...Summary of CT The Canterbury Tales begins with the introduction of each of the pilgrims making their journey to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas a Becket. These pilgrims include a Knight, his son the Squire, the Knight's Yeoman, a Prioress, a Second Nun, a Monk, a Friar, a Merchant, a Clerk, a Man of Law, a Franklin, a Weaver, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Tapestry-Maker, a Haberdasher, a Cook, a Shipman, a Physician, a Parson, a Miller, a Manciple, a Reeve, a Summoner, a Pardoner, the Wife of Bath, and Chaucer himself. Congregating at the Tabard Inn, the pilgrims decide to tell stories to pass their time on the way to Canterbury. The Host of the Tabard Inn sets the rules for the tales. Each of the pilgrims will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury, and two stories on the return trip. The Host will decide whose tale is best for meaningfulness and for fun. They decide to draw lots to see who will tell the first tale, and the Knight receives the honor. The Knight's Tale is a tale about two knights, Arcite and Palamon, who are captured in battle and imprisoned in Athens under the order of King Theseus. While imprisoned in a tower, both see Emelye, the sister of Queen Hippolyta, and fall instantly in love with her. Both knights eventually leave prison separately: a friend of Arcite begs Theseus to release him, while Palamon later escapes. Arcite returns to the Athenian court disguised as a servant, and when Palamon escapes he suddenly finds Arcite. They fight over Emelye, but...
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...Marriage in "The Wife of Bath" Canterbury Tales In most modern marriages today, both men and women contribute to the same relationship roles such as being the provider, communicator, negotiator and so on. In the 14th century, most marriages were arranged and the woman had to obey her husband’s commands. During this time, Geoffrey Chaucer's wrote The Canterbury Tales. His stories demonstrate a variety of attitudes toward the perceptions of marriage, with some of these ideas being extremely conservative while others are wildly liberal. While several of these tales are rather comical, Chaucer gives us a representation of his attitudes toward marriage at that time in history. When addressing the question of who has correctly identified the proper roles in marriage, it is The Wife of Bath, a tale that satirically demonstrates the wife's overall desire for mastery within the marriage by her manipulation of the husband's weaknesses of both the flesh and the mind. It is these peculiarities of the Wife of Bath's tale that uniquely answer the question of who deserves the mastery in marriage. The Wife of Bath's prologue introduces the pilgrim who narrates this tale, Alison, a gap toothed, partially deaf seamstress and widower of five husbands, claiming to have great experience in the ways of the heart by remedying whatever might ail it. Alison, unlike the other tales in comparison, describes marriage as a miserable experience. The Wife of Bath's tale sets itself apart by presenting...
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...developed due to different pieces of literature and society in general. Men court women and rescue them from danger. Women learn the necessary skills to become a proper housewife and mother. For a man to successfully complete the requirements of his “part” in the relationship, he must provide for his spouse and assert his dominance as the head of the household. The woman must then complete the dance by deferring to her husband’s wishes and presenting the perfect picture of a cultured, subservient wife. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and Lanval by Marie de France challenge this notion. In both works, the women represent the dominant force in the relationship, reversing gender roles and overturning modern-day gender stereotypes. However, despite the fact that both pieces of literature oppose the standards of the time, the social commentary the two works provide greatly contrast. Although Lanval still incorporates many of the common romantic stereotypes, The Canterbury Tales does not address these stereotypes; not only does the work present a profoundly different picture, illustrating a highly negative image of what occurs when women contain the power in a relationship, but also it also gives this classic piece of literature less relevancy in the eyes of the modern-day reader. Traditionally, women held little to no power in a relationship; however, Lanval challenges this long-standing idea. Lanval, a knight “far from his inheritance,” gains his wealth through the success...
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...Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale" is a very humorous tale which accounts the story of a rich older carpenter who marries a much younger women only to be cuckolded and deemed crazy by his peers due to the trickery that he fell victim to at the hands of his wife’s younger lover. As told by Miller a drunkard this tale I believe utilizes multiple forms of humor to include crude and dark humor. And the lighter sides of the tale can be found in the slapstick way in which the carpenter’s wife’s male pursuers find themselves the victim of both physical and somewhat emotional pain as a result of their individual pursuits of a lawfully married woman. The crude aspects of Chaucer's tale can clearly be seen very shortly into the tale during Nicholas pursuit of the carpenter’s wife Alison and in the way in which Alison a seemingly very dainty woman shows her other pursuer Absalom that she is not interested. Nicholas’s initial pursuit of the carpenter’s wife in which Chaucer wrote Nicholas “caught her by the puss” (Chaucer 49-55) and the part in which Alison illustrates her lack of affection for Absalom by as Chaucer wrote tricking him into kissing her naked arse (Chaucer 49-55) are perfect examples of "The Miller's Tale" crude humor . I believe the humor in this crudeness lies in the way in which Chaucer describes the two brokers of these crude acts Nicholas and Alison prior to these acts. As Chaucer describes Nicholas a man learned in the arts, theorems, and various stratagems...
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...The Carpenter’s Wife During the telling of “The Miller's Tale” within The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer goes to great lengths to describe the character of Alison, the carpenter's wife. This is done not only so readers will have a detailed physical portrayal of her in their minds, but also so they can make inferences as to her character by the way she chooses to presents herself. The vivid depiction of Alison implies that she has very little value except as an object to be used for sexual gain by men. Furthermore, the lengthy, highly descriptive examination of her character when weighed against the almost nonexistent description of her husband creates such a contrast that the reader feels as if it is wrong for the two to be together. Chaucer begins by very briefly detailing the aspects of herself that she has no control over: she is 18 years old, fair, slender, and delicate. He follows this with a description of each article of clothing she wears. It quickly becomes clear to the reader that Alison is fully aware of how physically attractive she is, and she dresses to show off her finer attributes. She wears highly decorative clothing of embroidered silk rather than a more practical linen or wool. Even her purse, an object that only has to carry belongings, is decorated with silk tassels and “perled with latoun” (line 143). The apron she wears at first suggests some sense of practicality, as she does not want to dirty the clothes beneath it, but it is described as “whit...
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...such a way that they seem personally experienced. Imagination is always associated with the created power and is a poetic principle. It is a transforming power as it has the ability to change the usual and ordinary in an unusual and uncommon way. Poetry is a modified "image of man and nature”. The poet is able to impart "the glory and freshness of a dream" to ordinary things of nature. He can present in his poetry the light that never was on land and sea. He is able to do so to the creative faculty of imagination. It is thus an active power. Poet is not a passive reflector of images formed from nature. He is a man who not only feels strongly but also thinks long and deeply. He is able to treat absent things as if they are present. Here Canterbury tales present an example of this imaginative power to visualize objects which are not present before poet’s eyes in their concrete forms but he presents them before us that they seem real. 29 pilgrims of Chaucer are his imaginative characters, all their qualities, merits and demerits are his own creations and here his creation is supported by his imagination. Imagination enables the poet to look deep into the heart and soul of things. It is through the imaginative faculty that he arrives at...
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...Chaucer Essay “The Battle of the Miller and Knight” The Miller's Tale, the second tale introduced to us in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales brings us the saga of a carpenter named John, and his young wife Alison, whom he is very possessive of, afraid that if he let her out of her 'cage', she would fly away. Nicholas, an Oxford student whose talent involved "making love in secret", was a boarder at John and Alison's home, and had taken quite a liking to Alison. Also included in the tale, Absalon, a parish clerk serving the church and best described as a 'pretty boy', was in love with Alison too, and took daily nighttime strolls outside her window, singing love songs and strumming an old guitar. This tale of sexual adventures contains similarities and differences when compared to the first installment in Chaucer's book, The Knight's Tale. The Knight's Tale also included a pair of love-birds, though this time it was two men, two "knight brothers", who had fallen in love with the same girl. They ended up going against each other in a fight to win her hand. In the end, one man, Palamon, ended up winning Emily's hand in matrimony and they lived through a long, healthy marriage. After the Knight had finished his story, the Host pronounced the Monk to share the next tale with the group, assuming they would be going down the royal rankings of the people surrounding him. As the Knight had just told his tale, it would make sense to let the Monk go next. However, as the spotlight...
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...In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer shows the faults through the rights and wrongs of how to live of both men and women in the Wife of Bath, Miller’s, and Merchant’s Tale. Geoffrey Chaucer shows the liberal perspective of women in the “Wife of Bath's Tale.” The liberal perspective is shown in women in the beginning of the tale by the king granting the Queen the power and decision to whether the Knight would live or die. Unlike most women during the Middle Ages the Queen had a mind and a voice of her own. Even though the Queen intimidates people by the power she possess, Chaucer depicts her as what men don’t want. The Queen has the power over life or death “And suretee wol I han, er that thou pace, thy body for to yelden in this place,”...
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...THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE This page intentionally left blank THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SIXTH EDITION ± ± John Algeo ± ± ± ± ± Based on the original work of ± ± ± ± ± Thomas Pyles Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States The Origins and Development of the English Language: Sixth Edition John Algeo Publisher: Michael Rosenberg Development Editor: Joan Flaherty Assistant Editor: Megan Garvey Editorial Assistant: Rebekah Matthews Senior Media Editor: Cara Douglass-Graff Marketing Manager: Christina Shea Marketing Communications Manager: Beth Rodio Content Project Manager: Corinna Dibble Senior Art Director: Cate Rickard Barr Production Technology Analyst: Jamie MacLachlan Senior Print Buyer: Betsy Donaghey Rights Acquisitions Manager Text: Tim Sisler Production Service: Pre-Press PMG Rights Acquisitions Manager Image: Mandy Groszko Cover Designer: Susan Shapiro Cover Image: Kobal Collection Art Archive collection Dagli Orti Prayer with illuminated border, from c. 1480 Flemish manuscript Book of Hours of Philippe de Conrault, The Art Archive/ Bodleian Library Oxford © 2010, 2005 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including...
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...Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 i RTNA01 1 13/6/05, 5:28 PM READING THE NOVEL General Editor: Daniel R. Schwarz The aim of this series is to provide practical introductions to reading the novel in both the British and Irish, and the American traditions. Published Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890–1930 Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Daniel R. Schwarz Brian W. Shaffer Forthcoming Reading the Eighteenth-Century Novel Paula R. Backscheider Reading the Nineteenth-Century Novel Harry E. Shaw and Alison Case Reading the American Novel 1780–1865 Shirley Samuels Reading the American Novel 1865–1914 G. R. Thompson Reading the Twentieth-Century American Novel James Phelan ii RTNA01 2 13/6/05, 5:28 PM Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Brian W. Shaffer iii RTNA01 3 13/6/05, 5:28 PM © 2006 by Brian W. Shaffer BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Brian W. Shaffer to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and...
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...Beginning theory An introduction to literary and cultural theory Second edition Peter Barry © Peter Barry 1995, 2002 ISBN: 0719062683 Contents Acknowledgements - page x Preface to the second edition - xii Introduction - 1 About this book - 1 Approaching theory - 6 Slop and think: reviewing your study of literature to date - 8 My own 'stock-taking' - 9 1 Theory before 'theory' - liberal humanism - 11 The history of English studies - 11 Stop and think - 11 Ten tenets of liberal humanism - 16 Literary theorising from Aristotle to Leavis some key moments - 21 Liberal humanism in practice - 31 The transition to 'theory' - 32 Some recurrent ideas in critical theory - 34 Selected reading - 36 2 Structuralism - 39 Structuralist chickens and liberal humanist eggs Signs of the fathers - Saussure - 41 Stop and think - 45 The scope of structuralism - 46 What structuralist critics do - 49 Structuralist criticism: examples - 50 Stop and think - 53 Stop and think - 55 39 Stop and think - 57 Selected reading - 60 3 Post-structuralism and deconstruction - 61 Some theoretical differences between structuralism and post-structuralism - 61 Post-structuralism - life on a decentred planet - 65 Stop and think - 68 Structuralism and post-structuralism - some practical differences - 70 What post-structuralist critics do - 73 Deconstruction: an example - 73 Selected reading - 79 4 Postmodernism - 81 What is postmodernism? What was modernism? -...
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