questions on tales that aren't posted...
I thought maybe we should have just a general questions/area to post comments on tales that don't already have their own post...
(charlotte)
(charlotte)
posted by L Lazarow | 1:18 PM
16 Comments:
for the knight, is the only description necessary of him like our basic saying he's the perfect, ideal guy as far as his character? anyone?
For the merchant's tale:
Is the garden really special? Could it be connected to Adam and Eve, and perhaps the snake in the tree that convinces Eve to do sin??
For the Clerk's tale:
Is the tale of Griselda appropriate for the clerk to tell? It may be since it reflects knowledge of other literature but I wasn't sure.
Also, is the clerk a middle class citizen?
Ruby:
To summarize the Knights tale I made it very general, leaving out the beginning part about the women, but I don't know if that was very important.
Charlotte, Ruby, and everyone else...
You are correct in saying that Chaucer describes the knight as a perfect character, and that is the main thing you learn from his description in the general prologue.
Also, as Ruby requested, I will briefly summarize the knight's tale, mentioning what I think are the important points:
Main Characters: Theseus = knight
Arcite
Palamon
Emily
Summary: When Theseus conquores Thebes, he finds two enemy soldiers, Arcite and Palamon, and imprisons them. From their cell, they see Emily, and fall madly in love with her. Arcite is freed, and Palamon eventually escapes. Then Theseus finds them both in the woods, and decides to let them duel for Emily's hand. Theseus builds a stadium, and three temples at it's gate... one to Mars, one to Venus, and one to Diana. Arcite, Palamon, and Emily pray to those gods (each one respectively) before the battle. The gods then argue over whose prayer will be answered. To make a long ending short, Arcite wins the battle, but is killed by Saturn shaking the earth, resulting in Palamon receiving Emily's hand in marriage. The end.
As I mentioned, this is a very short version. If anyone would like me to explain it further, or has any other question, post them here, and I'll respond. I hope this is helpful!
~Ryan
For the Wife of Bath, If this tale is suppossed to be about female superiority why does the Queen "free" the knight and not punish him for his crime against a woman?
For people with fabliau tales: Did you think Chaucer meant for his characters to show that people get what they deserve (ie. eye for an eye) or that they can benefit from cunning and be harmed even though they're innocent?
Molly,
I think he definitly shows that you can benefit from cunning in some tales. The monk in your tale recieves sex without having to pay for it and isn't punished, and in Kate's tale, Allison doesn't get punished for cheating on her husband and making Absalon kiss her bottom becuase she's cunning throughout the tale, as Kate said.
guys, does anyone have anything on the cannon??
the tale in four sentences.
Charlotte,
The canon is an alchemist, which was a profession that was looked down upon. He is accompanied by his yeoman, and leaves the pilgrimage when the yeoman starts to tell his tale.
I hope this answers your question! If you wanted to know about the yeoman's tale instead of the canon himself, let me know, and I'll see what I can write about that.
thanks ryan. I realized i was confused becuase in the Gen. Prologue it discusses the yeoman, that isn't related to the canon or the canon's yeoman, so that was part of the who are these characters and why don't they make sense problem.
yeah charlotte... it is a little confusing, since the yeoman described in the general prologue is a hunter and wood-worker who serves the knight, and not the canon's yeoman who tells the tale
that means that there are really three different pilgrims right?
the canon
the canon's yeoman
and the yeoman.
do the canon and the canon's yeoman have basically the same description, poor clothes and sweaty, yet the canon's yeoman talks more than the canon? right?
yeah... they are three different people...
in responce to your second question, the canon's yeoman was described as wearing tattered, worn clothing. The knight's yeoman (the one in the general prologue) i dont think is wearing clothes as poor as the canon's yeoman. He is described more as having a bow and arrows, a swored, and a dagger, being overarmed to go on the pilgrimage.
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