LOL Manciple

For more LOL Pilgrims: http://houseoffame.blogspot.com/2007/05/i-can-hath-cheezburger.html

There's something simple and appealing about The Manciple's Tale. It remains one of my favorites because it sounds like the kind of story you would hear as a child, something out of Aesop's Fables.

The funny thing about it, though, is that the Manciple's mother isn't very good at taking her own advice. How long is that speech telling him to guard his tongue and not use more words than are strictly required? ;-)

Words, words, words...

One of the privileges of my job is that I get to spend so much time revisiting the texts and issues that I care about.

I think I speak for most of my colleagues when I say that every time I teach a text, even if I have taught it multiple times before, I always go back and reread it. And I always discover something new!

I have now taught "The Miller's Tale" twice in as many weeks. I'll be honest, I was surprised today by how many students in my British Lit class struggled to find the humor in this story because they were put off by its offensive content.

I want to be clear that what I am IN NO WAY questioning the validity of their reading experience. Chaucer, after all, anticipated this reaction. He expected folks to be perturbed by his language and his subject matter, and with good reason.

But what I have discovered in my most recent readings of this tale is more about today's world than Chaucer's. I am reminded of the ways that our society encourages self-censorship (despite simultaneously encouraging self-promotion) and discourages healthy discomfort - the kind of discomfort that makes us question who we are and why we live the way that we do.

Words have power - some more obviously so than others. Certain words elicit a strong reaction, and many of them appear in this tale (Queynte. Pisse. Toute.) But we shouldn't shy away from that power and refuse to use those words (well, obviously there are times and places). Rather, we should consider why those words have that power. Why do they make us uncomfortable? And we must remember that those words don't have power over us, but are instead within our own power to catalog our world.

The Miller, either because his drunkenness has lowered his inhibitions or because it's just the kind of "cherl" he is, certainly is unafraid of using those words. Are we going to let ourselves be bested by him? I say no. Because his words are a sign of his willingness to tell it like it is: the world isn't a courtly romance. Emelye isn't necessarily thrilled with the giant tournament to determine her fate. People may commend a "noble tale," but they also can (and should!) enjoy a hearty laugh at a fart joke - especially one as well-wrought and intricately told as this one.

http://houseoffame.blogspot.com/2007/05/i-can-hath-cheezburger.html

Welcome!

Welcome to our study of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales!

It is a rare gift and privilege in our busy world to spend an entire semester contemplating a single text. Our work this semester will be challenging, especially for those of you who are reading Middle English for the first time. But it will also be immensely rewarding!

We'll spend our time not only working with Chaucer's text, but also the discovering the world in which he wrote it. In addition, we'll learn about the social issues that seem to have weighed on his mind and the stories that must have captured his imagination.

I look forward to sharing this pilgrimage with you all!

Huntington Library MS EL 26 C9, f. 153v.
from the DIgital Scriptorium Database, UC Berkeley