Transcript Diapositiva 1 - Deer Valley Unified School District

Introduction to Canterbury Tales
Chaucer’s World:
14th Century England
Basic assumptions of the medieval world:
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Existence of a Christian afterlife
2 paths: religious life or secular life
Things of the world inferior to things of God
Medieval passion for order/fear of disorder
• Recurrent image: Fortuna & the wheel
– Immutable order: one’s estat is an absolute, both sinful
& futile to rebel against
• Signaled by clothing (array), manner (curteisye)
Chaucer’s Middle English
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Anglo-Saxon Old English enriched by French, Latin
Important, serious writing = French & Latin
Light, often comic writing = English
Chaucer’s high diction used for abstraction, while
low, colloquial diction used for comic relief; formal
diction (particularly when given in or mixed with
Latin or French) can sometimes be used to satirize
intellectual snobbery
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
29 pilgrims meet at the Tabard Inn to travel on
pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral for repentance,
divine goodwill, etc. Canterbury Cathedral is the
shrine of St. Thomas Becket (1118-1170), martyred
by Henry II’s henchmen while at prayer in the
cathedral. If life is a journey, pilgrimage gives
pilgrims a taste of their ultimate goal.
Cross-section of society:
“Those who work”
(in order of hierarchy)
• Landed gentry: Franklin
• Professionals: Sergeant of the Law, Doctor of Physics
• Tradespeople: Merchant, Wife of Bath, Five Guildsmen,
Harry Bailly (tavern keeper), Miller
• Secular employees: Manciple, Reeve
• Laborers: Shipman, Yeoman, Cook
• Peasants: Plowman
Cross-section of society:
“Those who fight”
Knight
Squire
Cross-section of society:
“Those who pray”
• Religious orders: Monk, Prioress, Friar,
Nun’s Priest, Second Nun
• Parish clergy: Parson
• Student: Clerk at Oxford
• Church employees: Pardoner, Summoner
The Medieval Church
• Medieval Catholic church largely corrupt:
– Men in high positions siphoned off money or created new
positions for friends and allies
– Little fear of damnation—people could simply purchase
absolution from corrupt priests
– Some clergy even ran a relic trade on the side, further taking
advantage of a largely uneducated parish
– Despite vows of chastity and poverty, many monasteries and
priories were known for their decadence and wantonness
Chivalry
Chivalry is an idealized code of military and social behavior for the aristocracy in the late
medieval period. The word "chivalry" comes from Old French cheval (horse) and literally
means "horsemanship." Normally, only rich nobility could afford the expensive armor,
weaponry, and warhorses necessary for mounted combat, so the act of becoming a
knight was symbolically indicated by giving the knight silver spurs. The right to
knighthood in the late medieval period was inherited through the father, but it could also
be granted by the king or a lord as a reward for services. The tenets of chivalry were
attempts to civilize the rather brutal activity of warfare. The ideals include sparing noncombatants such as women, children, and helpless prisoners; the protection of the
church; honesty in word and bravery in deeds; loyalty to one's liege lord; dignified
behavior; and single-combat between noble opponents who had a quarrel. Other
matters associated with chivalry include gentlemanly duels supervised by witnesses and
heralds, behaving according to the manners of polite society, courtly love, brotherhood
in arms, and feudalism.
Courtly Love
Courtly love refers to a code of behavior that gave rise to modern ideas of
chivalrous romance. The term itself was popularized by C. S. Lewis' and
Gaston Paris' scholarly studies, but its historical existence remains contested
in critical circles. The conventions of courtly love are that a knight of noble
blood would adore and worship a young noble-woman from afar, seeking to
protect her honor and win her favor by valorous deeds. He typically falls ill
with love-sickness, while the woman chastely or scornfully rejects or refuses
his advances in public, but privately encourages him. Courtly love was
associated with (A) nobility, since no peasants can engage in "fine love"; (B)
secrecy; (C) adultery, since often the one or both participants were married to
another noble or trapped in an unloving marriage; and (D) paradoxically with
chastity, since the passion could never be consummated due to social
circumstances, thus it was a "higher love" unsullied by selfish carnal desires.
Rules of Courtly Love
Marriage is no real excuse for not loving
He who is not jealous, cannot love
No one can be bound by a double love
It is well known that love is always increasing or decreasing
That which a lover takes against the will of his beloved has no relish
Boys do not love until they arrive at the age of maturity
When one lover dies, a widowhood of two years is required of the survivor
No one should be deprived of love without the very best of reasons
No one can love unless he is impelled by the persuasion of love
Love is always a stranger in the home of avarice
It is not proper to love any woman whom one would be ashamed to seek to marry
A true lover does not desire to embrace in love anyone except his beloved
When made public love rarely endures
The easy attainment of love makes it of little value; difficulty of attainment makes it
prized
• Every lover regularly turns pale in the presence of his beloved
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Rules of Courtly Love
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When a lover suddenly catches sight of his beloved, his heart palpitates
A new love puts to flight an old one
Good character alone makes any man worthy of love
If love diminishes, it quickly fails and rarely revives
A man in love is always apprehensive
Real jealousy always increases the feeling of love
Jealousy, and therefore love, are increased when one suspects his beloved
He whom the thought of love vexes eats and sleeps very little
Every act of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved
A true lover considers nothing good except what he thinks will please his beloved
Love can deny nothing to love
A lover can never have enough of the solaces of his beloved
A slight presumption causes a lover to suspect his beloved
A man who is vexed by too much passion usually does not love
A true lover is constantly and without intermission possessed by the thought of his beloved
Nothing forbids one woman being loved by two men or one man by two women
Medieval Misogyny
Misogyny: hatred of women
Rules for Women:
1. not allowed to marry without their parents' consent
2. could own no business with special permission
3. not allowed to divorce their husbands
4. could not own property of any kind unless they were
widows
5. could not inherit land from their parents' if they had
any surviving brothers