The End

It’s sad to say goodbye to such a great class. It has been a lot of fun. On the subject of endings, I am fascinated by Chaucer’s ending of the Canterbury Tales. The whole time I was thinking it would end much as it began, in the framing narrative with a declaration of the winner and some parting comments. Instead we get and ending that seems to flow directly from the Parson’s “tale,” focusing on Chaucer’s works and revoking a good number of them:

Wherefore I beseke yow mekely, for the mercy of God, that ye preye for me, that Crist have mercy on me and foryeve me my giltes; and namely of my translacions and enditinges of worldly vanitees, te whiche I revoke in my retracciouns: as is The Book of Troilus, The Book also of Fame, The Book of the xxv Ladies, The Book of the Duchesse, The Book of Seint Valentines day of the Parlement of Briddes, The Tales of Caunterbury, thlike that sownen into sinne…(1083-1085).

It is quite surprising to see him equivocate his “giltes” with a list of his work, or at least make them something he needs forgiveness for. It sounds very much like a confession to the reader, the person who understands the stories and what he could be forgiven for. While there were parts of the tales that I thought he might appropriately apologize for (Melibee perhaps), I was surprised to see the CTs in that list. I have heard of some of the other works in there but haven’t read them, so can’t say what is in them. All the same, these are works that people are still reading some six hundred years later and this list makes me wonder if we he would want us to. It’s a strange feeling. I read the notes for this section and they explain that there are many theories about why this is here, from deathbed recantations to mistaken inclusions to literary convention. They way this is written makes me want to say that this ending is the one that is meant to be here, perhaps because it comes so strongly on the heels of “The Parson’s Tale.” It is almost like Chaucer was moved by what he was writing while he was writing it, and by the end did not have the heart to return to the framing narrative.  It makes the whole question of who had the best story moot. Not the ending I was expecting at all.

Satisfaction from the Wife of Bath?

After re-reading the Wife of Bath's Tale over the weekend, and going over some of the posts on the blog, I was really intrigued by what Yasmine had to say! She touched upon some of the same things I was thinking about while reading the tale, and since I wasn't able to make it to class on the day of the Wife of Bath's discussion, I though'd I share my thoughts here instead...

I really like what Yasmine had to say about the fact that she didn't find any satisfaction in the ending of the Wife of Bath's Tale, and that by the time she reached the conclusion of the story she had almost forgotten why the Knight had to go on his quest in the first place. She pointed out that those who commit crimes should be punished accordingly and that since the tale ended with a compromise, she wasn't as thrilled with its conclusion.

I was very intrigued by what she said for, even though I agreed with almost all of the points she made throughout her post, I was still able to find a bit of enjoyment and satisfaction from the Wife of Bath's Tale myself. It was really interesting getting to see Yasmine's opinions and interpretations of the tale throughout her post because, to be honest,  I was a bit surprised when I got to the end and read that she wasn't satisfied with the conclusion of the story. Then, of course, I second guessed my own initial satisfaction in the tale! I began to considering weather or not I had found it too easily... was I not supposed to be satisfied with the ending?

After a thinking about things for awhile I finally came to the conclusion that, while I agreed with all of Yasmine's points (especially where she questions weather or not this is a feminist tale), I was able to find satisfaction from the tale during my initial reading due to the fact that I was surprised with how the story played out. In my last post I talked about the believability of Chaucer's stories and how a few of the tales really fell apart for me because I felt like I could see through them or, in other words, I was too easily able to recognize what was about to happen. With the Wife of Bath, however, this was not the case at all. I vaguely remembered bits of the tale from previous readings but for the most part I was reading the story again for the first time. The tale was able to keep my attention throughout its entirety and by its conclusion I found myself satisfied, not in the actual end of the character's narrative itself, but rather in the fact that I had been genuinely immersed in the story while reading - I was surprised to see where the story went for I wasn't expecting the events that played out.

If I had to analyze the story in terms of its narrative message alone, or if I were simply reading the tale in order to do so, I do not believe I would find as much satisfaction in it. I believe I would be right there with Yasmine at this point, wishing the Knight had been killed off by some lovely goddess-like woman he marries. However, accepting the tale as it is and simply reading it for enjoyment without getting too analytically deep into what it is trying to communicate, I feel like there is a bit of satisfaction to be found it in... even if in my idealized feminist world the Knight would have been justly punished for his crime!