The Canterbury Tales
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Product Description
This reading of “The Canterbury Tales” is in contempoarary English prose to appeal to the student and all-purpose reader alike. It tells the tale of a pilgrimage to Canterbury in which men and women drawn from all classes of society lighten their journey by telling tales.Amazon.com Review
On a spring day in April–sometime in the waning years of the 14th century–29 travelers set out for Canterbury on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas Beckett. Among them is a knight, a monk, a prioress, a plowman, a miller, a merchant, a clerk, and an oft-widowed wife from Bath. Travel is arduous and wearing; to maintain their spirits, this band of pilgrims entertains each additional with a series of tall tales that span the spectrum of literary genres. Five hundred years later, people are still reading Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. If you haven’t yet made the acquaintance of the Franklin, the Pardoner, or the Squire because you never learned Middle English, take heart: this edition of the Tales has been translated into modern idiom.
From the heroic romance of “The Knight’s Tale” to the low farce embodied in the tales of the Miller, the Reeve, and the Merchant, Chaucer treated such universal subjects as like, sex, and death in poetry that is simultaneously witty, insightful, and poignant. The Canterbury Tales is a grand tour of 14th-century English mores and morals–one that modern-day readers will delight in.
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average, dull later half of book. Appealing thoughts though.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is a widely discussed collaboration of tales that depict various groups of people in many different assessments. In The Wife of Bath, the portrayal of women is extremely controversial. The question of whether Chaucer was a misogynist or supported women’s liberation is a passionately discussed topic. Based upon Chaucer’s various portrayals of women, he was not a male chauvinist who desired superiority over women. Chaucer described women through his opinion as an Englishman in Medieval England, where the common view was that women were subordinate to men. This is seen in the Wife of Bath’s contradictory personality as well as the characters of her tale.
To know the importance of feminist criticism, it is vital to know what it is and stands for. Feminist literary criticism is the term for analyzing literary works through the examination of female points of view, concerns, and values in comparison with the time period and culture. In Mary Wollenstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights Women, she asserts the observation “Women, I argue from analogy, are degraded by the same propensity to delight in the present moment; and, at last, despise the freedom which they have not sufficient virtue to struggle to attain.” One of the primary purposes of feminist literary criticism is concerned with “uncovering the contingencies of gender” as a cultural, social, and political system and instrument of domination. (Jehlen) Meaning, that their goal is uncover any iniquities placed upon women due to cultural setting, political standpoints, or social foundations.
Although there are immutable biological differences between men and women, these differences make various social differences in different societies. One society may be completely different than another, at least in their treatment of the separation of gender. Also, in a patriarchal society, such as England in Chaucer’s time, the separation of gender involves more than just social differences, but also the thought that sexual differences are the same as sexual inequality (. Rigby) It is inequitable to be judgmental of Chaucer and his views of women, as anti-feministic as they are, because Chaucer was from a completely different social construct and past time period.
Through Chaucer’s Wife of Bath, as well as the characters in her tale, he describes various views of women within Chaucer’s time. He represents women as unchaste and unruly in the Wife of Bath, Dame Alice. He also depicts women as helpless and overlooked in the raped maiden of The Wife of Bath’s Tale. The queen within the tale is shown as gracious. But, the women questioned by the knight described a sense of only worldly desire. The ancient woman shows the wisdom of women, although it seems that she is submitting herself to her spouse, she has control over him.
His portrayal of Dame Alice is the antithesis of the stereotype for women in Chaucer’s time. She was not pure an innocent, as she confessed that “I won’t remain altogether chaste” Alice was not submissive to each of her husbands, she chose to rule over them. She strikes dread into the town and its parish to the point where she gets and does whatever she wants. The dread and respect the town has for her is seen in lines 459-463 of the All-purpose Prologue: “In all the parish not a dame dared stir, Towards the altar steps in front of her, And if indeed they did, so wrath was she as to be reasonably place out of charity” The Wife becomes such a powerful feministic force, at times, by being able to masquerade around town with the qualities and luxuries of being a man and appears to be so pleased not following the predictable and stereotypical roles set for women at her time and throughout most of history. The Wife of Bath is a zealous woman who freely admits to all the lust, the conniving and the egocentricity that defines her. Dame Alice has radical views about women and their position within a marriage, especially for a time when women were expected to be passive within a marriage. This direct challenger to previously set roles for women is what defines her character.
But, the Wife of Bath, while seemingly an example of feminism in all of her qualities, is really inconsistent with herself.. She is, as a replacement for, a mockery of herself. The Wife of Bath is inconsistent in her belief structure. While, at times, she claims to be able to beguile her husbands into doing whatever she wants, making a view of herself as strong and independent, she regularly gave into what her spouse would want. She freely admits that men are far more intelligent than women appear to be in lines 440-442 of her Prologue “One of us two must give in, lacking a doubt; / And since a man is more reasonable/ than woman is, you
must be uncomplaining “Nevertheless, since I know your pleasure I’ll satisfy your physical pleasure”. In this quote the Wife of Bath not only concedes that men are more reasonable than women, but also that a excellent woman and wife will do and give up whatever is necessary for her spouse to be satisfied. If the Wife had really been what she appeared to be externally, she would not have admitted that men, in a all-purpose stereotype, could contain more reason and intelligence than women could. This quotation leaves an unanswered contradiction about the Wife of Bath. Chaucer easily contradicts the Wife of Bath by showing and telling more personal sides of the Wife of Bath and thus proves her to be much more of a hypocrite and much less of a archaic feminist then originally thought. The Wife also diminishes herself, and all women, by explaining that all women can be bought, in lines 413-417 of her Prologue. “And Therefore I tell every man this truth,/ Let whoever can, win, for everything is for sale,/ With an empty hand men cannot lure hawks,/ For a fee I would suffer his lust,/ And make myself a pretend appetite” The additional travelers within The Canterbury Tales also accept her as a uprising of women’s position. The Pardoner requests that the Wife teach them. This also defies biblical and cultural standings on women’s positions, as teachers, that they are not to teach over them, as clarified in 1 Timothy 2:11-12 of the Judeo-Christian Bible.
The Wife of Bath also reverses the roles of Spouse and Wife in some of her descriptions of her marriage, as in lines 154-159 of the Wife’s Prologue:
“A Spouse I will have, I will not desist, / Who shall be both my debtor and my slave, / And have his troubles along with it/ Upon his flesh while I am his wife, / I have the power all my life/ Over his body and not he”
She is dictating that she will have total control over herself, her spouse, and their household, contradictorily to cultural and biblical standards, as discussed by C.S. Lewis in his work `Mere Christianity’, “The function of the spouse is to see that this natural inclination if hers is not giving its head. He has the last word to protect the additional people from the intense family tree jingoism of the wife” The Wife sees the relationship between men and women as a battle in which it is crucial to gain the upper hand. She uses tactics, which were seen as the only stereotypical form of defense for women: sexuality, duplicity, and vulnerability. Her armor was indeed necessary. Medieval England open women as second class citizens, viewed as goods and chattels, with no financial independence. They were regularly beaten, and it is clearly in the Wife’s scenery to protect herself. She uses weapons like her sexuality and her youth to make her husbands suffer, so much so that they feel impotent. This weapon was highly effective with first three husbands who she managed to dominate, `But since I had them completely in my hand’ and they handed over all of his land and property as she withdrawn sex in order to get her own way with them.
The Wife also used a weapon of deceit and she claims that women have this weapon from birth. She tells her audience that she would deliberately pick
opinion and accuse her husbands of the very sins she herself is guilty of, because she admits that attack is the best form of defense. The Wife claims that all the additional wives are better treated than herself, and commonly uses her weapon of nagging. She accuses her husbands of being cheap, complaining about extravagance of the neighboring women. She easily attains power over her first three husbands in this way, as they usually submitted for the sake of peace, as she notes, `They were most pleased when I spoke honestly to them,/ For God knows I nagged them spitefully./ The Wife ruled over her husbands.
The maid in The Wife of Bath was a tiny character role, and yet her fleeting moment in the tale is extremely vital. The characteristics of this woman seem to have the ability to go to all women. She is vulnerable and innocent, as she is still a maiden. The only thing known about this woman is that she was overpowered by the knight and severely taken advantage of. “From which maid at once, in spite of her protests,/ By sheer force he stole her maidenhood” This example of male domination within a tale is not atypical. Chaucer shows women’s weakness in her.
In the Queen, Chaucer shows the graciousness of women, as fickle as it might appear. Despite the fact that the Queen knows of the misconduct of this man, she begs for his life. It is ironic that she, a woman, is fighting for this man’s life after what he had done to another woman.
The various women that the knight questioned provide insight as to what Chaucer thought about women. The majority of the answers that the knight bought were monetary or tangible, such as money, fine clothes, lust, or beauty. Once the thought that women “take we fantastic delight/ in being considered dependable and trustworthy. / and able to hold steadfastly to one purpose, / and not betray things men tell us” But, this thought, which was the only virtuous answer was quickly dismissed because it was allegedly “not worth a rake handle” It was not plausible for a woman to be considered virtuous, which is ironic, since being virtuous was the feminine stereotype.
The ancient woman, which gave the knight the right answer, shows the wisdom of women. She required the knight to pledge his honor to her before she revealed the answer. This was wise of her; it caused the knight to base his later decisions on everything he stood for. She was foul and haggard in appearance. The knight was excruciatingly upset at the fact that he needed to marry her due to her appearance, age, and class.
Women were described in various different ways, through the Wife of Bath as well as the characters of her tale. Chaucer did not hold any animosity against women or fervently desire to subdue them, he merely believed what he knew, which was female subordination within his society.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
If you like the television series “The Simpsons,” you will probably like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. They reflect the same brassy approach to entertainment which, as a replacement for of building us rise above the gutter of everyday life, brings us to the lowest level of crudity. There are some redeeming tales but, such as the Knight’s Tale, but as a whole, this book should be avoided by anyone with a sense of honour and decency.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
Why did I reflect this rendition of The Cantebury Tales was translated into modern English? It is the second of three items bought from Amazon, and a second disappointment. Perhaps I should not shop online. Regardless, it is a classic and, I suspect, not read by nearly as many who would delight in it.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
When I read this, back in high school, my English teacher pumped it up so much before, I was expecting a hilarious, rollicking fun read.
Boy was I disappointed. We read the maybe slightly updated version from the ‘olde english’ and the main part of the struggle was figuring what the hell was going on. Then, when you finally figured it out, it was something maybe KIND OF amusing, in a satirical yet also juvenile way. It basically takes you an hour to decode that once again, some miller is cheating on his wife, with, oh, say a goat.
If you want a ‘hard read,’ I would say read existentialism. The payoff at the end of the road, which is usually some “biting” social commentary like ‘anti-semitism is terrible’ isn’t worth the pain of ploughing through all the weird spellings and antique words.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5