This week, I chose to read the Canterbury Tales unit. In high school, I had read excerpts of the poetry in a British literature class, and I liked the morals and themes that it contained, so I thought I would delve into it more! I might also look at the Middle English version of it and compare it to the modern English--different translations have always fascinated me.
The Wife of Bath's Tale ("The Unknown Bride"): One thing that I found interesting was that the story of King Midas was from as early as the time of Ovid--I had never realized that. I appreciated the commentary before this story on this matter. The rest of the tale was a roller coaster of emotions: at first, I didn't really care for the knight because of his crime, but as the story went on and he realized that his wife, the old woman, carried her beauty on the inside, I grew to respect him a little more. Overall, the Wife of Bath lays out the theme that husbands should follow the counsel of their wives.
The Friar's Tale ("The Story of the Summoner"): I really hope the Summoner learned his lesson in this story--even though it might be too late. He tries to swindle an old, poor woman out of twelve pence that she does not have, and she in turn curses him and says she would sooner let the demon who is traveling with the Summoner take him than give him the money. Sure enough, the demon takes his soul into the depths of Hell. This story, which portrays a corrupt Summoner, in conjunction with the story of the Summoner, which portrays a corrupt Friar, shows their strained relationship as well as the split in the church of Chaucer's time.
The Franklin's Tale ("The Promise of Dorigen"): This is a refreshing change from some of the stories that other travelers tell, which involve immoral deeds. In the Franklin's Tale, he emphasizes love and faithfulness as being key components to a marriage and truth and honesty as being important to one's character. Dorigen and her husband Arviragus understand how crucial these aspects are to any relationship--she refuses to be untrue while her husband is away, and he insists that she keep her promise to Aurelius. I am glad that everything worked out for everyone in the end.
The Pardoner's Tale ("The Revelers Who Went out to Meet Death"): The Pardoner hammers home the point that money is the root of all evil. When the three drunken revelers go into the next town to find Death, they find a pile of gold coins. They send the youngest into town to get food and wine and the others stay and guard their pile. These two plan to kill the youngest when he gets back and take his share, and the other reveler has similar plans, so he poisons the wine. At the end, all three of them indeed meet Death.
The Prioress's Tale ("Little Hugh of Lincoln"): This was a morbid tale and it truly made me sad for the intolerance of the Christians of Chaucer's time. The background information given at the beginning was helpful in understanding the story, and the Prioress's title also explains a lot of her opinion that is injected in this anti-Semitic tale. I am glad that we can trace archives back to the root of immorality such as is depicted in this story so that we can change our behaviors and mindsets.
The Nun's Priest's Tale ("The Cock, the Hen, and the Fox"): Ah, the famous story of Chanticleer, his wife, and the fox. In this story, Chaucer describes humans' weaknesses by portraying animals as human-like. At first, Chanticleer is vain and gives in to the temptation and flattery of the fox, but he is cunning and escapes, learning his lesson and not listening to the fox's false praise again.
The Canon's Yeoman's Tale ("The Priest who Learned to be a Philosopher"): It is interesting that both the Canon and the Yeoman were not listed in the prologue of the original Canterbury Tales. This story must have been added after the original stories were published.
No comments:
Post a Comment