Class Reflection

This class has been very enjoyable for me and has really helped me to broaden my knowledge of the Medieval Period.

It is so many myths and misconceptions that people have containing to the time. I find myself getting upset when people use the words turkey, dark, and disease in relation to the period. I have found out so much more has made the period. Before coming to the class many of my own myths and misconceptions were dwarfed, but not all. I also still had a struggle with the idea of taking a whole course on Chaucer; reading medieval literature is not my first hobby.

Some of the themes and ideas I have gathered from The Canterbury Tales that I can use in my own life are:

Having respect for authority.

Many of these tales had the person who was the head and those under him (leader is always a man). Though it may not always be a man that I will have to respect this respect goes for the nature and those who deserve it. In many of the tales we get people going outside and living amongst the wild. These people do not destroy the nature but see it as something to cherish. This can be because of their love and respect for God.

Being Patient even in the most trying moments.
 

To be honest, patience is not one of my strong suits. Although the extreme cases of patience were not the exact path I want to follow, it does help me to recognize just how impatient I am. Griselda was stripped of her dignity all while being silent and staying obedient. This is a virtue that not only I should exercise, but those of my generation should as well. Now days people are all about efficiency. To me this word efficiency is just a mask for impatient. Everything has to be done now. People do not have the time to enjoy the beauty of what is being done. Again, all of the natural imagery though it seemed to be long-winded verses, caused for beautiful imager of nature. Through this I can tell that people of the Medieval Period really appreciated the view. While in that period views were all they had, our abundance of visuals may cause people of today to become oblivious to how wonderful the view is.

(I guess the section should be called Appreciation of Nature as well)

Keeping loyalty and expecting it as well

Loyalty seems to have been a really big thing in the Medieval Period. In The Manciple’s Tale the crow is called a traitor and is cursed with black feathers and loses the ability to sing just for informing his Lord that his wife was cheating on him (which everyone already knew).  As we go all the way back to The Knight’sTale both Arcite and Palamoun feels as if the other is disloyal. Their code of chivalry calls for them to act as cousins, while courtly love called from them to be loyal to their beloved. Loyalty is important especially the older I get; the older I get the less friends I have. While loss of friends are mostly due to natural reasons (distance and time), finding people trustworthy is hard thing to do. It is everyone’s job to keep that in mind and keep their word whenever it’s spoken.

… And my favorite, Women power

Many of the tales exhibit how much women were degraded, had no power, and word was not trusted all because they were women. Through this these women represents how much strength they really had. If I were to ask any of my friends would they go through what Griselda went through, behave like Virginia, or even follow the steps of the Wife of Bath they would say of course not. But these women were quite respectable in their own rights, especially for women during the period. They exhibited ways to beat the system without being notice. They played their parts and were recognized through these tales. While I know these are not true stories they do (for me) represent real medieval women. I also believe if they could endure the way women were treated and how men considered them property I have no excuse but to expect equal treatment from my male counterpart in the 221^st century. I think the one thing Chaucer accomplished in The Canterbury Tales is bringing out the feminist spirit in me.