Kent-Drury
ENG 202
Estates Satire. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is sometimes called an estates satire, meaning that it satirizes the three estates, or sociopolitical groups in England at the time he was writing. These can be thought of as the knights temporal (the aristocracy, led by the king), the knights spiritual (the Catholic clergy, led by the pope), and the peasants/lower class. There was no middle class at this time.
In estates satire, as in Medieval literature in general, writers had less interest in developing characters in the way we think of characters and more interest in depicting types. Consequently, the pilgrims can be seen as representing the group to which they belong, rather than as unique individuals.
By the time Chaucer was writing, the church had been in existence for over 1400 years and was considered to have become corrupt; consequently, the tales told by various members of the clergy in the Canterbury Tales, as well as their profiles in the prologue, should be read as telling us something about the state of the church.
Likewise, the tales told by members of the aristocracy and the lower class should be seen as representing something about that group of people.
Edition. Please use the translation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales available at http://www.canterburytales.org/canterbury_tales.html. On the left-hand navigation bar, change the Edition from "Middle English" to "Modern English." As you work your way through the readings, you will be choosing various "Tale/Sections," beginning with the "Prologue." Later, you will also read the "Miller's Prlg," "The Miller," the "Wife's Prologue," and the "Wife of Bath."
The Prologue. "The Prologue" includes many profiles we will not have time to read. In our course, I ask that you read, in the prologue, the profiles of the following characters:
As you read, take note of each pilgrim's (a) description, (b) clothing, (c) horse, and (d) actions. One of the questions on your Discussion Board post for this week will ask you what conclusions you can draw about each one.
Remember that, as we covered last week in the PowerPoint about the Medieval/Renaissance World View, people in Chaucer's time believed strongly in hierarchies, as well as in the idea that people were born into a certain level of society, and that they should remain there and dress and act like people at that level of society.
The Miller's Prologue and Tale. The characters in The Canterbury Tales are supposed to tell their tales in order of rank. For this reason, "The Knight's Tale" was first. The Miller, as a low ranking member of society, should tell his tale much later, but he is drunk. Consequently, he tells his tale after the Knight tells his, out of order.
In Chaucer's time, it would have been expected that a low ranking member of society like the Miller would tell a low tale--and he does. He is engaged in a rivalry with the Reeve (a carpenter), so the Miller tells a story in which an old carpenter is hoodwinked by his young, beautiful wife, Alisoun (coincidentally--or maybe not--the name of the Wife of Bath) and a young student, Nicholas, who boards with them. The story is complicated by the entrance of the parrish clerk, Absalom. All three of the men are in love with Alisoun.
This tale is of a medieval genre called a fabliau, which includes low characters and is governed by fabliau justice--in which people get what they deserve, even if the story itself isn't moral. In general, as well, May-December marriages were not thought to work out; an old man who marries a young wife, in the logic of such tales, deserves what he gets--to be outwitted by his wife and her much younger lover.
Watch for common folk stories that make their way into the mix, such as the prediction of the second flood (why should no one ever believe in a second flood on the scale of Noah's flood?). Also, watch for the story of a branding.
The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale. The Wife of Bath is one of the few women to tell a tale in The Canterbury Tales. Some students see in the Wife of Bath proto-feminism. Chaucer's audience would not have seen her in the same way. In fact, in Chaucer's time, the ideal woman was supposed to be "silent, chaste, and obedient." You will find that she is none of these. She is not silent--in fact, hers is the longest prologue of all--much longer than her tale, which is another Arthurian Romance. She is not chaste--she has been married five times (frowned upon at the time), she is "gap-toothed," which was thought to be a sign of lechery. She is not obedient--as her prologue and tale emphasize.
As you read the Wife of Bath's prologue, keep in mind that she misquotes nearly every text she brings in to give her words "authority," twisting the words of philosophers and early church fathers until they say what she wants them to say.