Reynard The Fox Analysis and Comparison

Reynard the Fox tells a story of a medieval kingdom in which several barons have conflict with lord Reynard. They come to Nobel the lion king to suggest the execution of Reynard for his villainous acts. The fist part of the story summarizes various “crimes” Reynard has committed. One such example involves puss the hair being abused by Reynard.1 The final decision is made that in order to properly punish Reynard, he must be summoned to court in order to tell his side of the story and defend himself. Several barons are sent to deliver the summons to Reynard. The first two are tricked into harmful traps that send them back to court empty handed. Finally Grey the badger convinces Reynard to come in and use his sly to win over Nobel and wipe clean his offenses. During their trip Reynard confesses all of the wrongs that he had committed. Grey told him that as long as he is truly sorry and abandoned his old ways, that he would be forgiven and trusted once more. For the remainder of the trip to court, Grey notices Reynard slipping into his ways and either reminds him of the oath he made or questions his true intent. They eventually make it to court where Reynard attempts to flatter Nobel by saying that his is his most loyal servant and has always been there when Nobel needed him. Nobel was not pleased with this and challenged Reynard to discount his accusers for his freedom. Upon failing to prove his complete innocence, Loyal sentenced him to death. Right before he was to be hung, he plead with the king to be allowed to confess everything that he knew so that other innocent subjects would not come under harm. They took the noose off his neck and let him speak to everyone. As soon as Reynard got his chance to speak, he turned on not only his accusers, but his friends and family as well and told Loyal that there was an overthrow plot by his father and several of his accusers. He then told Loyal that he stole his fathers treasure so that the plot could not be carried out. His father was so upset by his missing treasure that he hung himself and the overthrow plot was destroyed. After some though and convincing words by the queen, Loyal grants Reynard a pardon in exchange for treasure. The rest of the Reynard story tells about several more tricks Reynard plays on everyone and his eventual restoration back to a free Barron. In reading the fable of Reynard, we see the political structure of the time and how it is both very different and yet very similar to that of the Greek and Roman era. There is a king who is perceived to hold all of the power and he has service of multiple barons that are underneath him. Right from the start, there are immediate differences in culture from the Greek and Roman style of government. In the Apology, Socrates fate is determined by the will of the assembly or the people. In Reynard, the king has absolute power and the will of the people is considered, but not final judgment. In Socrates culture topics such as the paranormal were being questioned and the idea of absolute power in the hands of one was not a popular one. A mixed government or one based on the will of the people was what made sense to the people of Socrates' time. In the medieval period focus shifted back to religion and the supernatural and power was seen to come from God. This meant that the king is God's tool and holds all of the power. “I know, sir, you can punish me, however guiltless I may be, For you have the pow'r and I am Weak;” 2 This is why Reynard pleas with the king and queen to hear his side of the story. If he is able to convince them that he is in the right and that his accusers are in the wrong, then he will be able to go free whether or not he actually committed a crime. This brings us to the flip side of the coin. Although both cultures and legal systems differ, there are some major similarities that show up. “This done, King Noble to his hall A Jury of wise men did call, To whom he signified his will, Against the Fox to find a Bill ; Which being found, it was decreed To summon him with all due speed, To come to Court”3 Although the king has absolute authority, the way the system is set up, Barons are able to show up to court when it is held and defend themselves against the accusations of others. Just how Socrates is summoned to the assembly to plead his case and attempt to prove his innocence, the barons are not immediately condemned by the king, but are given a chance to clear their name. This behavior could have come from the Greek and Roman culture. People may have still had the notion that people have the right to be judged by the court and their peers in a organized and civilized manor and this idea of court and peer judgment may have just been so ingrained into the ideas that people had about justice and bled into medieval culture as it was forming. The second major similarity between Greek/Roman culture and medieval culture is the idea of using rhetoric to gain advantage over others. “But Reynard in his turn no less, By cross-exam'ning witnesses, By artful speech, by nice exception, And many other sly conceptions, To the surprise of all the Court, Did on his enemies retort.”4 “It seems they have two courses of reasoning, the true and the false, and that, thanks to the false, the worst law-suits can be gained. If then you learn this science, which is false, I shall not have to pay an obolus of all the debts I have contracted on your account. ”5 Both societies are attempting to use rhetoric to benefit their own well being. Strepsiades is trying to erase the debt in his name and Reynard is trying to convince the king of his innocence. Both stories are looking at the style of government and how the use of cleaver wording and questions can allow clearly guilty people walk free from punishment. In both cases it works to a degree, and in Reynard we see that it not only gets him off the hook, but causes more problems for others that either did nothing wrong or were originally against Reynard in the first place. The idea of rhetoric is seen as powerful especially when used in a judicial system that is based on the guilty being given a chance to retort, but it is also not very well liked as it allows for cunning, sly individuals to escape punishment. The two societies are vastly different in the way that they distribute power and view the supernatural, but they are very closely aligned in how they judge a guilty party and view the concept of using rhetoric to gain advantage.