While in small group discussion on Tuesday I begin to recognize a pattern in The Canterbury Tales. Finally! I believe I'm beginning to understand Chaucer's ways (probably not). But, these are the two things I noticed:
In every tale there is some form of deceit happening AND there is always some religious reference.
Here are some forms of deceit and religious references in each tale (not all).
Okay, beginning with "The Knight's Tale" we get Arcite deceiving the King and working as his squire. So far, "The Knight's Tale" is the only tale that heavily references Roman god's. Arcite, Palamoun and Emelye all pray to a Roman god.
In "The Miller's Tale" Alisoun and Nicholas deceive John concrning the second flood to happen. This of course comes from the bible tale Noah's ark.
In "The Reeve's Tale" Simkin deceives his patrons and in turn John and Aleyn deceive Simkin. Simkin's wife is the child of a clergymen, therefore donned illegitimate (Why is this important?).
In "The Cook's Tale" if I'm not mistaken Perkin's master stole his money deceiving Perkin. As we know this tale is incomplete. The master also quotes a proverb "'Wel bet is roten appul out of hord\ Than that it rotie al the remenaunt'" (4406-4407).
In "The Man of Law's Tale" the Sultan's mother deceives Custance and the Sultan. Resulting in Constance lost at sea. And this happens twice! This tale is all about religion. The mother's do not like the change in theology that happens due to Custance.
In "The Wife of Bath's Tale" the old hag deceives the knight. The knight pleas "for Goddes love" more than once.
In "The Friar's Tale" the summoner deceives everyone he comes across. The summoner, a worker for the church, also makes a deal with devil (but doesn't sign with blood).
In "The Summoner's Tale" the friar deceives a sick man in order to get money. This tale is all about the church; friars are supposed to be "Goddes instrumentz", in this tale not so much.
In "The Clerk's Tale" the markis deceives his wife three times, causing her to give up her children and almost her home. Griselda represents virtue the church expects from women. Also, as discussed in class this story may be representative of the sacrifices followers of God must endure to prove their love to him.
These are just some of the examples of deception and religion I found in the tales we have read so far. Of course, there are many more that could be found in each tale. I thought this trend was symbolic. To me Chaucer is saying a lot about how he may view the church. While there is a lot of good going on there is many underhanded things happening. The Canterbury tales may be a book Chaucer wrote to even out the field between everyone in the church government and in every class. From these tales I see that no king is better than any peasant. Also, it is those who are held to the highest expectations who are the most deceiving it seems. This is probably because they can more likely get away with it. This does not only go for the church but for the government system as well. What do you guys think these themes mean?
You may be on to something. Some of these instances of religion seem to be just because it was an inescapable part daily life, just like if you are to set a tale in today’s world it is nearly impossible to avoid a reference to cars or their various trimmings (roads, keys, and so on). Others are certainly far more pointed, but I don’t know that they all connect with deceit. I’m certain there is a connection in the Man of Law’s Tale, The Miller’s Tale, The Friar’s Tale, and the Summoner’s Tale. I’m wondering if deceit makes a good plot device, or is a favorite of Chaucer’s. Maybe it’s good at making stories progress like marriage and death are good at making them end.
ReplyDeleteI really liked what you had to say, Yasmine, for I have started to recognize this same pattern myself! For a while I was having trouble picking up on Chaucer's patters but recently things have started to become a bit clearer for me - especially once I started to see the same pattern as you.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that in all of the tales we've read there has been deceit and some kind of religious reference. Like you said though, even though I feel like I am making connections I'm not totally sure if they're accurate or not - I feel like there are so many possibilities with Chaucer in terms of interpretation that it is hard to know when my thoughts are coming close to something that may have crossed his mind as well. Sometimes I think I've got a good idea about things and then later I read something else that throws me off or takes my thoughts in a different direction.
However, this is also what is so intriguing about Chaucer and what makes him so interesting to read and consider. I'm really looking forward to the end of the semester when I can look back to see how much more I understand as compared to the beginning of the semester.
Andrew - Thanks for pointing out that the instances of religion we're seeing throughout Chaucer's tales may have been just another part of daily life making its way into his stories. I have been thinking this myself recently but I really like the way you articulated your thought and made a reference to the cars of our modern society. I've never thought about it in those specific terms before but you're completely right!
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I also liked what you said about the concept of deceit appearing in the tales. I can most certainly see deceitful words an actions appear throughout the text but I am not always sure they are where our focus in intended to be placed as readers. In some tales yes but in others I agree that deceit could be primarily a plot device. I think it makes for an excellent one and weather it was one of his favorites or not (I'd like to think yes but that's just me) he certainly knew how to employ it successfully.
I'm just curious if you think that part of the reasons that all the tales hold a religious bent or influence might also be because of the overriding influence of the church on daily life. Additionally, do you think that the idea of the rulers/kings and other landed gentry are no better or worse than the working class peasants could be a proto-rennaisance concept that all men are created equal?
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