The Feast

I thought a lot about the Feast when writing the reflection paper. One of the final points I made in my paper was about the customs and behaviors that we tried to practice during the meal. I was with my mom and my husband, and it was funny to try o figure out how to eat certain foods without a fork, and still look refined while doing so. It was interesting to see how much our ideas of civility and good manners have changed out of a basic task like using a fork.

The other aspect of the feast that I felt people struggle with the most was waiting until everyone served before eating. Perhaps this was difficult since how we entertain at parties have changed as well. Today, with a large gathering, people might expect a buffet table with finger foods available when someone gets hungry. Something easy, quick, and light to eat so that socializing is still the primary purpose of a party. It was difficult for some people to wait until everyone was served because of the large number of people eating. It was a challenge to adjust to different behaviors and customs to accommodate the medieval feast.

Bile and Vanity

There are many themes and motifs worth exploring in The Nun's Priest's Tale, but I was struck by the introduction early on of diet and body humors. The widow/dairywoman doesn't play an important role in this story, but of the few things we are told about her, one is of her diet. Chaucer tells us that, "Attempree diete was hir physik." She eats moderately and modestly. She doesn't have a rich diet-- she eats brown bread (not the Boston variety, I'll warrant) and drinks milk. She doesn't have gout (a rich man's disease) and she doesn't drink wine, either white or red.  Sometimes she has bacon and eggs, a good English (or French) supper. This aspect of the widow strikes me as an odd thing to focus on. If I were having my biography written, I would not want the focus to be on what I eat!

After we are introduced to the widow and her "doughten" the narrator focuses in on the subjects of the tale, Chanticleer and his favorite wife, Pertylote. We are told that Chanticleer's bile is black and that he is melancholy, which is redundant. Melancholics are the lovers, the poets, and the dreamers. Chanticleer doesn't disappoint.

In 2940-2950 after Chanticleer has had a dreadful nightmare, his wife tells him that he is too full of poop and he had best take a laxative. Chanticleer tells her that Pharaoh didn't need a laxative when he told his dreams to Joseph. And the rooster's dream turned out to be just as prophetic as Pharaoh's.

The sin that entrap's Chanticleer is vanity. He falls into the fox's trap of flattery. "Pride goith bifore sorewe; and the spirit schal be enhaunted byfor fallyng." So says Solomon by way of Wycliffe.

The use of Animals in Story Telling

While doing an assignment for another class I ran across something that may help to explain why the use of animals in stories is NOT as affected of animals.
The excerpt comes from E.M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel. While at the moment I can not come across the exact quote it sums up to say that animals are not as effective as people because the reader is not able to connect with an animal. The animals make-up is only understood to a certain point.
To me this means that the use of animals in stories, including The Nun's Priest Tale, satirizes the actual characters the portray. It makes the story seem almost childish. Is this story meant to be funny. Although, in class, this was much discussion about the animal aspect of the novel I am still unsure as to why Chaucer chose to use an animal in this tale.
Again, I did not really care for the story. The most important part I took from the tale was the discussion between Chauntecleer and Pertelote. I think this discussion holds a lot of meaning. Pertelote is so adamant about the lack of importance of dreams. She says
Nothing, God woot, but vaintee in swevene is.
Swevenes engendren of replexions,
And ofte of fume and complexions,
Whan humours ben to habundant in a wight. (2922)-2925)
She finds the idea of dreaming weak and makes Chauntecleer less of a man. This is the opposite of what I thought how his dream would be perceived.
I've always taken dreams as something to take serioulsyy when it is closely connected to ones life. Even in the bible dreams are taken seriously. Ironically, Pertelote confirms her point by saying "God woot".
WHat do you guys take from this dream?

The Nun's Priest's Tale

When I originally read this tale, I did not like the story at all. I found it really hard to get into the idea of a philosophical rooster. When I read the story the first time, I interpreted the tale like a fable, but the characteristics of the rooster and the chickens distracted me from seeing any deeper meaning to the text.

The classroom discussion we had really helped me with this story. The discussion helped me see the different layers of the story, and look into the reason that animals were used instead of using human characters. Through our groups discussion we talked a lot about the meaning of the animals. Our group began looking at the farm as a Kingdom where the Rooster, Chanticleer, was behaving like the King, and the fox was an outside intruder destroying the home of the farm animals. So, this story seemed to be a statement on the hierarchal system in Medieval times in relation to royalty and the people.

After about class discussion, I actually like the story. There are so many different elements and symbolism to this story that the story is much more complicated than I initially gave the tale credit for.

The link that is attached is a children's story about the Rooster and the Fox.

Chanticleer and the Fox

By Geoffrey Chaucer

Adapted and Illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1958

http://theartofchildrenspicturebooks.blogspot.com/2012/04/chanticleer-and-fox-barbara-cooney.html