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Chaucer’s General
Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
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European
Humanities
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Fall
2007
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Chaucer’s
Pilgrims and The Late Medieval World (c. 1397)
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Here is the essay question:
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How
does Chaucer’s portrait of English society at the end of the 14th century
reveal changes for good and evil overtaking Medieval Europe as it enters
the Renaissance?
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Group One:
The Knight, The Squier,
and The Yeoman
Group Two:
The Monk, The Prioresse,
and The Friar
Group Three:
The Merchant, The Clerk, The Sergeant at Law, The
Franklin, The Shipman, The
Doctor of Physik, The Wife of Bath,
Group Four:
The Parson and The
Ploughman
Group Five:
The Miller, The Maunciple,
The Reeve, The Summoner, The Pardoner
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The
Proem
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Amor
v. Amor Dei
Chaucer describes the impregnation of March
by April’s sweet showers and the subsequent birth of virtue.
He inverts traditional Church teaching about
the nature of Earthly Love and Divine Love. Augustine’s formulation of
Original Sin had deemed the earthly realm to be corrupt and utterly
separate from the transcendent City of God.
Chaucer suggests that God’s heaven can be
found on Earth: in Love. The most perfect expression of God’s love may be
in earthly happiness, particularly the passionate love between man and
woman best expressed in Holy Matrimony. Chaucer’s God is immanent.
Chaucer’s God gives us permission to enjoy life and to revel in our
humanity.
However, Chaucer is not
suggesting that all human behavior inspired by Spring is Holy. Rather, the
impulse itself is holy- although it can be perverted by man.
So our task in reading The
Canterbury Tales is to use our own critical imagination to play God: we
must determine which of the pilgrims will make it into heaven and which
will not. And our job is not made easy by Chaucer: he has upset the
dogmatic judgments of the Church; instead, we must use our own imagination
and determine if the pilgrim is misusing the gifts God has given them or is
he or she being true to oneself and thus natural and holy.
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Group One: The
Nobility
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The
Knight
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A
KNYGHT ther was, and that a worthy man,
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That
fro the tyme that he first bigan
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45 To riden out,
he loved chivalrie,
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Trouthe and
honour, fredom
and curteisie.
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Ful worthy was he
in his lordes werre,
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And
therto hadde he riden, no man ferre,
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As
wel in cristendom as in hethenesse,
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50 And
evere honoured for his worthynesse.
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At
Alisaundre he was, whan it was wonne.
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Ful ofte
tyme he hadde the bord bigonne
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Aboven
alle nacions in Pruce;
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In
Lettow
hadde he reysed, and in Ruce,
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55 No
Cristen man so ofte of his degree.
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In
Gernade at the seege
eek hadde he
be
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Of
Algezir, and riden in Belmarye.
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At
Lyeys was he and at Satalye,
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Whan
they were wonne; and in the Grete See
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60 At
many a noble armee
hadde he be.
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At
mortal batailles
hadde he been fiftene,
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And
foughten for oure feith at Tramyssene
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In
lystes thries, and ay slayn his foo.
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This
ilke worthy
knyght hadde been also
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65 Somtyme
with the lord of Palatye
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Agayn
another hethen in Turkye.
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And
everemoore he hadde a sovereyn
prys;
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And
though that he were worthy, he was wys,
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And
of his port
as meeke as is a mayde.
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70 He
nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde
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In
al his lyf
unto no maner wight.
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He
was a verray,
parfit gentil knyght.
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But,
for to tellen yow of his array,
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His
hors were goode, but he was nat gay.
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75 Of
fustian he wered a gypon
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Al
bismotered with his habergeoun,
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For
he was late ycome from his viage,
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And
wente for to doon his pilgrymage.
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The
Knight
How has Chaucer brought this idealized portrait of a type to full life?
Is Chaucer sad that the Knight's days are drawing to a close, or might he
be secretly happy?
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‘he loved chivalrie, trouthe, honour, fredom and courtesie’ (l.45)
"He was a verray,
parfit gentil
knyght." (l.72)
A Crusader:
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The
Knight is an exceptional warrior: a killer who has trained in fighting in
armor, with horses, lances, swords and shields. He has fought in fifteen
‘mortal battailles’, an extraordinary number, against infidels (ie Islam)
on the Northern, Southern and Eastern borders of Christendom.
The Crusades: Wars to hold back the Islamic hordes, and hopefully, to
spread Christianity… but also to maintain peace at home by sending armed
threats overseas.
He has been in ‘lystes thries’: formal duels in which champions of
opposing armies fought to the death in lieu of a full scale battle.
The Knight is a superman!
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Humility:
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‘no
vileynye ne sayde/ in al his lyf unto no maner wight.’(70)
He treats all members of society with respect, even those from classes
beneath his own. “Villain”: fighting words.
Chaucer's special touch: The Knight's Costume: his horses are of high
quality, but he wears a ‘bismotered habergeon’: a spotted, grimy,
possibly even bloody coat of mail- indicating that he has only lately
returned from his most recent battles. He cares more for his horses than
he does for his appearance. He has gone immediately on pilgrimage after
battle to give thanks for the preservation of his life and to purge his
sins.
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Code of Chivalry:
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The
Church needs a defender of the Faith. They wanted to justify
the war so they created a chivalric code: an ideal that justifies
violence against the infidel: prowess at arms, courage,
honesty. loyalty, generosity, faith, courtesy.
The Knight subscribes to a moral, religious and social code of conduct
which emphasized duty to country, to God, and to the service of a lady.
The story he tells his fellow pilgrims is about two best friends who both
fall in love with the same lady (who is married).
Courtly Love: Unrequited Love Sublimated into Violence. In feudal
society, wealth was based on land, and land was primarily transferred
through marriage. Therefore, most upper class marriages were arranged.
They were not based on love. The Cult of Courtly Love glorified love
OUTSIDE of marriage as more virtuous than a married relationship without
love. Is Chaucer really celebrating Courtly Love?
Ironically, the code of chivalry developed from Arab origins!
Medieval Spain was the "cradle of chivalry", for the
European fostering of chivalric tradition began in al-Andalus. (Wikipedia)
Chaucer’s Knight exemplifies the ideals of chivalry, but he does so in
a realistic way. He is no knight in shining armor but a real, living
breathing person with the qualities of humility, faith, and courage that
make him fit to be a king, the leader of Medieval society.
vs. Sir Galahad's Grail Quest, Sir Lancelot's
love for Queen Guinevere , or Sir Tristan's
love for Iseult
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Problems:
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To
what degree does the Knight help hold in place in a social system which
is fundamentally unjust? The idealization of his character may not
conform to the real social practice which held 97% of the population in
serfdom, condemned to short, impoverished existences.
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The
Squier
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With
hym ther was his sone, a yong SQUIER,
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80 A
lovyere and a lusty
bacheler;
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With
lokkes crulle, as they were leyd in presse.
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Of
twenty yeer
of age he was, I gesse.
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Of
his stature he was of evene
lengthe,
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And
wonderly delyvere,
and of greet strengthe.
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85 And
he hadde been somtyme in
chyvachie
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In
Flaundres, in Artoys, and Pycardie,
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And
born hym weel,
as of so litel space,
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In
hope to stonden in his lady grace.
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Embrouded
was he, as it were a meede,
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90 Al
ful of fresshe floures, whyte and reede;
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Syngynge he
was, or floytynge,
al the day,
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He
was as fressh as is the monthe of May.
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Short
was his gowne, with sleves longe and wyde.
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Wel
koude he
sitte on hors, and faire ryde.
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95 He
koude
songes make, and wel endite,
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Juste,
and eek
daunce, and weel
purtreye
and write.
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So
hoote he
lovede, that by nyghtertale
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He
slepte namoore than dooth a nyghtyngale.
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Curteis
he was, lowely,
and servysable,
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100 And
carf biforn his fader at the table.
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The Squier
How did the chivalric tradition transform the conception of Romantic
Love? How has Chaucer taken the stereotype of the medieval
troubadour and brought him to full life?
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‘a
lovyere and lusty bacheler’ (80)
A Troubadour Bachelor:
troubadour:
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One
of a class of lyric poets, wandering minstrels and jongleurs, who
lived from the 11th to the 13th centuries and helped invent the notion of
romantic love.
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bachelor:
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not
only an unmarried man, but a young man who has worked his way up to the
first degree of knighthood… To move up the ladder he must do grace to a
lady faire by distinguishing himself in battle. He has ‘born hym weel’ in
a calvalry expedition against the French in Flanders (100 Years War) ‘in
hope to stonden in his lady grace’
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The Squier's Costume:
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an
expensive embroidered tunic; his hair is worn in ‘lokkes crulle’. He is
the height of fashion, youth and gaiety. He is a singer, a poet, a dancer
and a troubadour. He loves to play the flute, and he is irresistable to
the ladies!
So hoote he lovede, that by nyghtertale
He slepte namoore than dooth a nyghtyngale.
Curteis he was, lowely, and servysable,
And carf biforn his fader at the table. (l. 97-100)
The most
perfect expression of God’s Love is the love between a man in a woman in
marriage. This
Squire goes off at night to sing for his girl. He loves her passionately.
He hopes that his songs, his poetry, his looks, his dress and tales of
his courage in France will win her to be his wife.
Marriage for LOVE, not MONEY or LAND
His desire for love could easily be corrupted into an appetite for
sensual gratification. Chaucer's Special Touch is that the Squier honors
his father by carving before him at the table. Does this detail indicate
to you that the Squier has enough respect for doing the right thing that
he will fulfill Chaucer's model of the lover in a healthy way?
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The Trouvères and the Troubadours
Popular music, usually in the form of secular songs,
existed during the Middle Ages. This music was not bound by the traditions
of the Church, nor was it even written down for the first time until
sometime after the tenth century. The
subject of the overwhelming majority of these songs is love, in all its
permutations of joy and pain. One of the most famous of these trouvères
known to us (the great bulk of these melodies are by the ubiquitous
"Anonymous") is Adam de la Halle (ca. 1237-ca. 1286). Adam is the composer of one of the oldest secular
music theater pieces known in the West, Le Jeu de Robin et Marion.
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The
Yeoman
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A YEMAN hadde he
and servantz namo
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At
that tyme, for hym liste ride soo;
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And
he was clad
in cote and hood of grene.
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A
sheef of pecok arwes,
bright and kene
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105 Under
his belt he bar ful
thriftily,
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(Wel
koude he
dresse his takel yemanly:
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Hise
arwes drouped noght with fetheres lowe)
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And
in his hand he baar
a myghty bowe.
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A
not heed
hadde he, with a broun visage,
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110 Of
woodecraft wel koude
he al the usage.
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Upon
his arm he baar
a gay bracer,
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And
by his syde a swerd
and a bokeler,
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And
on that oother
syde a gay daggere
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Harneised
wel and sharpe as point of spere.
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115 A
Cristopher on his brest of silver sheene.
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An
horn he bar, the bawdryk was of grene;
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A
forster
was he, soothly,
as I gesse.
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The
Yeoman
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'A
Cristopher on his brest of silver sheene.’ (115)
Traveling by road during the Middle Ages was dangerous. Highwaymen and
thieves waylaid unprotected travelers, so a party of armed men accompanied
most nobles. The Knight travels only with one servant: no ostentatious
show, just what is necessary. And he has no reason to fear: he has a
killing machine at his side.
The knight's sidekick is a yeoman, a free born servant, not a serf tied
to the land. The yeoman is armed to the teeth: he carries a longbow, a
sheaf of arrows, a sword and buckler, and a dagger and horn.
The 100 Years War
This man has fought beside the Knight in all his battles, and he shares
in the Knight's glory. He carries the English longbow, a weapon which
changed the strategy of warfare during the 100 Year War. (A
series of wars between England and France fought over claims to French
territory by the descendants of William the Conqueror. The famous Battle
of Crécy was a complete disaster for the French, largely due to English
longbowmen.)
Stories told about the great heroes of the fighting in the 100 Year War
became legend for both the English and the French. The exploits of the Black Prince and later of Henry V served later leaders who used their
popularity as a foundation for English nationalism. The French as well
turned the story of Joan
of Arc into a founding myth of their own nation state.
This yeoman, though, may be weary of battle, yearning to return to his
life as a forester and hunter: he wears a St. Christopher medal, which
protects travelers from sudden death. The detail humanizes Chaucer's
portrait of this killing machine. Here is a soldier who longs for home, the
woods, where his talents can be put to their best use, as a hunter and
craftsman.
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Group Two: The Clergy
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