The Shipman's Tale

I'm not sure if this is just my sleepy mind playing tricks on me, but for some reason I noticed the Shipman's involvement with this story more so than the other story tellers. He refers to himself in the story a few times. In particular, at lines 12-19, the Shipman uses words like "us," and "we," and "our."

"He moot us clothe, and he moot us arraye,
Al for his owene worship, richely
In which we dauncen joilily.
And if that he noght may, paraventure,
Or ellis list no swich dispence endure,
But thinketh it is wasted and ylost,
Thanne moot another payen for oure cost,
Or lene us gold, and that is perilous."

The Shipman also refers to some of the characters as "my lord." One instance is found in line 312, he refers to John as "my lord daun John."

This leads me to wonder if the Shipman is telling a story of a man or several men he once knew.

He also makes himself noticeable as the storyteller in another way. When he transitions between subjects or characters, he often announces that he is switching topics or points of views. Examples that I caught were:

"Namoore of this as now, for it is suffiseth" (52).

"And thus I lete hem ete and drinke and pleye,/This marchant and this monk, a day or tweye./The thridde day this marchant up ariseth..." (73-75). 

"But as a marchant, shortly for to telle,/He let his lif; and ther I lete him dwelle" (305-306).

"And forth he rideth hoom to his abbeye,/Or where him list; namoore of him I seye" (323-234).

 To me, what this did while I was reading was jolt me from the story that I was absorbed in and remember that it is being told by the Shipman. It brings attention to him as the storyteller.

Perhaps I've somehow missed this strategy employed otherwise in the Canterbury Tales and just noticed it now but it was really interesting to me to see this in the Shipman's Tale and makes me wonder what it was telling us about the Shipman.

 

The Physician's Tale

We had a difficult time on Thursday determining the moral or the lesson of "The Physician's Tale." In the "Introduction to The Pardoner's Tale," the host provides a bit of insight, I think. He begins by pointing out,

"This was a fals cherl and a fals justice.
As shameful deeth as herte may devyse
Come to thise juges and hire advocatz!" (289-291)

He makes sure to voice his disapproval of the tale itself in how the action plays out. He calls the cherl and the judge false men (deceitful, not liars) and questions where Virginia's advocates were in order to save her. At least, that's how I read it. However, he later goes on to state,

"Wherfore I seye al day that men may see
That yiftes of Fortune and of Nature
Been cause of deeth to many a creature.
Hire beautee was hire deth, I dar wel sayn." (294-297)

Could it be that what appears to be a blessing can actually be a curse? That seems to be a simple explanation. We look at beauty as a blessing for people: the prettier the girl, the more marriage prospects, pretty girls get a lot of attention, etc. In Virginia's case, her beauty led to her death because of the inappropriate attention from the judge. However, this may be too simple an explanation. Are we meant to question the undue importance stressed on superficiality even present in Chaucer's day? Remember, the judge does not like her because of her morality; that would actually prove to be a problem for him in what he wants from her. It could be assumed that if the judge was attracted to her morality and virtues instead of her beauty, he might have gone about more virtuous means of attaining her. Thoughts?

Pardoning the Pardoner

I wish Andrew was here. He's my go-to man for certain information.

OK, I have to admit that I have a soft spot for The Pardoner. There are two people narrator Chaucer just doesn't have anything good to say about in the GP, The Summoner and The Pardoner. I find myself disappointed in narrator Chaucer. And I think what he says about The Pardoner in the GP matters to The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale.

What does Chaucer say about The Pardoner in the GP? He hints that The Pardoner may be a eunuch or gay (GP 689- 691). He hints that The Summoner may have a thing for him and possibly implies that The Summoner would be the giver and The Pardoner the receiver in an assignation (GP 673) (which I think is usually a bigger insult prejudice-wise). He has thinning long blond hair that he thinks looks good. He sings well and loud, and tells good stories. He also sells fake relics. Assuming that prejudice against homosexuality was worse in the middle ages then now, Chaucer makes The Pardoner the least masculine he can, and that has to be a big insult.

[Note on eunuchs from research I've been doing for Song of Ice and Fire. Eunuchs live longer (almost 20 years longer) than other men. They don't get male-pattern baldness. They do lose body hair and possibly some head hair. Their voices will get higher.]

Now, let's look at the qualities of some of the pilgrims:

• The Monk ("a manly man" GP 167) is doing something to be so rich, and absolutely not doing his monkly duties.
• The Friar gets lots of women pregnant then marries them off. He sells penance and absolution, which has to be putting people's souls at as much risk as what The Pardoner does. Keep in mind The Friar is preying on people who have knowingly sinned.
• The Franklin is a glutton. 
• The Shipman is a pirate. He drowns his enemies (GP 400). Soul wise, I guess it would depend on whether he lets them get absolution first.
• The Physician has a scam with an alchemist to send each other customers and make money. He cares little about the Bible. He also makes gold off the plague.
• The Miller cheats his customers by overcharging them.
• The Reeve steals from his master. He knows all the other workers' secrets and uses that info to control them.
• The Summoner knows the young people's secrets, and may use those secrets to molest the young people. He takes bribes to keep from summoning people. He also scares people with threats of summoning unless they pay.
• And now we're back to The Pardoner. Who sells fake relics, which I assume would then put the buyers' souls at risk. However, the buyers purchasing the relics are often doing questionable things.

AND FINALLY WE GET TO THE PROLOGUE AND TALE

Yes, The Pardoner makes it pretty hard to find anything socially redeeming about him. He's about as likable as the summoner in "The Friar's Tale" and I keep expecting a strange man from a forest to start hanging out with him.

First, a look at The Physician-Pardoner link:

Says the Host and Pardoner:
Host-Wow, those were rotten people and a bad death. But that's what happens when Nature makes you beautiful (it's her fault). Let's move on and God bless all your (The Physician's) stuff. My heart's pounding and I need some ale. Hey Pardoner, tell us something humorous (assuming that "The Pardoner's Tale" will be humorous). OK, says The Pardoner, but first I want some food and drink. Everyone says no, don't tell us something obscene (which makes it OK for The Host to drink and assumes The Pardoner will become obscene).

(P-P link 327-328, emphasis mine) "'I gruante, iwys,' wuod he, 'but I moot thinke / Upon som honest thing whil that I drinke.'"

Pardoner's prologue--GREED IS THE ROOT OF ALL HARM
I personally think the Pardoner was annoyed or offended by the host and pilgrims' words. So he's going to really give them what they asked for.

1. He's honest. He uses the WOB's method. He's so honest about himself that no one is going to be able to insult him. He's already said it.
2. While he's telling the group how he's conning the ignorant folk, in a way he's conning the pilgrims. He's conning them by making them feel smarter than those ignorant folk and therefore special or more important.
3. Lets look at the relics people want: a de-worming relic, OK. But drinking the water touched by the relic to get more animals, that is greed. As is a mitten that multiplies grain. A relic that lets a wife fool around without being caught...not a lot of good spin you can put on that.
4. Then he describes his "Emperor's new clothes" sales method.
5. Then The Pardoner makes it clear that he does everything because of his greed, but also that his primary preaching is about greed. My list above would be longer if I added all the greedy pilgrims to it.

The lead up to the actual tale about the three "brothers"--play the game, match the pilgrim to the listed form of greed.

My point about the above. I think that The Pardoner is mocking the pilgrims, treating them like any congregation, and they are falling for it. 

Finally, The Pardoner's actual tale--The pilgrims wanted something humorous, assumed that would be the kind of story he tells. I don't find this humorous. They fear The Pardoner will be obscene with drink in him. Well, he's had ale and is not a bit obscene. His tale is actually pretty decent with a good point.

The Pardoner vs. The Host

I think The Host is a pretty weird guy. But I haven't had the energy to look at everything he says to get an idea of who he really is. He likes to be in control, although he submits to The Knight. This is the first time anyone has gone after The Host. The Host is hardly the model of good behavior. He liked it better reffing the Miller-Reeve and Friar-Summoner fights.

Thus endeth my thoughts for now. Looking forward to yours.

Knocking on Death’s Door With a Stick

I am fascinated by the old man. On first read he seemed like a personified death (which did not seem to be too great a stretch considering death has already been personified by the tavern keeper and the three friends) come to toy with these three fools. Yet, on a second read I am not so sure. Apparently this man is extremely old and looks it. One of the riotoures asks him why he is so old, either the asker is super short sighted and dumb (well… I suppose he is) or the man looks like he has been walking from Flanders to India and back for a couple hundred years (I made that number up). It is probably a mixture of both. From his following speech, it seems like this man has trouble dyeing, though I have to say is situation is a little confusing. I am having a hard time telling how much is literal and how much is poking fun and the fool’s impertinent question.

The line that is throwing me off is 727, “Ne deeth, allas, ne wol nat han my lif!” I am pretty sure I know each individual word, but when combine with the triple negative and separated subject it gets tricky. Right now I am operating under the reading that he is saying death will not have his life, which is why he spends his time knocking on the ground saying “Leeve modor, leet me in!” (731). He wants to die but cannot for whatever reason. If this is the case then it presents an interesting moral for the story. The presence of this old is not so much about drinking and gluttony (as much as the pardoner pushes that), it seems like he is really there to show the value of a timely death. It is foolish to try and “sleen this false traitour Deeth” (699); for one thing it is impossible and second because it is a bad idea to begin with.