Today’s Agenda:
1) Take you your journals. (10 Min)
a. For the next ten minutes, I want you to write in response to the following prompt.
i. Describe the process by which you have been taken into a community: i.e. a group of friends, a group of co-workers, a sports team, artistic group, or community-based organization. What was it like for you to be taken into this group. Describe how you were introduced to the important members, and how this introduction shaped your immediate expectations of this body.
b. Group Work: (5-7)
i. In your groups, I want you to have a good conversation on the following topic.
1. Are you judgmental people? If so, how do you know this? If not, then how do you know that? Describe how and why you once passed judgment on someone. An easy way to begin thinking about this is to recall an extremely eccentric person that you have met in your life. What was it like to meet this person? How did your initial judgment of them shape your expectations of them?
2) Class Discussion (5-7 mins)
3) Transition from Dante TO Chaucer
a. An ongoing Spiritual, Emotional, and Geographic crisis
b. From the Bible To the Romans to …your friends?
4) Context For this Week: Geoffrey Chaucer
Introduction to Chaucer:
Geoffrey Chaucer: (1345-1400): The Father of English Poetry
If you’ve ever gone on a date, Chaucer is important! And you OWE HIM! I’ll explain later…
Fast facts about “G.” Chaucer:
- Born in 1345 to an English-Speaking Merchant family with connections to the court.
- He lived an eventful early life, which included:
- Military Service in France
- Imprisonment
- Employed on diplomatic journeys to Italy
- Marriage
- Eventually assymed the position of Comptroller of Customs for the Port of London.
- Major Point: He was familiar with chivalric culture, and the cultures of most major European countries.
Chaucer the Artist:
He was a man of many interests
- He was very pious man, very concerned with spirituality
- He understood the major European languages, including Latin, French and Italian literature (Dante!).
- He was extreamly interested in human intellect
- He was a jack of all trades, and was interested in rhetoric, theology, philosophy, and several medieval science.
So, to sum up, he was interested in all lot of stuff
For our purposes, he was really interested in THREE particular books
- The Bible
- Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy
He was so interested in Boethius that he translated The Consolation of Philosophy into French. Now, we don’t need to know this book in-detail, but we do need to know what it’s message was, which was that that man is doomed if he becomes obsesses with worldy attractions, and needs to focus on God Himself. Very famous image of the world as Wheel with God in the Middle. The Wheel of Fortune.
Man has no ability to control the turning wheel of fate, but can find eternal peace if he turns his thought and love to God, who sits at the center of the wheel who’se “circumfrence is everywehre and center is nowhere.” 
- Roman de la Rose: Very famous work concerned with the folly of unreasoning lust. Very funny. Allegorical characters. Ask the reader be beguiled by characters while recognizing their FLAWS – their world flaws.
So, as an artist, Chaucer struggles with these issues in a number of texts, but for us, the most important text is The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales:
It is a work about a group of travelers who meet at the Tabard Inn at Southwark and go on a journey together to the tomb of Sir. Thomas A. Becket at Canterbury.
They agree to each tell a story on the way there, and to tell a story on the way back (a HUGE project). Of course, as you may be able to tell by the dates, Chaucer died before he could finish his work.
For our purposes, there are three very important parts To The Canterbury Tales: The Prologue, The Wife of Bath’s Tale and The Knight’s Tale. Notice that these are ALLEGORICAL characters who are dealing with WORLDY ISSUES, and how they are only saved when they turn their attention away from these issues and to God, or some sense of spirituality.
Homework:
Read: The Prologue to Canterbury Tales
Write: One and a half page response to The Prologue. Write on important themes, motifs, or symbols that become apparent in the Prologue. How do these subjects relate to aspects of our classroom conversations?
[...] Monday, Jan 19 [...]
Jason Stewart
Eh 241 Adam Crowley
20 January 2009
Geoffrey Chaucer opens his story of a pilgrimage to a tomb in Canterbury with the introduction of the twenty-nine travelers. An underlying theme to Chaucer’s descriptions is the status of the travelers in the society rather than a religious theme. This is odd because the travelers are on a religion driven journey to pay tribute to “the holy blessed martyr” (Chaucer 1), St. Tomas à Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, yet Chaucer focuses mainly on the traveler’s place in society.
Through the prologue the reader is introduced to the many characters that are on the pilgrimage. From the adventurous like the Knight and the Yeoman to the religious like the Monk and the Parson, Chaucer showcases these people yet identifies whether they are wealthy or not. Speaking of the Franklin, Chaucer states, “A man with better cellars there was non. / Baked meat was never wanting in his house, / of fish and flesh, and that so plenteous” (11). Chaucer blatantly points out that the Franklin is a rich man and describes him as such. As an equal opportunity descriptor, Chaucer describes the Plowman and the Miller as both poor men, but that both were good men nonetheless. He calls the Miller a “jester” and one that “could poetize” (18) while saying that the Plowman “…loved God most, and that with his whole heart” (17). This means that though these men did not have pockets full of gold, they did have warm hearts and to judge them by their hearts.
Also in Chaucer’s writing is his own judgment on how each of the travelers looked. In describing many of the people he saw at the inn, Chaucer refers to the appearance of these people. In one of his descriptions Chaucer becomes quite mean. Chaucer describes the Summoner as quite a hideous man. “He had a face that children feared. / There was no mercury, sulphur, or litharge, / no borax, ceruse, tartar, could discharge, / nor ointment that could cleanse, or bite, / to free him of his boils and pimples white” (20). Chaucer’s continues in stating that as the man became drunk that he became arrogant, and “then he would utter no word save Latin” (20). This description however could also be an example of how Chaucer saw religion. With the Wheel of Fortune style of religious thinking in mind, the Summoner has been placed into a ‘bad slot’ on the wheel and because his focus has remained there he has become quite and ugly person whose job is one that could cause everyone to hate him.
This description of the Summoner also draws I clear parallel to what we were speaking about in class about judgment. Chaucer is clearly judging the man based on his looks and the type of job he has (status in the society). However to quickly judge Chaucer of being a snotty and pompous person would be committing the same folly. Geoffrey Chaucer is of a completely different time than we are; a time when social status and completely defined who you were and how your life would be lead.
William Dow
1/20/2009
Eh241.001
General Prologue
The general prologue of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer sets up the story that weaves all the tales together. We hear a narrator who is describing everyone in an inn. You learn right off that all the people in the inn are starting out on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. The narrator who never describes himself tells use about all the people who will be traveling. We hear him describe a knight, and his squire who is also the son of the knight, a good wife, a nun, a monk, a parson, and others. The common theme throughout the general prologue is that he is judging everybody based on what he knows of him or her. The common theme in the travelers are they all have different back grounds and all if not wealthy physically with gold or silver, they ether appear wealthy such as the merchant “This worthy man full well his wit employed:/No one knew he was in debt,/ so careful was he of his outward impression” (Chaucer 17). In addition, the good wife with the finely weaved Sunday shawls. On the other hand, the character was rich in knowledge like the scholar and the parson. The motif was definitely that there where people from all walks of life who where all different in the way there life played out. The narrator even makes a little hint into the story the good wife will tell with a little offhand comment “Husbands at church door she’d had five,/Not counting the other company in youth-/ but we need not speak of them right now-” (Chaucer 25). The prologue that we had to read and the discussion we had in the last class ties together by the fact that the narrator is judgmental as seen in this passage “This pardoner had hair yellow as wax,/ but in truth it hung, as does a spray of flax/ …. /a voice like a small goat” (Chaucer 37). This is the narrator’s description of the pardoner. He also describes the knight “A Knight there was, and he was worthy man,/ who from the time that he first begin/ To ride out, he loved chivalry,” (Chaucer 5). We know no other information and the narrator has told use that he is chivalrous and a worthy man and does not back it up other then he is a knight. The narrator is telling use this is guy is great because he holds a high place in society.
Sarah Rackliffe
EH 241
Adam Crowley
January 20, 2009
The Canterbury Tales Prologue
The Canterbury Tales begins with a prologue that tells each of the characters, their personality, looks and jobs. Geoffrey Chaucer really went into detail when describing these people and their personalities and looks. Chaucer sometimes really got into describing their looks such as describing a nun’s forehead, “her forehead, certainly, was fair of spread” (The Canterbury Tales 7). Chaucer is obviously judging all of these people. By judging them he isn’t talking down at them be he is more of characterizing them. Chaucer seems to be characterizing them because of the deep detail he goes into by describing them. Chaucer going into such detail about their personalities and appearances tells us that he or his narrator may be secretly judging them.
After taking the time to describe all of these people, picking out their lives, flaws, appearances Chaucer does not tell us anything about the narrator. We do not know what he looks like, anything about his personality or even occupation. Maybe he is afraid of being judged himself or he doesn’t feel the need to talk about himself. I feel that it is important that he is saying nothing about himself, obviously after going into such great detail to tell us of the other people he shouldn’t have a problem telling us about himself.
While I began to read this prologue it became apparent that he was comparing experience to the spring time. Everything was new and fresh. Even some of the people of the group were referenced to the spring time, “He was as fresh as is the month of May” (5).I think that maybe this is a new beginning for Chaucer, something happened in his life and this time with these people is his new beginning. Like the spring time he is starring over, getting a fresh start.
Almost every person he describes had some reference to god, whether they worked for the church or just people of god. The group was also very diverse there were people from doctors to lawyers to nuns to monks. Everyone had different looks and personalities. I think that this detail will be important later in the story. People with different backgrounds will tell different stories.
While the rhyming made me feel like I was reading one long Dr. Seuss book I feel like it is important to the story. While flipping through the book I noticed that he continues this rhyming scheme throughout the book. I can’t bring myself to understand why he does all this rhyming but I’m sure there is a reason for him doing it. I feel this because why would he take the time to make sure that every word he writes rhymes with each other, it’s just not practical if there’s no reason for it.
This is my response and thoughts of the prologue of The Canterbury tales. I feel that Chaucer is a judgmental person whether the narrator if the story is or not. I also feel that Chaucer’s narrator is starting or looking for a fresh start.
Caleb Ashey
EH241 Adam Crowley
1-20-2009
Prologue: The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer begins the story by introducing the reader to the 26 travelers going on the journey. He states there profession, what there good at, and social status for each person. Each individual has a different profession but that is what makes the group unique. Even though there are holy men in the group, Chaucer does not delve into each mans religion or faith. In fact he kind of stays away from it. Unless it is absolutely necessary to the character. Which I find odd because the trip they are about to undertake is sort of a religious journey. “In fellowship, and they were pilgrims all, that towards Canterbury meant to ride (Chaucer, 1).” They are all going to pay there respects in the town of Canterbury. A reoccurring theme throughout every introduction though is how much money each person has. He states whether there rich or poor, or maybe in between. For example he states blatantly that the Friar is poor. “One should give silver to a poor Friars care (Chaucer, 9).” While stating that the Franklin was not poor at all, “He lived for pleasure (Chaucer, 12).” I’m taking the word pleasure and interpreting it as if he has never had to work a lot in his life, that he comes from money and likes to flaunt it.
Another reoccurring theme in the book is that he describes how each man is dressed. I think he uses this as another way to show each mans background. Clothes were often a way to flaunt wealth, or lack there of, back in that time period. A person of high standards and lots of money would not wear the same type of clothes as a laborer. Also Chaucer talks about each mans horse, it is something that is brought up a lot. But I do not know why. Obviously each man or woman of different social status will have a different horse. And it seems that the knight, leoman, and franklin, all have the best horses. Two soldiers and a wealthy man.
I think that we can relate Chaucer’s writing to our classroom discussions by getting back to the beginning of the lecture. Starting with the “Wheel of Fortune”, the more people don’t obsess over what’s going on around us, and focus on our faith in god, that we can be happy. Each character seems genuinely happy. Except for character, but he becomes happy when he drinks, because he can forget his cares about the world and focus on being merry and cheerful.
Stefanie Foutch
01/20/09
EH 241
Major British Writers
The Prologue
In the prologue to Geoffery Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”, Chaucer discusses how twenty-nine people decided to take a pilgrimage to visit a place in Canterbury. The travelers decided to take this religious voyage “to seek the holy blissful martyr” (Pg. 1). Chaucer describes each traveler looks, wealth, always what they are wearing, and somewhat of their personality. He goes into quite detail on a few of the journeyers. As I mentioned earlier, there are twenty-nine people on this voyage. A knight, the knight’s son, a Yeoman, two nuns, a monk, a friar, a merchant, Oxford Cleric, Serjant at the Law, a Franklin, a haberdasher, a dyer, a carpenter, a weaver, a cook, a skipper, a doctor, “A worthy women” (Pg. 15), a plowman, the plowman’s brother, a reeve, a miller, a manciple, a summoner, a pardoner, the “Host” (Pg. 23), and of course, Chaucer himself.
In class, we talked about being judgmental, and that in Chaucer’s era everything was about money or religion. Reading the prologue I noticed when Chaucer describes one of the travelers he either mentions their wealth, religious belief, or both. He does this with almost every person he describes. When Chaucer mentions the knight he says, “To do his pilgrimage and render thanks” (Pg. 5). Since this pilgrimage is a religious journey to begin with, I already know that each traveler is religious in one way or another. However, in the line that I just quoted, I can tell that Chaucer is mentioning that the knight is religious. When Chaucer talks about the Yeoman, he once again mentions religion. “A medal of St. Christopher he wore of shinning silver on his breast,” (Pg. 6). When speaking of the friar, Chaucer says, “He was a noble pillar to his Order.” (Pg. 8).
Chaucer also mentions everyone’s wealth, even if he does not come directly out and say it, he still indicates how rich or poor they are by their clothes, horses, and/or equipment. For example when Chaucer refers to the monk, Chaucer states, “I saw his sleeves were garnished at the hand with fine grey fur, the finest in the land,” (Pg. 8)
To me Chaucer was being judgmental the entire time. As I mentioned earlier every time he describes a traveler he focuses on their items or wealth. Yet again, he turns around and says even if the person is poor; they have a great personality or a big heart. In a way Chaucer becomes somewhat nasty toward the people he describes, in the way that he describes them. For example, when he speaks of the monk he insults his weight. “He was a fat and personable priest;” (Pg. 8). He also shows this meanness when speaking of “A worthy woman” on page 15. He says, “She had gap-teeth, set widely, truth to say.” Another example is when Chaucer speaks of the reeve. He says, “Just like a priest in front; his legs were lean, like sticks they were lean,” (Pg. 19).
In the prologue, Chaucer focuses on religion and money. It was most likely normal for his time. Yet again, it is still not proper to judge others.
Timothy McGuire
Eh 241 Adam Crowley
Jan. 20th 2009
The Canterbury Tales Prologue begins by explaining why the travelers are meeting at the in. The tale begins with an explanation about a pilgrimage to Canterbury to pay tribute to St Thomas A Becket. Even though the story theme seems to be about the pilgrimage to Canterbury which is obviously of religious nature the narrator focuses on discriptions of the characters occupation and social status. Religion is really only mentioned as part of their personalities or occupations. The focus seems to be on social status. Descriptions of the travelers seemed to focus on what clothing they wore, horse they rode, and occupation they had. These were probably all very important indicators of wealth at that time and because of the feudal system would likely have been linked to social status and consequently occupation.
The reference that was made in reference to religion was made when describing the travelers of good character of such as the plowman. When speaking of the plowman he says “and helps the poor for the love of Christ and never takes a penny” Religion seems to be mainly to provide an example of why this character is a good person. Religion is also brought up when a characters occupation requires it to be mentioned such as the Friar or Parson.
When talking about the Parson the Chaucer writes “the true example that a priest should give is one of cleanness, how the sheep should live.” In this case this was a good guy who also had a Holy occupation. Ironically this seems to be the exception to the rule. These seemed more of a means of describing the characters though then of the holiness of the pilgrimage. I guess I was expecting more of a moral example theme.
The character descriptions seemed to me to follow a theme of black and white thinking where a character such as the plowman clearly falls into the good slot and a character such as the Court Summoner or the Friar falls into the bad character slot. Chaucer describes the Friar as a corrupt merry little guy who abused his position for profit. In contrast the Summoner is described as incurably infected and pimpled. Chaucer even writes that “children were afraid when he appeared.” The Summoner was also described a manipulating and rather sinister. For instance Chaucer writes “he knew their secrets, they did what he said” The theme seems to be that good or bad without a lot of gray area.
In my opinion even though this was a prologue to a story about a religious trip the theme seems to be on social status and material wealth. Each character is described with the majority of the description focusing on material wealth such as clothes or horses. Religion seems to be afterthought either an occupation or as a way of saying what a good person someone was. I think Chaucer was a bit judgmental though that may not have been unusual for his time. The black and white thinking may have something to do with his Wheel of Fortune outlook on life. Or he may have wanted to draw clear distinctions between good and bad characters.
Benjamin McGray
EH 241 Adam Crowley
January 20, 2009
The prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” is basically an introduction, by the narrator, to the various characters that are assembled at The Tabard inn, preparing to make the “pilgrimage” to Canterbury. The first thing that one notices when reading the text is the wide variety of personalities that Chaucer has chosen to portray, however at the same time there are common themes that can be detected throughout the descriptions.
The most obvious of these themes is religion. The narrator, when describing each individual, supplies plenty of detail concerning their social titles, financial status, and other personal details. However it seems that each person is defined in reference to their religious beliefs. This is true for not only the openly religious figures in the story, but for the non-believers as well. For instance when the reader is introduced to the doctor it is shown that he is very adept in the ways of both medicine and astrology, and the relationship between the two. He is well read in the styles of Hippocrates, Rufus, and other famous thinkers. Also it just so happens that he is quite fond of money, and is strict when dealing with his personal finances. All of these things provide a sufficient picture of who the doctor is, however the narrator goes on to add “He did not read the Bible very much.” (Chaucer 14). This statement serves as an explanation for his way of life, like an “oh-that-explains-it” detail. This happens again when the narrator brings up the Oxford Cleric. Here the reader meets a quiet, stern individual who has devoted his life to learning and his education, illustrated by the quote, “Whatever money from his friends he took/ He spent on learning or another book”. With all these sufficient character building details the narrator still feels the need to add things such as, “One who had taken logic long ago,” and “He had no preferment in the church”. In other words he is a man not of faith or spiritual undertakings, and does not subscribe to the doctrines of any religion.
Another theme that I picked up on, and would not have done so except for the knowledge of Chaucer that I acquired during the lecture, was that there did seem to be a relationship between a persons religious affiliation and their personalities. The religious characters (the monk, the friar, the summoner, the nun, et cetera) seem to be more happy or upbeat individuals and arguably more successful. However the lesser religious sect of the group (the merchant, the doctor, the Oxford Cleric) are seemingly more somber characters and are relatively less happy than the others. Like I have said this would not have been of any significance to me had I not been informed on Chaucer’s ideology concerning what is known as The Wheel of Fortune. It seems that the “unhappy” characters have their focus more on the outside of “The Wheel”, on things like money and in the cleric’s case education. This perhaps is what is responsible for the unfulfilled nature of these characters.
Overall the prologue was very interesting, and Chaucer’s themes seem to be very reflective of his personal philosophies.
Gavin Kennedy
Eh 241 Adam Crowley
Jan 21, 2009 Kennedy
Chaucer opens his tale at the Tabard Inn, where the narrator rents out a room for the night. There he meets many travelers, all seemingly going on a pilgrimage to the same place, which so happens to reside in Canterbury, the namesake of this book. They are to march to “the holy blissful martyr,” (17) St. Thomas A. Becket. It is not apparent to me what the pilgrims seek to gain on their quest, whether it be enlightenment, riches, or just the adventure of doing so. There are “twenty and nine” (17) travelers ranging from monks to knights, summoners to plowmen; just a muddle of many different backgrounds and levels of social status. It is told from the first person, as though we are going on the pilgrimage with him.
Seeing as this is a pilgrimage I would have thought a little more about religion, or a religious direction, would have been exemplified. It seems the only time religion is really mentioned is when the person is a clergymen, or nun, or some other religious figure, but as far from what I can tell all the religion based people are of decent quality. It would seem that his only use of religion is to tell how morale a person is, or in some of the cases, are not.
What first jumps out is that he seems to describe people as best he can to let us know who they are, at least as far as his judgment can give these people value. He tries to tell us who these people are by what they are wearing, their looks and a little background story, so we can set up for the rest of the story at least some background to their tales. “Though a philosopher, as I have told, he had not found the stone for making gold” (24) He always seems to tell of wealth, looks and as much social background as one would think a passing traveler might know. He tries to get you to perceive if the person is over all a decent person or a indecent person.
He seems to play by the wheel in his description of people. The wheel stopping in very distinct places, either you are a greedy little merchant or a righteous holy man; not to over generalize his story of course. He seems to borrow from the “wheel of fortune” philosophy that things are plain and simple; you are either good or bad. It seems as he continued on with the descriptions, the people he was describing would get less and less noble, starting with the great and noble Knight and ending with a set of thievish and immoral people, one of whom being the Miller. He describes the knight as almost enthralled with him, “he was a true, a perfect gentle-knight.”(20). On the other side of the spectrum he describes this brute of a miller, who is also a profound thief, “He was a master hand at stealing grain.”(32) It would seem as though he wants to not only have just people but also people of lower morale values on the pilgrimage to show the variety of people there are in life. He wants to show the good and the bad, and how they interact with each other, or that they can all at least share a similar goal, not looking towards the good or the bad but the center of the wheel, their pilgrimage.
Kacey Beckwith
1/21/09
EH 241 Major British Writers
Professor Adam Crowley
In Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer uses a lot of imagery throughout the prologue. He begins by describing surroundings, such as the trees and birds. Some of the wording that he uses paints the reader a really detailed picture, such as when he writes “the tender shoots and buds, and the young sun…” (Chaucer 1). I thought it was a little strange that he began this way since most everything else he writes is about his journey. Chaucer then launches into the idea of the pilgrimage. He talks about the pilgrimage which he is going on, and of the twenty-eight others who are going along with him. He takes this opportunity to describe to the reader all of who are going on the journey and what he knows of them.
When Chaucer describes the people who are accompanying him on the pilgrimage, he talks a lot about their appearances and their wealth. This ties in nicely with the topic that we discussed during class on Monday, about being a judgmental person and placing judgment onto others. Based on the prologue, Chaucer seems to be placing a lot of judgment onto the people around him. Some of the things he says about the others makes him come across as if he feels that they are beneath him, rather than simply other people, much like himself. One quote that stuck out to me was when he was talking about a woman, he described her as “she had gap-teeth” (Chaucer 15). Of all the things that Chaucer could perhaps notice about this woman, he chose to relay the fact that she had “gap-teeth”. This, among some other particularly cruel descriptions, makes Chaucer seem to be a very judgmental human being.
It seemed to me, as I was reading, that the idea of the “Wheel of Fortune” was almost lost on Chaucer. He seemed to base a lot of his opinions regarding others on appearance, wealth, and belongings, rather than things that truly measure a persons worth, such as personality. He seems to base a lot on the outer part of the wheel, which makes him caught up in everything around him and not what is truly important. Perhaps if he looked into the inner part of the circle, he could base his opinions more on what matters. This might make him a happier person and much less judgmental of others.
Kristen Porter
Jan 21st 2009
EH 241
Major British Writers
The prologue of the Canterbury Tales opens up with description of the return of spring. The narrator even gives the audience the time of year this is all taking place in, which provides the motif of why all these people are longing to go on a pilgrimage. The narrator also provides us with the brief description of how he is already prepared to make this pilgrimage; “In Southwark, at the Tabard, as I lay, ready to go on a pilgrimage and start” (pg. 3-The Canterbury Tales/prologue)
Once the narrator begins to change the scene after taking us through what the setting is, he meets twenty nine people that are after the same pilgrimage he is already prepared for at the tavern. Another thing I gathered from reading the prologue is it seems as if the narrator took time to meet all these people, and learn a great deal about them before judging them all right away as people. I think the narrator did this because as the stories go on throughout the Canterbury tales, I think after knowing the background information of these people, we can come to our own judgments about each character. I also believe the narrator describes the character these ways suggests that each one of these people are also being judged by their social positions. For instance when introducing the knight; clearly he is the most important of all people because he has many achievements in society, but the narrator holds him in a high social standard as well, because of all his accomplishments.
The interesting thing about this short prologue is how the narrator seems to switch roles throughout. At the beginning of the prologue there really is no persona, just a brief description of the time of year, and the weather. Then it starts as if the narrator finally gives himself an identity by using “I” and being in the first person. (pg. 3 The Canterbury Tales/Prolouge) After a few more lines the author includes himself with the others he meets and begins to use “us”. Putting himself in the audiences perspective that he is now part of the pilgrimage group. Possibly the narrator uses these two identities because he is showing that he is a mediator of the two groups. He wants to show us that he is going to see everything through his own eyes, but you also have to see his identity in this group that is making the pilgrimage.
I honestly believe after reading the prologue that all of first impressions, of each person that is on this pilgrimage will change roles at some point. They may seem as if they are these powerful people, with high social standing, but why would they be described so closely and intently at the beginning. I believe once, the class further examines the book the Canterbury Tales our opinions and judgments about everyone will change drastically. I also suspect that we are going to learn some things about the narrator on the way since he changes his identity within the prologue.
In the prologue to the Canterbury Tales, the author starts by writing about the spring time. Geoffrey Chaucer describes the return of thr Spring. He gives great details about the Spring time and its elements. Such as the leaves, blooming flowers, and chriping birds. The author talks about how people want to go on a pilgrimage. This pilgrimage means that people chose to go to Canterbury to visit the relics of Saint Thomas Becked in the Church. They give thanks for recieving help from the Martyr. The major symbol in the prologue of The Canterybury Tales is Spring. Springtime is a symbol of fresh, new beginnings. The coming of spring made people want to get outside and experience a change of their surroundings after being inside all winter. A Pilgrimage was the perfect thing for them to do because it includes travel, vacation, and spititual renewal. Another symbol in the prologue is religion because they go to the Canterbury Cathedral to give thanks for what the martyr has given to them. I think that the pilgrimage is the major theme in the prologue of the Canterbury Tales because to me, it is the main idea. As winter leaves and spring comes, it’s a way for them to start their year off in the year off with their “religous renewal” through their pilgrimage.
Leah Gomes
EH 241
21 January 2009
Canterbury Tales : General Prologue
Since we talked about being judgmental in class on Monday, I assumed that it might come up in our reading for today. In the first part of the prologue, Chaucer says, “It seems to me accordant with reason / to inform you of the state of every one / of all these, as it appeared to me.” I think that he is telling us that how he is about to describe these people may not be who they really are, but subject to his perceptions and opinions. While reading this, it seemed that Chaucer was describing each of these people as if they were perfect, even though they obviously are failing in their positions. But, this is based on my opinions on what these people should be doing in their chosen career. Knight is a crusader; not merely exercising “truth, honour, freedom and all courtesy,” but fully believing in them. Out of all the characters that the narrator describes, the Knight seems to fit his job the most ideally, sticking to the preconceived notions. When the narrator switches over to the Knight’s son, the Squire, it seems very realistic. The Squire is in training to become like his father, but he is of a different generation and has different ideas of his role. As readers we have certain notions of what people of the church should be like. The Prioress, the Monk, and the Friar, all seem to be more worldly than what we would expect. The Prioress is “known as Madam Eglantine,” which is more the name of a lady of the court rather than a sister of the church. The narrator focuses on her physical attributes. This is usually avoided, and a nun would try to have people focus on her behavior rather than her looks. The Monk is described by his possession, another thing that people of the church shy away from. The Friar seemed to be in the position to acquire what he could, rather than to give what he could. The narrator says, “He was an easy man to give penance / when knowing he should gain a good pittance.” It almost seems that he can be bribed, which should not be a characteristic of a friar. While reading about the Physician, it reminded me of the TV show: “House”. The Physician seems only concerned with curing the sickness and in the process, forgetting about the patient. He is so well educated, and so good at what he does, that he forgets that he is dealing with a person. Chaucer says, “It’s no libel / to say he read but little in the Bible.” I took this to mean that he was into the science and didn’t care much for the soul.
Meghann Peterson
January 25, 2009
Professor Crowley
Response to Prologue
In the Prologue of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer gives a brief introduction to the character we will see in the novel. Since the concept of personnel judgment was discussed in class we are reminded that the description of each character is based on the judgments of the narrator. Even so we are only given information on these characters through the narrator’s eyes so we must trust his judgment to a certain extent. The way in which the narrator describes each character is done is a kind of humorous manner. Also he does not come out and say that certain people are devious but he does signal it in his descriptions. Each person is first identified by their lot in life: the Cleric, the Parson, and the Friar. This identification as the friar brings to mind certain assumed characteristics but then in the description that follows we find that most of the people are not what they seem. Take the Friar; the narrator tells us, “Sweetly he heard his penitents at shrift/ With a pleasant absolution, for a gift. / He was an easy man in penance-giving/ Where he could hope to make a decent living.” We expect to hear about a good a pious man given that he is a friar. But what we get is a man who uses his religious power of forgiveness to get money. He is described as basically living as a beggar but we are specifically told that he does not deal with that kind of “scum.”
This is not to say that all in the crew are not what they seem. The account of the Knight and his son the squire is quite flattering. The knight seems to be the only person with which the narrator is impressed. The narrator tells us that the knight “from the day on which he first began/ To ride abroad had followed chivalry, / Truth, honour, generousness and courtesy.” The knight is the only one who lives up to what we expect him to be. His son the squire is also described as being “courteous…, lowly and serviceable” but he is mostly recounted in terms of his appearance and his obsession with love.
There are some themes that emerge in the account of all the travelers. There seems to be mention of their religious stance, social standing, wealth, and abilities. We know that the most pious of the group would presumably be the Monk, the Friar, and the Nun, but then we find out the Monk is a hunter, the Friar is corrupt and the Nun seems a little promiscuous. The lowest, socially in the group turn out to be the most virtuous. We learn in the report of the plowman and his brother that they are the two that deserve the assumption of honor. The plowman “[loves] God best with all his heart and mind/ And then his neighbor as himself.” It seems that the narrator is trying to warn us in the beginning that all is not what it seems.
Lisa Randall
EH 241
Prologue to ‘The Canterbury Tales’
In the Prologue, the narrator tells of the beginning of a pilgrimage to Canterbury that starts in an inn. The narrator goes on to describe the different type of people that are to go on the journey. He takes special note of their appearance (the clothes the wear), their physical looks (if they have a beard or how their hair is arranged), their place in Christianity, what their job in society is (and if they are good at it), and how they ride a horse (apparently there were different ways to ride a horse in that time). I believe that a major theme in the Prologue is religion because they are going on a pilgrimage to pay their respects to a martyr in Canterbury. This theme indicates that the people in the story and possibly the narrator are going to change in some way spiritually throughout their journey, since a pilgrimage can be seen as a journey of the spirit. Another theme in the Prologue is the time of the year, spring. This can serve as a time placer for the story, to get an idea of the surroundings, as well as the idea that the travelers want to make a fresh start and ‘begin anew’ their way of life and religion.
Mama Sora
EH 241
Adam Crowley
January 20, 2009
Summary of The Canterbury Tales: Prologue
The Prologue in the Canterbury Tales is Chaucer’s way of bringing relevance to a series of tales depicting the individual journey of each character within a large group on a spiritual voyage. The prologue opens to the narrator describing a beautiful spring day, observing the correlation between the season and the start of pilgrimages. The narrator meets 29 individuals, all traveling together, despite the differences in wealth and social standing; he decides to embark on this excursion with the group.
This is not before in length describing each individual; both their physical attributes as well as their place within a societal hierarchy. He begins by describing those he views as the crème de la crème (highest of social standing). The Knight is the first acquaintance that the narrator speaks of. The Knight is describes as gentle, wise, and modest (in demeanor and appearance). “And in his bearing modes as a maid. He never yet a boorish thing had said…He was a true, a perfect gentle-knight. Speaking of his equipment he possessed…he was not gaily dressed…He wore a fustian tunic stained and dark With smudges where his armour had left mark;” (Chaucer 4).The narrator also speaks much of the many victories of war this Knight possesses, yet he makes sure we do not view this man as only a fighter, but wise and gentle.
We then meet the Knight’s entourage which include his son; The Squire; and a Yeoman (servant). The narrator calls the Squire, “a fine young Squire, A lover and cadet, a lad of fire…he was some twenty years of age…In stature he was of moderate length…With locks as curly as if they had been pressed…Singing he was or fluting all day” (Chaucer 5) The narrator describes the Squires looks, including his attire; his stature; and this is the only character he describes as artistic (liking song, dance, and poem). The narrator mainly describes the appearance of the Yeoman, he seems ornately dressed.
We then hear of the clergy members traveling with the party. First a nun, the Prioress named Madame Eglantyne, described as a tenderhearted sole with compassion for everyone of God’s creatures. Her grace and etiquette befitting a queen. With the clergy traveled another nun described only as the Prioress’ secretary. Then three Priests, monks described as “the finest sort Who rode the country, hunting was his sport” (Chaucer 7). Although he ranks the monk as the finest, he then contradicts himself by saying the monk does not follow the churchly ways. He hunts, this is behavior a servant of God should not partake in.
Skipping to the last man named, showing the difference in the societal hierarchy within the text, we have the “gentle Pardoner…had hair as yellow as wax. Hanging down smoothly like a hank of flax. In driblets fell his locks behind his head…he wore no hood upon his head, for fun…he had bulging eye balls…there was no pardoner of equal grace” (Chaucer 21). The narrator describes very vividly a man who appears to be the most unkempt of the group, but of pleasant mind and spirit. He tells how the pardoner was the beloved story teller and singer, easily winning silver from the crowd. Although he was born and bound to the title of plebian, he was accepted in this eclectic group.
In the prologue we get an understanding of how important social class was during the time these tales were written; as well as a taste for the judgment placed upon appearances (both of which are still common practice today). This sets the tone and serves as a bridge to the individual tales that follow. This prologue creates a relevance between characters who are so vastly different from one another, tying their tales together.
Gavin Kennedy
Eh 241 Adam Crowley
Jan 28, 2009 Kennedy
There have been a view items of interest that have, and will continue to, shape the way I look at the world in general, as well as literature on the whole. Dante touched on a few things, but I wish I had more contact with him, I plan on reading more of the Inferno, and if myself willing, other pieces if there is any more of him to be found. Christopher Columbus put things into perspective for me about time periods and what differences we all have, over just a short, in relation to total world history, time. Chaucer was most likely the main writer that has influenced me, mainly because the amount of exposure to him I have had verse the others.
Dante was a very, very interesting read, it may be because I have always been interested in the different ways the afterlife has been displayed. I have always had a fascination, much like the rest of the human world, with what truly happens after this life is over. He explained it as a kind of world based on this one, as far as we got in the first canto, where other people that have died are still there, Virgil case in point. I also heavily relate to him because of the sense of hopeless lose, I was in much the same position, in the idea of being lost no being in the afterlife, only a few years ago. I connected with his portrayal of the path being beset on all sides with dark things and obstacles that must be overcome to reach some semblance of sanity and hope. His style was very nice, given it was a translation I have no real idea what his exact style was, but it was nice enough for what I was exposed to. Given exposure to this writer has put a sense of faith in older texts that I had not previously possessed, I will undoubtedly read more writers from this period, and more of his writings as well.
Christopher Columbus’s journal was very illuminating a few respects. It gave me more of a personal view into his life’s ambitions and a glimpse into his character. It is always something special to read a journal or personal account of a historical figure that is studied in such depth as he was, it just shows a more human view versus just what other people have uncovered. It gave me context to how turbulent that time was, how radical ideas were, even though they seem to us ludicrous the things they believed no less feverishly that the world was flat as we believe the world is round. They were just using what information they had at the time, his view of the world was very radical and very creative, how he came to think of the world as pear-like, I will never know but it doesn’t make it less interesting. Even though he had a heavy hand in the destruction of an entire culture, it was still an exciting look into what times were and put the century into a more tangible context were I can base my own personal views from.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Knights Tale” was a very out of place story for me, it didn’t necessarily follow the pattern a typical story for me. Usually if someone does and unspeakable act they are ultimately punished, not give hand outs, and that is what it seemed to me happened. Maybe he was reformed, maybe rape wasn’t that large of an issue in his time to reward a rapist with a fairy tale ending. But it is things like this that catch me off guard that make reading more enjoyable. You start the story out thinking it is going to end one way, that he wont find what woman want and that he will be beheaded, or that the old woman is going to make an absurd, and drastically depressing, request of him. It seems like she does but it turns out to be a very rewarding marriage for the Knight, I have to give it to him, I didn’t see that coming. It was refreshing to say the least to be actually surprised in literature, this story will teach me not to think that every story has a typical ending.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath” was very much ahead of it’s time, a few centuries to be a little more exact. Womans rights and outspoken women, as far as I know, were very rare in his time, and were actually killed and ridiculed for being outspoken. Then he writes a story that is headed by a very outspoken lady that seemingly leads the relationships using not so noble, but we honed, skills. He used his comical voice to express radical ideas such as this, using whimsical characters to express hard-hitting ideas such as humanism and almost anti-organized religion, which would very easily get him killed or exiled if not done in a careful way. This story was, as well as The Knights Tale, put into context that there were radical thinkers in his time, that not everyone went along with the norms of society, and that people were willing to be outspoken it manners they saw fit. All of those ideals are ones that I hold dear to myself and I am glad that they stand the test of time.
whoops posted in the wrong aread