...Chivalry died in the Middle Ages, but there is no complete answer to the reason for that death. Some knights held on to the characteristics of chivalry, but others began to lose their honor and become less loyal. Geoffrey Chaucer, a writer from the fourteenth century, wrote a framed story called The Canterbury Tales. This work is made up of a General Prologue, which is a description of all the individual pilgrims going on the pilgrimage, followed by several tales told by these pilgrims. He describes several knight’s in this work through a chivalric code of honor. Through his description of the Knight in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales, as well as the “Knight’s Tale” and the “Wife of Bath’s Tale,” Chaucer suggests that although chivalry...
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...As a stark contrast, this concept of celebrating powerful women in “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” is almost invisible in the BBC cartoon. Throughout the cartoon, women are continually painted in a negative light—starting off with the Wife of Bath flirting with the Friar (BBC 0:25), as previously mentioned. The aggression and drama surrounding the tale only pertain to the female characters, making them seem as if they are crazy; it severely delegitimizes their actions and attitudes. The old woman who eventually marries the knight is relentlessly made fun of—one scene in particular shows her face up close licking her lips, telling the knight “I want to be your wife and your love!” (BBC 4:43) while his face is utterly disgusted. This depicts...
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...such a way that they seem personally experienced. Imagination is always associated with the created power and is a poetic principle. It is a transforming power as it has the ability to change the usual and ordinary in an unusual and uncommon way. Poetry is a modified "image of man and nature”. The poet is able to impart "the glory and freshness of a dream" to ordinary things of nature. He can present in his poetry the light that never was on land and sea. He is able to do so to the creative faculty of imagination. It is thus an active power. Poet is not a passive reflector of images formed from nature. He is a man who not only feels strongly but also thinks long and deeply. He is able to treat absent things as if they are present. Here Canterbury tales present an example of this imaginative power to visualize objects which are not present before poet’s eyes in their concrete forms but he presents them before us that they seem real. 29 pilgrims of Chaucer are his imaginative characters, all their qualities, merits and demerits are his own creations and here his creation is supported by his imagination. Imagination enables the poet to look deep into the heart and soul of things. It is through the imaginative faculty that he arrives at...
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...Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales Image you lived in a world where living in the middle class made you a well respected citizen, well this is the world imagined in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. This was a world re-imagined taking the norm of knight and nobility being top class, and turning it around. This promoted peasant and middle class to rise up make something for themselves. The idea that a person in the middle class could afford to go on a pilgrimage like the one described in The Canterbury Tales. Some topics focused on are in the Canterbury Tales were; why is the rise of middle class so evident in Chaurcer’s tales, and what did the rising of the middle class look and consist of? How is the rise of the middle class evident in this tale, and where is the middle class in the tale from, and why is the rise of the middle class such a surprise and so significant. Many characteristics make up the medieval time period present in Chaucer’s tale, and what is the significance of this...
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...The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer Key Facts full title · The Canterbury Tales author · Geoffrey Chaucer type of work · Poetry (two tales are in prose: the Tale of Melibee and the Parson’s Tale) genres · Narrative collection of poems; character portraits; parody; estates satire; romance; fabliau language · Middle English time and place written · Around 1386–1395, England date of first publication · Sometime in the early fifteenth century publisher · Originally circulated in hand-copied manuscripts narrator · The primary narrator is an anonymous, naïve member of the pilgrimage, who is not described. The other pilgrims narrate most of the tales. point of view · In the General Prologue, the narrator speaks in the first person, describing each of the pilgrims as they appeared to him. Though narrated by different pilgrims, each of the tales is told from an omniscient third-person point of view, providing the reader with the thoughts as well as actions of the characters. tone · The Canterbury Tales incorporates an impressive range of attitudes toward life and literature. The tales are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, earthy, bawdy, and comical. The reader should not accept the naïve narrator’s point of view as Chaucer’s. tense · Past setting (time) · The late fourteenth century, after 1381 setting (place) · The Tabard Inn; the road to Canterbury protagonists · Each individual tale has protagonists, but Chaucer’s plan is to make none of his storytellers...
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...TITLE · The Canterbury Tales AUTHOR · Geoffrey Chaucer TYPE OF WORK · Poetry (two tales are in prose: the Tale of Melibee and the Parson’s Tale) GENRES · Narrative collection of poems; character portraits; parody; estates satire; romance; fabliau LANGUAGE · Middle English TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN · Around 1386–1395, England DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION · Sometime in the early fifteenth century PUBLISHER · Originally circulated in hand-copied manuscripts NARRATOR · The primary narrator is an anonymous, naïve member of the pilgrimage, who is not described. The other pilgrims narrate most of the tales. POINT OF VIEW · In the General Prologue, the narrator speaks in the first person, describing each of the pilgrims as they appeared to him. Though narrated by different pilgrims, each of the tales is told from an omniscient third-person point of view, providing the reader with the thoughts as well as actions of the characters. TONE · The Canterbury Tales incorporates an impressive range of attitudes toward life and literature. The tales are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, earthy, bawdy, and comical. The reader should not accept the naïve narrator’s point of view as Chaucer’s. TENSE · Past SETTING (TIME) · The late fourteenth century, after 1381 SETTING (PLACE) · The Tabard Inn; the road to Canterbury PROTAGONISTS · Each individual tale has protagonists, but Chaucer’s plan is to make none of his storytellers superior to others; it is an equal company. In the Knight’s Tale, the...
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...The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer talks about a pilgrimage. In this story “a group is gathered at Tabard Inn to go on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas à Becket at Canterbury.” (Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. South Carolina McDougall Little British literature. Ed. Janet Allen et. al. Houghton Mifflin, Co. 2009. p.140 ). The host decided to let the group to tell stories to pass time on their way. In this story there are Chaucer’s saints who are honest, ready to help, faithful and on the other hand, there are scoundrels who are greedy, hypocrites, liars. Chaucer's saints are Knight, Parson, and Plowman, and the rest where bad and good in ways. Every character on this pilgrimage have differences and similarities. Saints and...
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...Summary of CT The Canterbury Tales begins with the introduction of each of the pilgrims making their journey to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas a Becket. These pilgrims include a Knight, his son the Squire, the Knight's Yeoman, a Prioress, a Second Nun, a Monk, a Friar, a Merchant, a Clerk, a Man of Law, a Franklin, a Weaver, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Tapestry-Maker, a Haberdasher, a Cook, a Shipman, a Physician, a Parson, a Miller, a Manciple, a Reeve, a Summoner, a Pardoner, the Wife of Bath, and Chaucer himself. Congregating at the Tabard Inn, the pilgrims decide to tell stories to pass their time on the way to Canterbury. The Host of the Tabard Inn sets the rules for the tales. Each of the pilgrims will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury, and two stories on the return trip. The Host will decide whose tale is best for meaningfulness and for fun. They decide to draw lots to see who will tell the first tale, and the Knight receives the honor. The Knight's Tale is a tale about two knights, Arcite and Palamon, who are captured in battle and imprisoned in Athens under the order of King Theseus. While imprisoned in a tower, both see Emelye, the sister of Queen Hippolyta, and fall instantly in love with her. Both knights eventually leave prison separately: a friend of Arcite begs Theseus to release him, while Palamon later escapes. Arcite returns to the Athenian court disguised as a servant, and when Palamon escapes he suddenly finds Arcite. They fight over Emelye, but...
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...reason why The Canterbury Tales as a collection is so memorable is because of its dramatic nature. Some tales create drama through their plots, others create drama through various interjections and responses, and some create drama through their build up. Specifically, in regards to “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale”, the drama stems from the Wife of Bath as a character, and not as much from the tale itself. As a character, it is obvious that the Wife of Bath is a fierce woman with an I-don’t-give-a-shit type of attitude. She does what she wants and knows how to get her way: “And have this tribulacioun withal upon his flessh, whyl that I am his wyf. I have the power duringe al my lyf upon his proper body, and nought he.” (Chaucer...
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...Tales’ summaries The Wife of Bath’s Tale starts with a Prologue in which she gives an account of her colorful life with five husbands. The tale continues the main question of women’s desire for sovereignty over men. A young Knight rapes a maiden while she was returning home. As a punishment for his heinous act he has to discover within a year what women most desire. The Knight was searching in the whole country in search of the answer. At the end he promises to grant a wish to an ugly old hag in return for the right answer. When he has given the answer in court and secured his liberty, the old hug jumps up and demands that he marries her. The Knight begs her to reconsider and wish for something else but the old hag stubbornly refuses. The Knight marries her secretly. At night as they lay in bed, the Knight keeps on turning restlessly. The old hag asks him if he would prefer her ugly and faithful or beautiful and faithless. The Knight allows her to decide. The old woman is delighted to have won ‘sovereignty’ over her husband and rewards him by becoming faithful and beautiful all the time. The Knight’s Tale describes how two kinsmen Arcite and Palamon fall in love with the same woman named Emily, whom they first see out of their prison window. Emily is the niece of King Theseus. Arcite gains his freedom but is banished from Athens. He comes back masked since he cannot bear to live away from Emily. In the meanwhile Palamon breaks out of prison and coincidentally meets Arcite...
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...The Canterbury Tales author · Geoffrey Chaucer type of work · Poetry (two tales are in prose: the Tale of Melibee and the Parson’s Tale) genres · Narrative collection of poems; character portraits; parody; estates satire; romance; fabliau language · Middle English time and place written · Around 1386–1395, England date of first publication · Sometime in the early fifteenth century publisher · Originally circulated in hand-copied manuscripts narrator · The primary narrator is an anonymous, naïve member of the pilgrimage, who is not described. The other pilgrims narrate most of the tales. point of view · In the General Prologue, the narrator speaks in the first person, describing each of the pilgrims as they appeared to him. Though narrated by different pilgrims, each of the tales is told from an omniscient third-person point of view, providing the reader with the thoughts as well as actions of the characters. tone · The Canterbury Tales incorporates an impressive range of attitudes toward life and literature. The tales are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, earthy, bawdy, and comical. The reader should not accept the naïve narrator’s point of view as Chaucer’s. tense · Past setting (time) · The late fourteenth century, after 1381 setting (place) · The Tabard Inn; the road to Canterbury protagonists · Each individual tale has protagonists, but Chaucer’s plan is to make none of his storytellers superior to others; it is an equal company. In the Knight’s Tale, the protagonists are...
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...Engleking Humanities Cluster September 9th 2015 Themes in Canterbury Tales When dissecting the Canterbury tales for themes you can find about 30 thousand different ones to try to draw stories from your own life. However, in my opinion the three biggest themes that resonate with me are the ideas of Relationships, Companions, and Corruption. Let us begin with the easiest one, relationships. There are several relationships discussed within the Canterbury tales. The most important one is by far the Wife of Bath’s tale of the knight. I see much of the male youth of today in him he is a real smartass and at times is outright rude he is a piss poor example of what a Knight is in general but through his own development in the story he builds his redeeming qualities and ultimately succumbs to his wife’s will and better judgement. I have been in the Knights shoes, stuck between what you want in life and what is truly the right thing to do. Many times my wife’s better judgement has saved me from some unnecessary hardship. Whether it be my impulsive buying habits or my quick to anger personality, I think many men could do well to learn from the knight how to place themselves in the hands of their better halves. From the romantic side of things it is a very short step into the world of corruption. A lot of corruption comes out of romance or love. The knight at the heart of himself is corrupt he is at his deepest level no knight at all. However in my opinion he isn’t the most corrupt in...
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...they go over there and find like seven or eight bags of gold and then they draw like a straw and they make the shortest go get food a wine ,but then they kill him and finally they separate the gold and finally the other two drink the wine and they end up all dying in the end. The readers learn that greed can lead to violence and ultimately lead to death. The reader learns about the way gold can lead to bad things. All of the guys betray each other and die in The Pardoner. In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales , Betrayal is shown through The Pardoner and The Summoner . The theme for it is I judge he was a gelding or a mare means not everyone is equal (Chaucer 161).The Squire is the motif because he is very different because of his social standing compare to his dad the knight. The literary elements for The Pardoner is iambic pentameter because in a few sentences it shows a stressed syllable followed by one that is not stressed . Another theme for The Pardoner's is The Pardoner in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is dishonest. The Pardoner often preaches about how money is the root of all evil. Money is the root of all evil...
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...time, and exploring the literature which addresses them. By analyzing the religious, political and societal ideals, the reader can see how these influenced the literature during this time period. The Medieval Period was a time in history that lasted from the 5th Century to the 16th Century. Through the early Middle Ages, literacy was often essential for entry into religious orders and even nuns were compelled to meet this requirement. However, the only people trained to read and write properly were those who were high church officials and monks. Society was centered mainly on the Medieval Church. However, the Church became corrupted but more at the higher levels. Geoffrey Chaucer illustrated this in his writings, “Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.” He exposes this in his prologue by his use of satire in regards to the religious figures. Using a naïve “Chaucer the Pilgrim” to describe them, he points out that certain characters, namely the Prioress and the Monk, are not as they should be. Although he does not criticize them openly, he merely emphasizes qualities that are favorable to the character’s general personality but are not consistent with the expectations of their position. For example, the Prioress is described as “straining to counterfeit a courtly kind of grace.” She wears “a coral trinket on her arm” despite her vow of poverty. By making the reader more aware of the Prioress as a woman than as a nun, Chaucer exposes her flawed ways. He also does the same...
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...Canterbury Tale Canterbury Tales are one of the most famous collections of the stories in Middle English written by English writer Geoffrey Chaucer who made big impact in Middle English literature. One of characters in this stories that impressed many people who read this stories is the Knight. From all characters in Canterbury Tales knight is the noblest of all of them. In “General Prologue: The Knight through the Man of Law” the author asserts that “the Knight is the noblest of the pilgrims, embodying military prowess, loyalty, honor, generosity, and good manners“(Classiclit.about). The Knight conducts himself in a polite and mild fashion, never saying an unkind word about anyone. Knight is motivated by pride and glory, he is brave and noble and he is not afraid of a challenge. In the the cantrebury tale: the knight's tale the author asserts that “ Chivalry is a big deal in "The Knight's Tale." Chivalry was a system of rituals, duties, and behaviors a knight was supposed to follow if he wished to behave with honor (Shmoop). In the tale the knight is presented as the chacarcter who brings glory and he is real example of how perfect knight sholud be. However the knight is described in terms of his commendable feats and his moderate dress and countenance, he possess moral values such as in first place honour, curtesie and fredom. The knight is described as the noble warrior who is always ready and prepared to serve to his lord, and with this serving to lord he traveled a...
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