Self & Society: British Lit @Hood College

Middle English: For hadde God comanded maydenhede, Thanne hadde he dampned weddyng with the dede. And certes, if ther were no seed ysowe, Virginitee, thanne wherof sholde it growe? Modern Translation: For had God commanded maidenhood, Then had he damned marriage along with the act (of procreation). And certainly, if there were no seed sown, Then from what should virginity grow?

"For half so boldely can ther no man/ Swere and lyen as a womman can./ I sey nat this by wyves that ben wyse,/ But if it be whan they hem misavyse./ A wys wyf, if that she can hir good,/ Shal beren him on hond the cow is wood,/ And take witnesse of hir owene mayde/ Of hir assent." (227-234)

"Eek wel I woot he seyde, myn housbonde/ Shoulde lete fader and moder, and take to me;/ But of no nombre mencioun made he,/ Of bigamye or of octogamye./ Why sholde men thanne speke of it vileinye?" -Wife of Bath's Prologue, lines 30-34

"They wolde han writen of men more wikkednesse Than all the mark of Adam may redresse."  line 695-696 of The Wife of Bath's Prologue

What kind of a man is a frere? In the description about his character it states, " he hadde maad ful many a mariage Of young wommen, at his own cost" (212-213). And it suggests he gave them money   out of his own pocket. But why? Is it because they were in need or he was in need of something else? And it goes on to say, " for he hadde power of confessioun, As seyde himself, more than a curat"(218-219). This is basically stating he had more power than a priest concerning confession. Why is this man so influencing that people will confess to him before a priest or more likely than a priest? This is very concerning because people do things for certain reasons and it's not always good. It baffles me the influence and the description of character concerning men like this frere. He comes from a wealthy place but what did he do to get there. Is he really all that? All I'm saying is dont believe the hype. 

Upon this nombre diffinicioun. Men may devyne and glosen up and doun, But wel I woot express, withoute lye,  God bad us for to wexe and multiplye; That gentil text can I wel understonde. -The Wife of Bath's Prologue, lines 25-29 the Wife of Bath, as depicted on a vintage Cadbury's biscuits tin, circa 1911. photo credit Flickr user Lynda Gray 

Wife of bath They Wolde Han written of men more wikkedness. Than all the mark of Adam may redresse. 695-696

Pardoner I thought it interesting that this guy road with the Somonour considering he's the antithesis of his ("friend"?) an officer of the court who's job it was to bring justice to apparent bad people, with a face of "scalled browes blake, and piled beard" who the "children were aferd". This guy on the other hand was clean shaven and had nice hair and sang and carried things one might think to be holy like "Oure Lady's veyl" and "He seyde he hadde a gobet of the seyl That seynt Peter hadde". If that doesn't describe one who is the opposite of the Somonour, than the fact that "A povre person dwellinge upon the land, Upon a day he gat him more moneye Than that person gat in monthes tweye"! Wow, I want to hang with is guy--leave his friend beind please!

I found the description of the Summoner very interesting. Chaucer seems to do very well with showing the characteristics of characters introduced in the poem. Summoner is described as "[a guy with] black and scabby brows and [a] scanty beard, He had a face that all the children feared." This shows how scary this man looked and how people feared him because of the way he looked. This reminded me of the detail description of the Knights son and how he was very "vain." It's very ironic that he is described as this ugly, scary man but later in the text it says that "and knew hir counseil, and was al hir reed." This showed how he knew the secrets of the girls and provided counsel for them. The footnote defines a summoner as a officer who appeared before the court. He was portrayed as a helper and counselor to these girl, but was introduced as being someone who children feared and that wasn't the case.

I love the description of the Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath, is portrayed as a smart woman to me. She looks at life from the perspective of her own experiences, which may indicate that she is wise? She seems to live her life without caring about anyone's opinions.In the text it says "She was a worthy womnan al hir love:/Housbondes at chirche dore she hadde fyve"(459/460). I understand that she has been married five times and that perhaps she has learned a lot from all of her marriages. She seems like a tart, having been married a lot of times. At the same time she is worthy of marrying. Maybe the Wife of Bath is a noble woman. But why would this sort of person be traveling on this pilgrimage. I think Chaucer wants the characters to represent all different types of people. People may not like this character because the readers may feel like she is a arrogant and pompous woman seeking something that does not have anything to do with the pilgrimage.

The Prioress is described as trying to look very beautiful and distinguished, but it also seems like Chaucer, at the least, does not see her like this. He describes her as gap toothed and explains that her accent is not proper because she doesn't pronounce words correctly. She seems to think of herself as a catch, but I don't think anyone else on the pilgrimage is buying it based on Chaucer's description. He says her smile is "simple and coy" which leads me to believe she is acting shy and stupid to get attention. She is also carrying a small dog in her purse that she feeds regularly. This made me laugh because certain celebrities I can think of are associated with carrying small dogs in their purses, are also famous for being attractive. I don't think carrying your small dog automatically makes you attractive like the Prioress hopes. The most baffling detail of her appearance is her broach that reads "love conquers all" in the translation. As a nun,...