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Chaucer’s General
Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
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European
Humanities
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Fall
2009
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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 Prioresse, The Monk,
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. He has
been at Alexandria, Prussia, Lithuania and in Russia, in Grenada at the
siege of Algeciras, in Morocco at Ayash and at Atalia, and in the Grete
Sea, and atTlemcen and against the heathen in Turkey.
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 and 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 his tales
of valor 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, Jeu de Robin et de Marion (1284)
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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 with only 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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The Prioresse
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Ther
was also a Nonne, a PRIORESSE,
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That
of hir smylyng was ful symple and coy;
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120 Hir
gretteste ooth
was but by Seinte Loy;
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And
she was cleped
Madame Eglentyne.
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Ful weel she soong the
service dyvyne,
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Entuned in
hir nose ful
semely,
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And
Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly,
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125 After
the scole of Stratford-atte-Bowe,
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For
Frenssh of Parys was to hir unknowe.
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At
mete wel
ytaught was she with alle:
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She
leet no
morsel from hir lippes falle,
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Ne
wette hir fyngres in hir sauce depe;
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130 Wel
koude she
carie a morsel, and wel kepe
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That
no drope ne fille upon hir brist.
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In
curteisie
was set ful muche hir list.
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Hire
over-lippe wyped she so clene
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That
in hir coppe
ther was no ferthyng
sene
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135 Of
grece, whan
she dronken hadde hir draughte.
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Ful semely
after hir mete
she raughte.
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And
sikerly,
she was of greet desport,
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And
ful plesaunt, and amyable of port,
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And
peyned hir to countrefete cheere
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140 Of
court, and been estatlich of manere,
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And
to ben holden digne of reverence.
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But,
for to speken of hir conscience,
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She
was so charitable and so pitous
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She
wolde wepe, if that she saugh a mous
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145 Kaught
in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde.
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Of
smale
houndes hadde she, that she fedde
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With
rosted flessh, or milk and wastel-breed.
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But
soore weep
she if oon of
hem were deed,
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Or
if men smoot it with a yerde smerte;
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150 And
al was conscience,
and tendre herte.
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Ful semyly
hir wympul
pynched
was,
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Hire
nose tretys, hir eyen greye as glas,
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Hir
mouth ful smal, and therto softe and reed;
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But
sikerly
she hadde a fair
forheed;
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155 It
was almoost a spanne brood, I trowe;
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For,
hardily,
she was nat undergrowe.
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Ful fetys
was hir cloke, as I was war;
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Of
smal coral aboute hir arm she bar
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A
peire of bedes, gauded al with grene,
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160 An
theron heng a brooch of gold ful sheene,
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On
which ther was first write a crowned A,
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And
after Amor vincit omnia.
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The
Prioresse:
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‘a prioresse/that of her
smylyng was ful symple and coy’ (l.118-19)
‘[M]adam Eglentye’ is the head of a priory, a nunnery attached to an
abbey of a Benedictine order. Her responsibility is to help conduct the
choral music for the nunnery’s divine services (‘entuned in her nose ful
semely’) that punctuate the day from early morning until nightfall. She
must also preside at the priory’s meals, maintaining order and the priory’s
sacred decorum.
Yet, Chaucer focuses upon her physical beauty, her refined manners
and sophisticated sensibility: characteristics of of her upper class
status. Her name is borrowed from the realm of romance stories popular at
the time. He gives her a face with ‘nose tretys. Her eyen greye as glas,/
her mouth ful smal, and thereto soft and redde/ But sikerly she hadde a
fair foreheed;’ (152-54) This face was the model of beauty in Chaucer’s
society (and a nun’s forehead was never supposed to be visible beneath her
habit!)
She travels with ‘smale houndes’ that ‘she fedde/ With rosted flessh,
or milk and wastel-breed.’ Her dogs are better fed than most peasants would
have been! Eglentyne is fluent in the French learned in Stratford (which is
very classy but her French would have been incomprehensible in Paris!) She
is very aristocratic and sophisticated. This style probably would have
grated against the English commoner, and Chaucer is writing a poem
celebrating a national identity!
Her table manners are impeccable! Not a crumb falls from her lip, she
doesn’t wet her fingers in gravy, doesn’t slobber, or reach- she makes
every effort to use good ‘curtesie’ ie. she practices courtly manners.
Compared with the typical table manners of a medieval man, her style is
remarkable!
She possesses a delicately refined conscience: ‘she wolde wepe, if
that she saugh a mous/ Kaught in a trappe’ (144-45) What form of conscience
should we expect from a nun who has devoted her life to a sacred purpose?
Her Costume: her nun’s habit is ‘ful fetys’, very elegant; she wears
a bejewelled, coral string of rosary beads from which hangs a gold brooch
engraved with the letter ‘A’ and the maxim,“Love conquers all.” Such
jewelry is hardly appropriate to a nun and is certainly a decoration that
would have been out of dress code!
Yet the narrator is obviously charmed by Eglentyne's whole manner.
She is indeed made for love. What has Chaucer done to our stock
expectations of the leader of a nunnery in the midst of a holy era? What is
Eglentyne's great talent? Will she realize it in a nunnery? Can you infer
the type of reforms that Chaucer would like to see in the medieval church?
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The
Monk
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A
MONK ther was, a fair for the maistrie,
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An
outridere,
that lovede venerie,
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A
manly man, to been an abbot able.
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Ful
many a deyntee
hors hadde he in stable,
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And
whan he rood, men myghte his brydel heere
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170 Gynglen in a
whistlynge wynd als cleere
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And
eek as loude,
as dooth
the chapel belle.
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Ther
as this lord was keper of the celle,
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The
reule of Seint Maure, or of Seint Beneit,
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By
cause that it was old and somdel streit
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175 This
ilke Monk
leet olde thynges pace,
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And
heeld after the newe world the space.
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He
yaf nat of
that text a pulled
hen,
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That
seith that hunters beth nat hooly men,
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Ne
that a monk, whan he is recchelees,
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180 Is
likned til a fissh that is waterlees,-
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This
is to seyn, a monk out of his cloystre
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But
thilke text
heeld he nat worth an oystre;
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And
I seyde his opinioun was good.
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What
sholde he studie, and make hymselven wood,
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185 Upon
a book in cloystre alwey to poure,
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Or
swynken
with his handes and laboure,
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As
Austyn bit? How shal the world be served?
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Lat
Austyn have his swynk to him reserved!
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Therfore
he was a prikasour
aright:
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190 Grehoundes
he hadde, as swift as fowel in flight;
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Of
prikyng
and of huntyng for the hare
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Was
al his lust, for no cost wolde he spare.
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I
seigh his sleves purfiled at the hond
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With
grys, and that the fyneste of a lond;
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195 And,
for to festne his hood under his chyn,
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He
hadde of gold ywroght a curious pyn;
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A
love-knotte in the gretter ende ther was.
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His
heed was balled, that
shoon as any glas,
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And
eek his face,
as it hadde been enoynt.
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200 He
was a lord ful fat and in good poynt,
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Hise
eyen stepe, and rollynge in his heed,
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That
stemed as a forneys
of a leed;
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His
bootes souple, his hors in greet
estaat.
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Now
certeinly he was a fair prelaat;
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205 He
was nat pale as a forpyned goost.
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A
fat swan loved he best of any roost.
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His
palfrey was as broun as is a berye,
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The
Monk
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‘a manly man… an outridere that loved venerie’ (166)
The Monk is another senior cleric with the Benedictine order, but he
clearly does not follow type. Instead of withdrawing from the busy world
into the monastery where he should be living a quiet life of prayer, study,
and manual labor, this monk embraces the world and revels in its pleasures.
He’s a big enough man to be an abbot! He owns many horses and rides with
a jangling bridle whose bells ring as loud as the chapel bells of his
monastery. So you can hear him coming from a mile away! He has let the old
habits pass and ‘heeld after the newe world the space’ (176): a very modern
monk indeed! He thinks little of the monastic rules laid out a thousand
years before by St. Augustine. ‘He yaf not of that text a pulled hen.’
(177) ‘Let Austyn have his swynk to him reserved!’ (188)
Instead this monk is a ‘prikasour aright’: a hunter of hares (double
entendre?) He spares no price to own a pack of the best greyhounds.
One reason why people like this Monk wound up in the clerical estate was
because of the law of primogeniture.
To keep the land and property of noble families together, the oldest son
would inherit everything. Younger sons were offered lucrative positions in
the church to placate them. So high church positions, such as the one this
rich monk possesses, frequently went to people who had little interest in
the church’s religious mission.
The Monk’s cloak is hardly the appropriate garb for a devout Benedictine
monk. It is finely sewn: his sleeves are trimmed with grey squirrel fur,
and his hood is fastened with a gold pin shaped like a ‘love-knotte’! His
bald head shines as if ‘enoynt’ with holy oil (it is really perspiration)!
He wears supple leather boots and rides a beautiful horse. He must
have cut a dashing figure!
Chaucer’s final touch? The monk loves to eat roasted swan- hardly the
typical fare of an ascetic who should deny himself the pleasures of the
flesh! What is Chaucer doing to our typical notions of this holy
stereotype? What vision of the medieval world in 1380 is emerging?
What is this Monk's great talent? How can he realize it?
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The
Friar
|
|
|
|
|
A
FRERE ther
was, a wantowne
and a merye,
|
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A
lymytour,
a ful solempne
man.
|
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210 In
alle the ordres foure is noon that kan
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So
muchel of daliaunce
and fair
langage.
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He
hadde maad ful many a mariage
|
|
Of
yonge wommen at his owene cost.
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Unto
his ordre he was a noble post,
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215 And
wel biloved and famulier was he
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With
frankeleyns
overal in his contree,
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And
eek with
worthy wommen of the toun;
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|
For
he hadde power of confessioun,
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As
seyde hymself, moore than a curat,
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220 For
of his ordre he was licenciat.
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Ful swetely herde
he confessioun,
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And
plesaunt was his absolucioun:
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He
was an esy man to yeve penaunce,
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Ther
as he wiste
to have a good pitaunce.
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225 For
unto a povre
ordre for to yive
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Is
signe that a man is wel yshryve;
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|
For,
if he yaf, he
dorste
make avaunt,
|
|
He
wiste that
a man was repentaunt;
|
|
For
many a man so harde is of his herte,
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230 He
may nat wepe, al thogh hym soore smerte;
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|
Therfore
in stede of wepynge and preyeres
|
|
Men
moote yeve
silver to the povre
freres.
|
|
His
typet was ay farsed
ful of knyves
|
|
And
pynnes, for to yeven yonge wyves.
|
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235 And
certeinly he hadde a murye note:
|
|
Wel
koude he
synge, and pleyen on a rote;
|
|
Of
yeddynges he baar
outrely
the pris.
|
|
His
nekke whit was as the flour-de-lys;
|
|
Therto
he strong was as a champioun.
|
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240 He
knew the tavernes wel in every toun
|
|
And
everich hostiler
and tappestere
|
|
Bet
than a lazar
or a beggestere;
|
|
For
unto swich a
worthy man as he
|
|
Acorded
nat, as by his facultee,
|
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245 To
have with sike
lazars aqueyntaunce.
|
|
It
is nat honeste, it may nat
avaunce,
|
|
For
to deelen with no swich poraille,
|
|
But
al with riche and selleres of vitaille.
|
|
And
over al, ther as profit sholde arise,
|
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250 Curteis
he was, and lowely
of servyse.
|
|
Ther
nas no man nowher so vertuous.
|
|
He
was the beste beggere in his hous;
|
|
(And
yaf a certeyn
ferme for the graunt
|
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Noon
of his brethren cam ther in his haunt;)
|
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255 For
thogh a wydwe
hadde noght a sho,
|
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So
plesaunt was his "In principio"
|
|
Yet
wolde he have a ferthyng, er he wente;
|
|
His
purchas was wel bettre than his rente.
|
|
And
rage he koude,
as it were right a whelp.
|
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260 In
love-dayes ther koude he muchel help,
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|
For
there he was nat lyk a cloysterer
|
|
With
a thredbare cope, as is a povre scoler,
|
|
But
he was lyk a maister or a pope;
|
|
Of
double worstede was his semycope,
|
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265 That
rounded as a belle out of the presse.
|
|
Somwhat
he lipsed for his wantownesse
|
|
To
make his Englissh sweete upon his tonge;
|
|
And
in his harpyng, whan that he hadde songe,
|
|
Hise
eyen twynkled in his heed aryght
|
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270 As
doon the sterres in the frosty nyght.
|
|
This
worthy lymytour
was cleped
Huberd.
|
|
|
|
|
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The
Friar:
|
|
|
|
|
|
‘a
lymytour, a ful solempne man… So muchel of daliaunce and fair langage’
(211)
The Friar is, supposedly, a member of the Franciscan order,
missionaries who have taken a vow of poverty and chosen to live humbly,
begging money in the streets to aid the poorest of the poor. They imitate
the life of St.
Francis of Assisi, a 12th century Italian nobleman who gave up all his
wealth to serve lepers and ease the suffering of the homeless.
Chaucer's friar could not be more different. He is a South London street
hustler! This guy is one sweet talker, an expert at ‘daliaunce and fair
langage’. Under his expert influence, he has arranged the ‘marriages’
of many of the impoverished girls living in his begging district to his
friends: free born commoners who are landowners and quite wealthy.
‘Unto his ordre he was a noble post.’ (214) (a bit of Chaucerian bawdry?)
It sounds good, but the fact of the matter is that The Friar is a pimp.
He uses the power of the confessional booth to befriend homeless women in
his district… and he gives an easy absolution to those who are ‘penitent’.
What is this rogue’s scam? ‘in stedye of wepynge and preyeres/ Men moote
yeve silver to the povre freres.’ (231-32) Hard cash shows repentance as
well as tears! And the girls? What must they give in return?
What does the monastic order to which he belongs think of this behavior?
‘He was the beste beggar in his hous’ (251) Don't ask; don't tell. They are
happy as long as they receive their cut of his profits.
His cloak is stuffed with knives and pins which he peddles on the street
to ‘faire wyves’. He knows the bartenders and waitresses in his district
better than he knows the lepers and beggars. (According to him it would not
be right to be seen with such riff-raff! He’d rather spend his time with
rich merchants and victuallers.) He is a good fighter and holds on to his
territory aggressively! A talented beggar! He can get a farthing out of a
shoeless widow!
Chaucer's Friar is also a great expert on ‘love-days’, those special
legal holidays when poor disputants
without the money to afford an attorney can resolve financial suits in
impromptu street courts. (ala Judge Judy) There he holds forth like the
pope!
His Costume: a double woven cloak, round as a bell from the mold of his
belly; he purposely lisps when he talks, to sweeten his speech; his eyes
twinkle like stars! And his name is “Huberd”!
Wow! How does Chaucer portray these representatives of the organized
Church? What is this guy's talent? How could it be used properly?
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Group Three:
The Merchant:
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Feudal
social theory had no room for non-military laymen who were neither manual
laborers nor skilled tradesmen. However, merchants were increasingly
visible, asserting a powerful influence on the London economy. Bankers
alone had enough money to finance the king’s ambitious foreign wars.
Chaucer’s father had been a wine merchant who made a fortune selling
foreign vintages to the upper class. Chaucer himself was the comptroller of
customs in 1370, responsible for regulating trade and collecting excise
taxes on wool, furs and hides. The merchant in Chaucer’s day was often
satirized for his secrecy in business deals and for his dubious financial
dealings. The Catholic Church regarded usury as blasphemous. (Usury is the
lending of capital at an interest. As we discovered in the recent financial
meltdown, without credit our whole economy came to a standstill.)
Chaucer describes his merchant’s costume first: he wears motley (the fool's
garb at court), a fashionable, very expensive beaver fur hat, and good
boots. The narrator can say little about this man because the merchant
doesn’t have much to say. When he does speak, he only refers to matters
pertaining to business: ‘th’encrees of his wynning’, the safety of the seas
between England and Holland, the current value of currency, and his
upstanding reputation as a businessman free from debt. Can you put together
the various hints Chaucer gives us and explain why this merchant has gone
on a pilgrimage at this particular moment?
The narrator looks back, and come to think of it, no one remembers his
name! Why not?
What is Chaucer’s portrait of the emerging merchant class in England at the
end of the 14th century? Can you draw conclusions about his moral judgment
of capitalism?
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The
Clerk
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A
CLERK ther
was of Oxenford also,
|
|
That
unto logyk hadde longe ygo.
|
|
As
leene was his hors as is a rake,
|
|
290 And
he nas nat right fat, I undertake,
|
|
But
looked holwe
and therto sobrely.
|
|
Ful
thredbare was his overeste courtepy;
|
|
For
he hadde geten hym yet no benefice,
|
|
Ne
was so worldly for to have office.
|
|
295 For
hym
was levere have at his beddes heed
|
|
Twenty
bookes, clad in blak or reed,
|
|
Of
Aristotle and his philosophie,
|
|
Than
robes riche, or fithele, or gay sautrie.
|
|
But
al be that he was a philosophre,
|
|
300 Yet
hadde he but litel gold in cofre;
|
|
But
al that he myghte of his freendes hente,
|
|
On
bookes and on lernynge he it spente,
|
|
And
bisily gan for the soules preye
|
|
Of
hem that yaf
hym wherwith to scoleye.
|
|
305 Of
studie took he moost cure and moost heede.
|
|
Noght
o word spak he moore than was neede,
|
|
And
that was seyd in forme and reverence,
|
|
And
short and quyk,
and ful of hy sentence;
|
|
Sownynge
in moral vertu was his speche,
|
|
310 And
gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Clerk
|
|
|
|
'ful
thredbare was his overeste courtepy’
The Clerk is a college student at Oxford, reading for religious orders:
the Trivium (grammar, logic and rhetoric) and Quadrivium (arithmetic,
geometry, astronomy, and music.)
Devoted to his studies, the Clerk rides a lean horse and wears a
threadbare cape. He looks ‘holwe’ to the narrator. The Clerk has not yet
gotten his benefice: the ecclesiastical position that will enable him to
earn a living ala the Monk or the Friar. He has not yet taken his vows of
chastity. However, he’d rather read Aristotle than the Bible. He wants to
become a teacher, not a priest: his twenty books are more valuable to him
than rich robes, music or a ‘psalterie’ (An ancient and medieval stringed
instrument, more or less resembling the dulcimer (OED)).
He is a philosopher, but he cannot earn any money at such a profession.
He only prays for the souls of those who contribute to his education. The
Clerk speaks no more than necessary and when he does, his speech is ‘short
and quyk and full of hy sentence’. He loves learning and wants to
teach.
Humanism:
- Humanism stressed
the dignity of humanity and shifted intellectual emphasis from
theology and logic to the study of human wisdom.
- studia humanitatis: the educational
disciplines outside of theology and natural science. Humanism was opposed
to the particular brand of logic known as Scholasticism, whose intent
was to reconcile the revealed truth of Christianity with Greek reason.
- The Curriculum: the trivium
(grammar, logic, rhetoric) and the quadrivium (geometry,
arithmetic, astronomy, music).
- Students had to
master both Latin and Greek to acquire a thorough grounding in the
works of Cicero, Plato, and Aristotle. (Cicero was considered the
model citizen: eloquent, wise and committed to the service of the
state. All students carefully studied his speeches and imitated his
style.)
What vision of the changing place of education and classical learning is
suggested by Chaucer’s depiction of the Clerk? Why isn’t there a job for
him in this society? What kind of priest would he make?
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The
Sergeant of Law
|
|
|
|
|
A
SERGEANT
OF THE LAWE, war
and wys,
|
|
That
often hadde been at the Parvys,
|
|
Ther
was also, ful riche of excellence.
|
|
Discreet
he was, and of greet reverence-
|
|
315 He
semed swich, hise wordes weren so wise.
|
|
Justice he
was ful often in assise,
|
|
By
patente,
and by pleyn commissioun.
|
|
For
his science,
and for his heigh renoun,
|
|
Of
fees and robes hadde he many oon.
|
|
320 So
greet a purchasour
was nowher noon:
|
|
Al
was fee
symple to hym in effect,
|
|
His
purchasyng myghte nat been infect.
|
|
Nowher
so bisy a man as he ther nas,
|
|
And
yet he semed bisier than he was.
|
|
325 In
termes hadde he caas and doomes alle
|
|
That
from the tyme of Kyng William were falle.
|
|
Therto
he koude endite and
make a thyng,
|
|
Ther
koude no wight
pynche at
his writyng;
|
|
And
every statut koude he pleyn by rote.
|
|
330 He
rood but hoomly in a medlee cote
|
|
Girt with a ceint of silk,
with barres smale;
|
|
Of
his array
telle I no lenger tale.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sergeant
of Law
|
|
|
|
|
|
‘Nowher so bisy a man as he there was,/ And yet he semed bisier than he
was.”
A lawyer for the crown, the Sergeant at Law possesses the highest legal rank
in society. In this position, he serves as a circuit judge and barrister on
the porches of St. Paul’s Cathedral, the location of the king’s legal
court. As justice at the court of assizes, he would issue patents with the
full authority of the crown. He is therefore in a position to rake in a lot
of bribes on top of his percentage of the fees assessed on business
dealing.
Common Law had become the highest authority in England after King John
was forced to sign the Magna Charta in 1215. He acknowledged that even a
King was not above the law. Prior to the establishment of this legal
tradition, nobles had been able to rule arbitrarily in the criminal cases
and business disputes that had come before them. In those days trial by
jury did not exist. Citizens could request a trial by ordeal to appeal the
decision of a judge, but most people elected not to as this sort of trial
involved holding a smoking hot iron bar with your bare hands or being
dunked in a pond for minutes at a time! The rise of English Common Law
ranks as one of the most important social achievements in our history
because judges and juries had to be bound by the legal precedents
established over time. In this way a fairer legal process could be
guaranteed any citizen…. As long as the system avoided corruption.
Chaucer’s Seargeant of Law exercises the full power of the crown. His
word has become law. No one can say anything about his judgments…because he
knows inside out all the legal precedents and statutes established since
the time of William the Conqueror. He seems busier than he really is. Why?
This guy is rich but he is not ostentatious. He wears simple cloth of
dyed wool, (but it is lined with silk!)
What point is Chaucer making about the law and the legal profession of
his time?
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|
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The
Franklin
|
|
|
|
|
A
FRANKELEYN
was in his compaignye.
|
|
Whit
was his berd as is a dayesye;
|
|
335 Of
his complexioun
he was sangwyn.
|
|
Wel
loved he by the morwe a sope in wyn,;
|
|
To
lyven in delit
was evere his wone,
|
|
For
he was Epicurus owene sone,
|
|
That
heeld opinioun that pleyn delit
|
|
340 Was
verray
felicitee parfit.
|
|
An
housholdere, and that a greet, was he;
|
|
Seint
Julian was he in his contree.
|
|
His
breed, his ale, was alweys after oon,
|
|
A
bettre envyned
man was nowher noon.
|
|
345 Withoute
bake mete was nevere his hous
|
|
Of
fissh and flessh, and that so plentevous,
|
|
It
snewed in his hous of mete and drynke,
|
|
Of
alle deyntees
that men koude thynke.
|
|
After
the sondry
sesons of the yeer,
|
|
350 So
chaunged he his mete and his soper.
|
|
Ful
many a fat partrich hadde he in muwe,
|
|
And
many a breem and many a luce in stuwe.
|
|
Wo
was his cook, but if his sauce were
|
|
Poynaunt
and sharp, and redy al his geere.
|
|
355 His
table
dormant in his halle alway
|
|
Stood
redy covered al the longe day.
|
|
At
sessiouns ther was he lord and sire;
|
|
Ful ofte
tyme he was knyght of the shire.
|
|
An
anlaas and
a gipser al of silk
|
|
360 Heeng
at his girdel,
whit as morne milk.
|
|
A
shirreve
hadde he been, and a countour.
|
|
Was
nowher swich
a worthy vavasour.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
Franklin
|
|
|
|
|
‘Wel
loved he by the morwe a sop in wyn’
Traveling with the Sergeant of Lawe is his good friend the Franklin. A
franklin was a free born provincial land holder, yet he was born into a
commoner. He is a provincial country squire, but he is friendly with this
wealthy and influential nobleman. Chaucer’s point?
Chaucer describes the franklin as of ‘sangwyn complexioun’. According to
the medieval medical theory of the humours, a sanguine temperament is
caused by the suffusion of blood in the body. Psychologically, a sanguine
man possesses great optimism and good humor. Chaucer depicts the franklin
as ruddy of face, of good digestion and as ‘Epicurus’ owne sone’. An
Epicurean lives for nothing but pleasure. (Bring on wine, women and song,
for tomorrow we die!) This franklin lives for pleasure, particularly in
food. Like St Julian, he is a great patron of hospitality. At his dinners,
‘it snewed of mete and drinke’. In his house he always keeps the
traditional hospitality table (from which all visitors can help themselves)
full of roast birds, meat and fish.
The Franklin serves as the district judge ‘at sessiouns’ in his
neighborhood. He has also been elected the ‘knight of the shire’ or member
of Parliament for his region. Since the days of the Magna Carta, English
kings had been forced to rely upon the compliance of a council of nobles
whnever they wanted to raise taxes. During the reign of Edward I in the
century prior to Chaucer’s birth, Parliament had begun admitting elected
representatives from citizens around the country. These electors exercised
considerable influence over land policy.
How did Chaucer’s franklin become so rich?
Costume: He wears a dagger and carries a silk purse (gipser)- just like
a nobleman.
What point is Chaucer making about the
changing composition of medieval society? How is society also becoming more
secular in its focus?
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|
|
|
The
Shipman
|
|
|
|
|
A SHIPMAN was ther, wonynge
fer by weste;
|
|
For
aught I woot,
he was of Dertemouthe.
|
|
He
rood upon a rouncy,
as he kouthe,
|
|
In
a gowne of faldyng
to the knee.
|
|
A
daggere hangynge on a laas hadde he
|
|
395 Aboute
his nekke, under his arm adoun.
|
|
The
hoote somer hadde maad his hewe al broun,
|
|
And
certeinly he was a good felawe.
|
|
Ful
many a draughte of wyn had he ydrawe
|
|
Fro
Burdeux-ward, whil that the chapman
sleep.
|
|
400 Of
nyce conscience
took he no keep.
|
|
If
that he faught, and hadde the hyer hond,
|
|
By
water he sente hem
hoom to
every lond.
|
|
But
of his craft, to rekene wel his tydes,
|
|
His
stremes,
and his daungers hym bisides,
|
|
405 His
herberwe
and his moone, his lodemenage,
|
|
Ther
nas noon swich
from Hulle to Cartage.
|
|
Hardy
he was, and wys to undertake;
|
|
With
many a tempest hadde his berd been shake.
|
|
He
knew alle the havenes as they were,
|
|
410 From
Gootlond to the Cape of Fynystere,
|
|
And
every cryke in Britaigne and in Spayne.
|
|
His
barge ycleped
was the Maudelayne.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
Doctor of Physik
|
|
|
|
|
With
us ther was a DOCTOUR OF PHISIK;
|
|
In
al this world ne was ther noon hym lik,
|
|
415 To
speke of phisik and of surgerye,
|
|
For
he was grounded
in astronomye.
|
|
He
kepte his pacient a ful greet deel
|
|
In
houres, by his magyk natureel.
|
|
Wel
koude he fortunen
the ascendent
|
|
420 Of
his ymages for his pacient.
|
|
He
knew the cause of everich maladye,
|
|
Were
it of hoot, or coold, or moyste, or drye,
|
|
And
where they engendred, and of what humour.
|
|
He
was a verray
parfit
praktisour:
|
|
425 The
cause yknowe, and of his harm the roote,
|
|
Anon he yaf the sike man
his boote.
|
|
Ful
redy hadde he hise apothecaries
|
|
To
sende him drogges and his letuaries,
|
|
For
ech of hem made oother for to wynne-
|
|
430 Hir
frendshipe nas nat newe to bigynne.
|
|
Wel
knew he the olde Esculapius,
|
|
And
Deyscorides and eek
Rufus,
|
|
Olde
Ypocras, Haly, and Galyen,
|
|
Serapioun,
Razis, and Avycen,
|
|
435 Averrois,
Damascien, and Constantyn,
|
|
Bernard,
and Gatesden, and Gilbertyn.
|
|
Of
his diete mesurable
was he,
|
|
For
it was of no superfluitee,
|
|
But
of greet norissyng, and digestible.
|
|
440 His
studie was but litel on the Bible.
|
|
In
sangwyn
and in pers
he clad was al,
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Lyned
with taffata and with sendal;
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And
yet he was but esy of dispence;
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He
kepte that he wan in pestilence.
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445 For
gold in phisik is a cordial,
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Therfore
he lovede gold in special.
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The
Wife of Bath
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A
good WIF was ther, OF biside BATHE,
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But
she was somdel
deef, and
that was scathe.
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Of
clooth-makyng she hadde swich an haunt,
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450 She
passed hem of Ypres and of Gaunt.
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In
al the parisshe wif ne was ther noon
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That
to the offrynge bifore hire sholde goon;
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And
if ther dide, certeyn so wrooth was she,
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That
she was out of alle charitee.
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455 Hir
coverchiefs
ful fyne weren of ground;
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I
dorste swere they weyeden ten pound
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That
on a Sonday weren upon hir heed.
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Hir
hosen weren
of fyn scarlet reed,
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Ful
streite
yteyd, and shoes ful moyste and newe.
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460 Boold
was hir face, and fair, and reed of hewe.
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She
was a worthy womman al hir lyve:
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Housbondes
at chirche
dore she hadde fyve,
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Withouthen
oother compaignye in youthe, -
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But
therof nedeth nat to speke as nowthe.
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465 And
thries hadde she been at Jerusalem;
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She
hadde passed many a straunge
strem;
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At
Rome she hadde been, and at Boloigne,
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In
Galice at Seint-Jame, and at Coloigne.
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She
koude muchel of wandrynge by the weye.
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470 Gat-tothed
was she, soothly
for to seye.
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Upon
an amblere
esily she sat,
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Ywympled
wel, and on hir heed
an hat
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As
brood as is a bokeler or a targe;
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A
foot-mantel aboute hir hipes large,
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475 And
on hir feet a paire of spores sharpe.
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In
felaweshipe wel koude she laughe and carpe.
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Of
remedies of love she knew per chaunce,
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For
she koude
of that art the olde daunce.
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The
Wife of Bath
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“She
was a worthy womman al hir lyve:/ Housbandes at chirche she hadde fyve”
This merry widow comes from Bath, renowned throughout England as a center
for the production of finely woven fabrics. On her head she displays
delicately woven cloth (covering a metal rig that must weigh ten pounds!)
She is a walking advertisement for her weaving business and her widowhood
(which may be one and the same). The Wife of Bath is filthy rich! At the
cathedral in Bath she is furious if someone else deigns to approach the
offertory before she does!
Beneath her fine mourning garments, she wears fine scarlet stockings!
She has a bold red face and reddish hair. Chaucer mentions that she has had
five husbands at church. (That doesn’t count the ‘oother compaignye’ she
had in her youth.)
She has been to Jerusalem three times! (A journey of several months in
Chaucer’s day!) She’s been on many pilgrimages to shrines in Rome, Bologna,
Cologne, and even Saint James at Compastella (in Spain), the most famous
shrine in Christendom outside Jerusalem. This list is fabulous, possibly
unbelievable! Has she made these pilgrimages out of holy devotion to God?
“She koulde muchel of wandyrnyge by the weighe.”
How has the Wife of Bath earned such a highly lucrative living? Where
does she meet her prospective husbands? ‘Gat-tothed was she, soothly for to
sey.’ What did medieval superstition say about gap-toothed women? She wears
a huge hat, a huge overskirt, and on her supple boots she wears ‘sharpe
spurs’! She loves to laugh and talk and have fun, and she knows many
remedies for venereal diseases!
What is Chaucer’s purpose in his depiction of the Wife of Bath? How does
this outrageous, larger than life character seem to jump off the page and
into our lives directly from the Middle Ages? What is the measure of
Chaucer’s genius as an artist?
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Group
Four: The Foundation of the Medieval Order
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The
Parson
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A
good man was ther of religioun,
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480 And
was a povre
PERSOUN
OF A TOUN,
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But
riche he was of hooly thoght and werk.
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He
was also a lerned man, a clerk,
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That
Cristes gospel trewely wolde preche;
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His
parisshens
devoutly wolde he teche.
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485 Benynge he
was, and wonder diligent,
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And
in adversitee ful
pacient,
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And
swich he
was ypreved
ofte
sithes.
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Ful
looth were hym to cursen for his tithes,
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But
rather wolde he yeven, out of doute,
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490 Unto
his povre
parisshens aboute
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Of
his offryng and eek
of his substaunce.
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He
koude in litel thyng have suffisaunce.
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Wyd
was his parisshe, and houses fer asonder,
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But
he ne lefte nat, for reyn ne thonder,
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495 In
siknesse nor in meschief to visite
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The
ferreste
in his parisshe, muche and lite,
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Upon
his feet, and in his hand a staf.
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This
noble ensample
to his sheep he yaf,
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That
first he wroghte, and afterward he taughte.
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500 Out
of the gosple he tho wordes caughte,
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And
this figure
he added eek
therto,
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That
if gold ruste, what shal iren do?
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For
if a preest be foul,
on whom we truste,
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No
wonder is a lewed man to ruste;
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505 And
shame it is, if a prest take keep,
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A
shiten
shepherde and a clene sheep.
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Wel
oghte a preest ensample for to yive,
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By
his clennesse,
how that his sheep sholde lyve.
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He
sette nat his benefice to hyre
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510 And
leet his
sheep encombred
in the myre
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And
ran to Londoun unto Seinte Poules
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To
seken hym a chaunterie for soules,
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Or
with a bretherhed
to been witholde;
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But
dwelt at hoom,
and kepte wel his folde,
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515 So
that the wolf ne made it nat myscarie;
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He
was a shepherde and noght a mercenarie.
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And
though he hooly were and vertuous,
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He
was to synful men nat despitous,
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Ne
of his speche daungerous ne digne,
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520 But
in his techyng discreet and benygne;
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To
drawen folk to hevene by fairnesse,
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By
good ensample,
this was his bisynesse.
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But
it were any persone obstinat,
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