Woops--my answer was too long for the comment section. Go figure....
What
good questions. I really appreciated your pointing out the images
having to do with change and transformation. I hadn't noticed that.
Here's some thoughts.
First--It's hard to say what
Chaucer, who had a different understanding of Roman mythology than we
do, and was not worried about keeping strictly to the myths, meant with
his gods.
I'm going to assume he knew the basic myths and if he was messing with them it was for a purpose.
2055--painted
on the walls pictures of hunting and shamfast chastity. Shamfast could
mean modest and humble, but also unwilling or ashamed of (MED). So we
have chicks who are modestly chaste, would be better if they weren't
chaste, or might wish to not be chaste.
According to the notes on this tale:
Calistopee (2056-2061)
--Jupiter
got her pregnant, Diana kicked her out of her group of virgins, Juno
got jealous of Jupiter and turned Calistopee into a bear, Jupiter made
her and her son into constellations. Chaucer changes the myth so that
Diana was the one that got mad and got even. So the problem goes from
philandering husband and jealous wife, to leaving the goddess of
virgins. So we go from a situation where it didn't matter whether or not
Calistopee consented or not, the identity of her mate is what got her
into trouble; to a situation where it is the act of sex, regardless of
the situation, that gets Calistopee into trouble. Also in the original
becoming the north star is kind of a reward from Jupiter.
Dane (2062-2064)
Chaucer
spends three lines just identifying Dane. According to the notes he was
writing about Daphne, a nymph who wanted to stay a virgin, and was
turned into a tree by her father to save her from being raped. So this
transformation was good. Chaucer doesn't mention the transformation as
protective. He does connect Dane to Diane. It goes from a protective act
to a maybe warning about perpetual virginity--becoming wood (mad), or
isolated (trees live alone, not in pairs)
Actaeon (2065-2068)
as
near as I can tell Chaucer keeps to the original story in this.
Moral--don't spy on naked all-powerful goddesses if they might get mad.
Or maybe, a warning to men like Palamon and Arcite not to lust after and
invade the privacy of a woman who doesn't know or want them?
Atalanta (2070-2072)
OK,
according to ye olde Wikipedia--Atalanta was a great hunter and virgin
like her role-model Diane.Diane did send the boar to Calydon because
King Oeneus neglected her worship. Lots of guys showing off hunting.
Meleager, although married, had the hots for Atalanta, and made the guys
include her in the hunt. Meleager shared credit for the kill with
Atalanta, which made his family mad, so they killed him.
So
now we have a virgin punished for being attractive to a married guy
(but having it blamed on her giving up her chastity). A male (virgin?)
being punished for being attracted to a virgin. And a married dude being
punished for being attracted to a virgin.
To finish
the story of Atalanta, she doesn't want her to marry, her dad says she
must, she says she'll marry whoever can beat her in a race, Hippomenes
wins by using 3 golden apples given him by Venus (which go on to cause
the Trojan war). Hippomenes and Atalanta neglect some god and get turned
into animals that can never have sex together again.
The portrait of Diane:
Diane
is sitting on a hart, surrounded by hunting dogs. Underneath she has a
moon near full. In general, new-waxing moon= virgin, full-moon = mother,
waning moon = crone (at least in all the fantasy stuff I read). Diane
is looking down to the ground and the realm of Pluto (the underworld,
but not a necessarily evil underworld). In front of Diane a woman is
struggling in labor and calls out to Lucina (which could mean
Juno-mother or Diane-virgin) for help.
The gods' reactions:
Diane
to me kind of represents acceptance of fate. She tells Emelye--this is
going to be your fate, suck it up. Mars and Venus seem more attuned to
fortune (and actually to Nicholas and Alisoun in "The Miller's Tale").
They whine and complain and don't accept things and finally get their
ways.
So, putting it all together. I wonder if the way
Chaucer plays with the myths represent the difference between men
looking on the outside towards women's experiences, and women on the
inside looking out.
To the men the myths mean:
Chicks who give up virginity are bad and will be punished.
Chicks who don't accept sex may end up never being women (being trees).
Chicks who entice (attract) married men are going to ruin those men's lives.
Giving birth can really suck.
Goddesses that only serve women don't have the power to change things.
To the women the myths mean:
Having a more powerful married man attracted to you, whether you want him or not, is going to ruin your life.
Withdrawal from the life of man (going to an abbey?) may be the only way to avoid rape.
It is not OK for men to spy on you with lust without your permission.
If a married dude is nice to you it's not your fault if it ruins his family life?
Women have goddesses that are only for them to help them give life to new people.
Accept your fate, don't whine and complain.
Well, this is my brainstorm for now.
wow. I think you are well on your way to an essay here. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for responding and sorry for the delay in my reply! I think I must have gone onto the blog while tired and missed this post somehow.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that Chaucer wouldn't have thought of the gods as the same way we do is great! I didn't think of that and that makes a lot of sense. Of course with all of our research on the gods over the years, we would have more knowledge than he did.
I really like the end point here. The idea that the stories depicted on Diana's temple walls tell different morals to men and women is especially important in a story that has such rigid gender roles. It brings some light to Emily and what role she should play and how Arcite and Palamon are also supposed to act.