Questions of "The Merchant's Tale"

First of all, we should all give a moment of praise for any pregnant woman who is coordinated enough to climb a pear tree and engage in sex. That takes a lot of balance.

This is going to be a post with lots of random thoughts.

THE OTHER
I was thinking about the Black studies classes I've had, where what white people say about Black people really has more to do with white people and aspects of themselves that they are uncomfortable with (and therefore project onto others) than Black people.

I started thinking about how much time medieval men spend talking and writing about women:

• Chivalry--men must protect women to be truly good
• Courtly love--men must serve and love women without ever actually getting sex
• Anti-feminist literature--they say women are evil, but the way they say it implies: women are smarter than men and will trick them, women are more powerful verbally if they can nag and control men, women have more power emotionally if they are the ones who can make men's lives miserable.

What fears about themselves are men projecting onto women?
They may not seem to, but these stories actually give women a lot of power. Why?

THE CHURCH
I wish I had Andrew to give me the correct quote, something like husbands love their wives like Christ loved the Church.

These are men that are about the opposite of that directive. They come to the symbolic church late. They expect it to be perfectly sensually pleasing (meaning pleasing to all senses). They expect the church to meet all their needs without a sense of reciprocity. They expect to control the church.

RAPE
Chaucer makes some suggestive comments that this was rape:
p. 358 lines 1755-1761

But nathelees, yet had he gret pitee
That thilke night offenden hire moste he,
And thoghte, 'Allas o tendre creature,
Now wolde God ye mighte wel endure
Al my corage, it is so sharpe and kene.
I am agast ye shul it nat sustene.
But God forbede that I dide al my might!

p. 365 lines 1958-1964

Anon he preide hire strepen hire al naked;
He wolde of hire, he seide, han som plesaunce;...
But lest that precious folk be with me wrooth,
How that he wroghte I dar not to yow telle,
Or wheither hir thoughte it paradis or helle,

The story of Pluto and Prosperina is a rape tale.

I hope you all comment. I have lots of thoughts and no answers.

 "I really hope this is going to be worth it."

http://blog.syracuse.com/cny/2010/07/cornell_university_instructors_ascend_the_worlds_largest_trees_for_research.html

Queinte and Curious

This is just an unimportant musing.

Several times tonight I have seen the word 'queinte' in our readings-- and the definition used has been 'curious'. For me, especially at this time of year, these two words paired together bring to mind dear old Poe:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Was he familiar with  Middle English? Is this a coincidence? I give him the benefit of the doubt. Good job, Poe.

Freshe May; Hoary January

What do Vanity Fair, The Scarlet Letter, Francesca (Inferno Canto 5) and Grover Cleveland have in common with The Merchant's Tale?

Well, Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom at the age of 54. His bride was 21.
Francesca was married to a much older man and died in the arms of his brother, Paolo, who was much closer to her age.
Hester Prynne married Roger Chillingworth when she was 16 and he was an aged scholar and alchemist. She truly loved the young minister, Arthur Dimmesdale (although for the life of me I could never see why).
And Rebecca Sharp had several lovers, but one of the early ones was a very old man (with money).

The May-December romance (or May/January marriage) is a convention, but Dante, for one, asked the question, "Is it a sin to force such a marriage on a young girl?" In such a marriage the older husband is certainly tempting fate as well as his young wife to adultery with someone closer to her own age. Is it a sin against nature for a young, pretty and nubile female (like May) to be married to a hoary, wrinkly, perhaps toothless old man?

The Clevelands were happy-- and Frances wanted the marriage. Perhaps it is just arranged or forced marriages that are wrong. I am not a fan of adultery, but I found myself feeling sorry for May throughout the tale. And everything January was afraid of happened. His reasons for marriage were selfish all along- and he treated his wife as an object. It is hard to sympathize with him.

PS Frances's father's name was Oscar-- and he was Cleveland's best friend. They were the original Oscar and Grover.