marriage in chaucers the canterbury tales
Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales demonstrate many different attitudes toward and perceptions of marriage. Some of these ideas are very traditional, such as that discussed in the Franklin's Tale, and others are more liberal such as the marriages portrayed in the Miller's and the Wife of Bath's Tales. While several of these tales are rather comical, they do indeed give us a representation of the attitudes toward marriage at that time in history. D.W. Robertson, Jr. calls marriage "the solution to the problem of love, the force which directs the will which is in turn the source of moral action" (Andrew, 88). Marriage in Chaucer's time meant a union between spirit and flesh and was thus part of the marriage between Christ and the Church (88). The Canterbury Tales show many abuses of this sacred bond, as will be discussed below. For example, the Miller's Tale is a story of adultery in which a lecherous clerk, a vain clerk and an old husband, whose outcome shows the consequences of their abuses of marriage, including Nicholas' interest in astrology and Absalon's refusal to accept offerings from the ladies, as well as the behaviors of both with regards to Alison. Still, Alison does what she wants, she takes Nicholas because she wants
To speke of wo that is in mariage..." Tales. Ed. M. Andrew. 1st ed. BuckinghamOpen Ye profre me to have so large a reyne, I woot as wel as ye, it is no drede,
Some common words found in the essay are:
Franklin's Tale, Wife Bath, Bath Prologue, Thomas Kent, Bath's Prologue, Miller's Tale, Canterbury Tales, Tale Alison's, Arveragus Dorigen, Arveragus' Dorigen's, canterbury tales, wife bath, franklin's tale, chaucer's canterbury tales, chaucer's canterbury, wife bath's, miller's tale, bath's prologue, marriage wife, sexual pleasure, hir wil,
Approximate Word count = 1426
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
