On Tuesday we discussed some possible morals of "The Friar's Tale," and I failed to share my idea. I find lines 1660-1662 to contain the moral of this tale.
The feend, that yow wolde make thral and bonde.'
He may nat tempte yow over youre might,
For Christ wol be youre champion and knight.
This seems to be in line with the Bible in addressing temptation and salvation from tempation. This is stated in Matthew 6:9-13, "This, then, is how you should pray...And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
I'm so glad you decided pointed this out, Suzanna, for I was thinking the exact same thing!
ReplyDeletePlus, I've been working on analyzing a few lines from The Friar's Tale for my close reading essay, so I've been thinking a lot about the moral of this tale recently. After Thursday's class I went back and re-read the tale, hoping to see some things that I had previously missed, and these lines caught my attention as well. In class we discussed the moral of the tale being revealed in lines 1657 -1658
"The leoun sit in his awayt alway
To sle the innocent, if that he may."
However, the moral most certainly extends into the lines that follow as well. They reveal that not only do we as individuals need to be wary of the lion that sits in wait, but we also need to, as lines 1659-1660 states:
Disposeth ay youre hertes to withstonde
The feend, that yow wolde make thral and bonde.
I certainly agree with your statement that the moral of the story is contained in lines 1660-1662. I especially like the reference the text makes to the fact that an individual cannot be tempted beyond their power... I feel like this falls in line with the story perfectly, for the summoner had no desire to repent and thus he wasn't tempted beyond his power, since he possessed no will (or power) to begin with. It was in his nature to steal, lie and cheat, hence his appropriate punishment.