern English.
It's a masterpiece. You have to read it for yourself.
References:
Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales. ca. 1390. Trans. Burton Raffel. Modern Library. 2008.
Shmoop Editorial Team. The Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale. Shmoop University, Inc.. 2008.
GradeSaver. "The Canterbury Tales Study Guide & Literature Essays". GradeSaver. 1999-2011.
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