# Emily — The Canterbury Tales character guide

> Emily in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** woful Emily

**First appearance:** 0001-the-knight-s-tale

## Snapshot

Hippolyta's fair sister, whose morning walk in the garden becomes the unwitting spark that ignites two cousins' ruinous devotion.

## Who they are

Emily is the sister of Hippolyta, wife of Duke Theseus, and lives within the walls of Athens where Palamon and Arcite are imprisoned. She appears first as a figure of May itself—yellow hair braided, gathering white and red flowers, singing like an angel—utterly unaware that two men watch from a barred window. Her beauty sets the tale's plot in motion, yet she remains largely an object of others' desires, and her own wishes only surface later when she prays to Diana.

## Relationships

### [Palamon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/characters/palamon)

_romantic_

Emily is the beautiful maiden whom Palamon loves and for whom he competes with Arcite.

### [Palamon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/characters/palamon)

_romantic_

Emily is the beautiful maiden whom Palamon loves and for whom he competes with Arcite.

### [Palamon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/characters/palamon)

_romantic_

Emily is the beautiful maiden whom Palamon loves and for whom he competes with Arcite.

## In the story

### [The Knight's Tale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/chapters/the-knight-s-tale)

The object of the cousins' love, to be awarded as prize to the tournament victor.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/characters/emily
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/characters