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

A connection with modern day music

(Apologies to the people who are on the Self and Society blog as well! I posted something similar over there too a few weeks back.)

I just thought I'd share something a little fun with you guys. So since we discussed Fortune a lot this week, I'd like to show you guys a song that talks about her (though they call her Fate in this song, but I think the descriptions they give of her show Fate and Fortune to be the same woman in this context.

This is from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Beethoven's Last Night" and the story is basically that Mephistopheles appears on Beethoven's last night to tempt him to sell his soul. Fate is a character in the story.

Here are the lyrics just in case you'd like you read them as well:

Faith and belief and retreat
When you're standing all alone with your dreams in the dark
Never knowing what is real in the shadows you meet
Never knowing what is true in the answers you seek
Never knowing if 

Fate she hears me
Fate stand near me
Fate state clearly
Whether there will be another card 

Retrieve us
Time deceives us
Faith she hears me
But she doesn't listen very hard 

As she drifts through our lives tossing coins into the air
Watch them twist, watch them fall turning hope into despair
Watch them twist, watch them fall then she suddenly revives
Every dream that we've had and we find ourselves alive 

Believe me
Fate stands near me
Fate state clearly
Whether there will be another card 

Retrieve us
Time deceives us
The only moment in our lives
That ever really mattered fate is now

This is one of my favorite albums ever and I definitely recommend it!

Chauntecleer's Fable

"The Nun's Priest's Tale" is more complex than it initially seems. With the stories within a story within a tale there is much to say about faith and trust. In regards to faith it seems that those who do not heed the warnings of their dreams pay for it in the way of severe consequences. Death comes to the man dreams of his death and tells his travel companion. It is a sad lesson learned when travel companion dismisses the dream as any sort of warning and later finds his friend dead in the dung pile. Death also comes to the man who does not heed his friend's dream of their drownings and sets sail to meet this terrible fate. These people who die despite a warning do so because they do not have faith in the dreams.
Additionally, the story of Chauntecleer makes it clear that men should not listen to women, but rather trust in the dream. Of this the priest says, "Wommens conseils ben ful ofte colde; / Wommanes conseil broghte us first to wo, / And made Adam fro Paradis to go" (3256-3258). As Chauntecleer's experience of ignoring a dream and trusting a women reads much like a fable, and sounds somewhat similar to "The Fox and the Crow," I thought this video clip of a fable to be quite relevant. It's short and sweet.

The Monk's Tale

I was thinking about the Knights interruption of the Monk's so called tale. I thought about what the reading would be like if the Knights tale followed the Monk's tale. This would explain why the monk did not tell his tale after the knight. It also would have been a pretty cool pairing. There's all these short storiesthe Monk tales emphasizing the workings of Fortune in well known people. Then there is the Knights tale which is very well put together with a plot and strong solid theme.
What exactly do you guys make of this? I think it would cause readers to give a different on the Monks tale which I enjoyed.