-Chaucer was famous in his own time
-In “old school” literature teachings, it was
considered a sign of intelligence to memorize works of literature.
-Chaucer did not memorize his poetry
-He also didn't “write” it – he had a scribe named Adam
-The images of Chaucer have him reading his texts to an audience. It's for an
aristocratic audience
-He is exceedingly well read.
-He translates texts from Latin, French, Italian
-Chaucer considers himself a “makir.”
A wordsmith
-Nancy Partner calls Chaucer a “text worker.”
-The Canterbury Tales is unfinished, and is called a Framed Tale
-The Pilgrim Chaucer is on a pilgrimage to the church at Canterbury
-This is the church where Saint Thomas Beckett was killed
-Canterbury was really low on the rungs of the list of Pilgrimage List
-Jerusalem is the center of the world, and the #1 hit. But it's hard to get to,
and requires a lot of leisure time.
-Second location is Rome
-Canterbury isn't hard to get to – only a few days – and local pilgrimage is
much easier for the devout to get to
-In Literature, all pilgrimages are the same... kinda.
Everything else is an image of
-They're going to a cosmic space
-They're going to pray, get time off of work, they're fun, people are trying to
hook up with other people
-Chaucer is like an insurance salesman – he wants to meet everyone and hear
their stories. He's networking.
-They stop at a Tavern. The man who owns the Tavern is Harry Baily.
· “Let us play a game. Everyone is to tell two stories. One on the way to Chaucer, and one on the way back. The person with the best story gets dinner bought for them by the others.” This is a good business move.
· -The manuscript is incomplete. Not all pilgrims even get one story. Only Chaucer gets two, and that's because the first one sucked so much that they made him change stories.
-Chaucer's stories are based off of Boccaccio's Decameron. However, he doesn't mention that he borrows from
Boccaccio even though he borrows from other people
and says so.
-It is difficult to figure out if he ever intended that he was really “going
to” finish the
-Scholars have been arguing about the order for quite awhile, but all agree
that the General Prologue comes first.
-The General Prologue opens with an invocation to spring.
-going on a Pilgrimage in Spring deals with rebirth.
-The narrator may not be the Character of Chaucer
-The Character Chaucer is acting like a reporter
-He looks at characters with an extraordinary naiveté.
-he provides disperate detais
-he's a very middle-class guy with middle-class values
-The first character he tells us of is the Knight
-Interesting fact about the Knight – he's just returned from the Crusade. He's
not wealthy
-Land is becoming less and less important, and talents are becoming more
important
-he's a mercenary
-it's possible that he's a 2-5th son
-This is a man of society, taking a low-end pilgrimage to Canterbury
-This character reminds the audience that title no longer means wealth
-Prioresse
-There are a lot of backhanded compliments
-She's a bumpkin who's hypermannered.
-She speaks French, but not the right French
-She has a brooch saying “Love conquers all” Is it Caritas or Cupiditas? (a la Agape or Eros)
-She's too pretty to be a nun
-feeds her dogs meat and milk and bread
- E. Talbet Donaldson – no matter what is being
said, Jeffrey Chaucer has it both ways
-Tale > Character > Chaucer (character) > Chaucer (historical) >
Scribe > Chaucer (historical) > Marty > You
(we're very far away from the tale) The notion of origin becomes more
problematic
-pg 335 Clerk
-He'd rather be absorbed in books. His friends are paying for his education
-He prays for their souls, and his friends are buying their way to Heaven
-20 books would have cost a fortune .
-The man is starving himself, but he's also starving his horse
-is this a positive portrayal of this Clerk? No, it's not.
-if you're so smart, why are you not rich?
-he's studying much, but not sharing it
-They all draw straws to see who goes first. The Knight is set to go first,
which says that all is right with the universe
-The Monk is supposed to speak second, but the Miller interrupts. He's drunk.
He also curses.
-cursing is not the same in the middle ages. If you curse on God or a saint,
that you make them feel the pain again. This is why cursing is so bad.
-millers were involved with the peasant revolt
-Chaucer is interested in what happens when the world turns upside down
-The Miller's Tale is a parody of the Knight's Tale
The Knight's Tale
-About Palamon and Arcite.
They're very good friends, and love each other in a manly way. (Homosocial, brotherly love, etc.)
-They get into a war where they're on the other side of a war, lead by the
Greek leader Theseus. Their side loses, and taken
prisoner and put into a tower. They're being well taken care of, but they're
still being held hostage.
-One day, Palamon sees a woman named Emily outside a
window. Both men fall in love with her at sight, and starts fighting with each
other.
-Theseus sets up a tournament for them to fight.
-Arcite prays to Mars for victory. Palamon prays to Venus for love. Emily prays to Diana
because she doesn't want to get married.
-Arcite wins but dies. Palamon
gets Emily and marries her. Diana obviously doesn't give a shit about Emily.
-Theseus is married to Hyppolita.
Emily is Hyppolita's sister. Theseus
married Hyppolita after he defeated her in battle.
The Miller's Tale
-He's drunk and he knows it
-He's going to tell a story about a Carpenter. The Carpenter in the pilgrimage
gets offended. Anyone can be in this situation
- “It's not me, it's the booze.” The story is very dirty – the Miller
- “It's not me, I'm just a reporter.” - If you read it, it's your own damn
fault. – Chaucer
- Booze > Miller > Chaucer >
-Rock n' Roll has to piss your parents off
-Chaucer - “don't take this too seriously”
-There's a man who rent rooms to students going to
-Inversion – the student who's living in the Carpenter's house. It's like
Prince Harry renting a room from Marty if Harry is going to U of M.
-The clerk (Nicholas) in the story is the antithesis of the clerk on the pilgrimage.
-His friends pay for his school. And he sits around singing, makin' love, and is an astrologist.
-John the Carpenter is an old man. He married this young girl. (18 years
old)
-Pretty much, She's Your Fantasy
-Allison is dressed provocatively, but also elegantly
-her husband allows her to dress that way, because she displays his prosperity
-She's good for a yeoman to wed, or a noble to shtupp
-Nicholas has status, but not money
-While John is away on a business the trip, Nicholas “grabbed her where he
shouldn't have.”
-Jun ne se quah (or
something like that – I don’t know how to spell French phrases)
-His seduction technique is a bit... blunt
-There is something very animalistic about her
-How do women get power in sexual relationships? They say “no.” Her power comes
from being able to regulate his sexual output.
-1. He's of a higher class 2. she's a horny teenager
3. he's hot stuff
-rank has its privileges
-There's almost an expectation that he'll try to have his way with a peasant
girl
-After she says no, they have a “lover's quarrel.” It lasts about 5 seconds
-Nicholas wants to shtupp Allison because he wants
one up on John. To reestablish the natural order
-If you can take his woman, you dominate him
-the submissive always has the most power
-There is a triangle relationship between John, Nicholas, and Absolon. Allison is in the middle of the triangle... maybe.
-Absolon is a parish clerk. He's also dressed like
a hooker. He's in bright colors instead of somber colors. He's a fop.
-He feels the need to stand out, both from the priestly class and the other parishioners.
-Who dresses like this? Rockstars. Also, the people who want to be rich.
(New Money)
-Absolon doesn't know what to do with a woman
-He has a very idealized version of women
-Absolon courts Allison by singing outside of her
window. It's very Courtly Love
-This is laughable because when he does so, she's in bed with her husband
-Absolon is very public with his courting, Nicholas
at least does his thing in private (is sort of discreet)
-Both of them are kinda desperate for Allison
-She likes it rough. She isn't the kind of woman that wants to be sung to
-Both of these men are really effeminate
-This whole tale is a Fabliau(x) – a fable, kinda,
but they ceased to be like that. Stories that grew in these
times of economic instability.
-Our equivalent is like the Marx brothers movies (they were written in the
1930s)
-Why does the Miller want to restore the natural order? Because Chaucer is
dealing with several levels of irony
-Absolon is a parody of the Courtly Lover.
-This is a huge parody because no one speaks words of Courtly Love to a peasant
woman. They want quank grabbing.(quote unquote)
-John doesn't mind Absolon singing because it means
that John has power because everyone wants his wife
-We should feel sorry for John, because he's of our class, he loves his wife,
he's given her lots of good stuff, he's taken care of her, took her out of her
much poorer situation.
-Why aren't we feeling sorry for John? Because he's Old.
-John has married above his means, because she's so beautiful. “She's pretty
and shiny.”
-He has to believe that he can keep up. He's rich.
-Allison and Nicholas tell John that the flood is coming
-Nicholas says that the flood is coming. They're to get in barrels so they can
survive.
-Nicholas “found out” because he studied the stars
-Astrology was considered heretical because we shouldn't be studying in the
“private” areas of God's knowledge. Possible sexual joke.
-John REALLY loves his wife. He loves his wife too much (uxoriousness).
-John is also really stupid. (Think of Elmer Fudd)
-Andreas Capellanus – gives advice to a man about
how to get love, and also how to get rid of it
(Andreas is his name, not Capellanus)
-He says that everyone can love, but peasants cannot come play.
-Scholars can't tell if it is to be taken seriously, or if it's a big, ironic
joke.
-When John is out waiting for the flood, Nicholas and Allison are going to go shtupp in his bed
-Absolon kisses Allison's butt. He doesn't want
carnal, he wants language. He wants the ideal.
-He then goes to a smithy and gets a poker. He intends to brand her, to mark
her. Maybe even cauterize her.
-Absolon goes back, and Nicholas farts in his face. Absolon then pokes Nicholas in the ass
-Nicholas calls for water, John thinks the flood is coming and jumps down, and
breaks his arm
-Now they're all damaged.
-Absolon is now spoiled goods because he kissed her
ass and then was farted on
-Nicholas got burned
-John – broken arm, cuckolded, people think he's crazy
-Allison comes out best in the end. She doesn't need men.
-While Allison is arguably not needed, she's also the only one left standing
-This story is only humorous if you can't identify with any of the
characters
-They have to be below you in every sense. You have to be able to laugh at
them. You need at least the fantasy of control
“The Wife of
-Allison is a common name for women of loose morals
-The Wife of Bath is named Allison “conveniently”
-She carries a crop
-Went through 5 husbands and is ready for the 6th
-Some people like to call her the Whore of Babylon
-Dancing here is metaphoric for sex. She knows “the old dance.”
-In Literature, she is a Duenna – the sexually experienced older woman of the
world. Who also gives lots and lots of advice, even when it's not asked for. (Most famous is Juliet's Nurse)
-She makes us nervous because she's put 5 husbands in the grave
-She is childless
-There is some debate among medievalists whether she killed Husband #4
-She claims to speak through experience
-She's gathered a lot of wealth through her husbands, especially the first
three
-She sets up the dichotomy of experience vs books
-Women work in the realm of experience, men work in the realm of text
-Despite this, she's quoting texts constantly. She's also almost always wrong
when she quotes them or interprets them
-She uses all of that to justify all that she does
-She uses sex to control many of her husbands (the lack of). She also uses
gossip as a weapon
-Her first 3 husbands are worried that they'll be cuckolded
-Men are nervous about what happens in the Girl's Bathroom. They are worried
about what they'll talk about.
-It's not the woman, it's the group of women
-She's a dangerous woman because she has experience, and she knows it
-By the time she gets to her 4-5 husbands, she's old and young men want to
marry her for her money. It's like why she married her first 3 husbands.
-Transformers -> Wife of Bath -> Whore of
Babylon
-gap tooth = hypersexual
-it is really problematic to see a sexualized woman?
-this is problematic because she is talking like a whore and this is marriage. It is corroding the sacrament.
-love at this time isn’t the same as now
-does she not know love because no one has spoken the words of love to
her? Because she can’t
read?
-“Women don’t want love, they want dominance”
-By husbands 4 and 5, she does hear the language, and her relationship with
them is different than 1-3
-“What do women want?”
-It is also suggested that the Wife of Bath is loosely based on Margery Kempe (had 14 kids, though the Wife of Bath is barren)
-“Women gain power through experience – men gain power through texts”
-men are nervous about women communes
-Husband #4 is young
-The Pardoner and The Summoner are religious
theologian figures, and arguably a homosexual couple
-when she quotes scripture, she gets it wrong
1. Heard it orally – like the game of Telephone
– “women’s space”
2. is manipulating the
text for her purpose. However, this can
be argued that EVERYBODY does this.
-The confrontation about all of this comes with
husband #5
-she’s infertile
-Husband #5 beats his wife on the ears with The
Book of Wicked Wyve
-she goes partially deaf
as a result
-a lot of misogynistic text were written by priests- men who have no experience
with women
-she burns his book, and establishes control
-she’d be a very spooky choice for a wife
-she’s also an attractive choice because of her money
-her story is not as interesting as her prologue
Weddynge of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnall
-the only way that Gawain can save King Arthur
is by finding out what women want (Bad Knight tells him of this mission)
-finds an old hag, and she says she’ll tell the secret if he agrees to marry
her
-She gives a choice – “I’ll be beautiful for you in public OR in private”
-Gentilesse – being gentle
-Women want the antithesis of rape
-even back then, they recognized that rape isn’t about sex, it’s about power
-the council of women work to take power back
-In Chaucer’s work, the hag is not ugly, she is
old
-A member of the middle class can teach gentility to a member of the noble
class
-makes the same beauty offer as in The Weddynge
-“I can’t decide, you make the choice. Take back the power.”
-When he says that, she becomes beautiful all the time
-ugly/faithful vs.
beautiful/unfaithful
-she chooses
beautiful/faithful
-Reading of Wife of Bath’s take – an old woman’s fantasy but if you give it
that reading, it undercuts feminist readings of it
“The Pardoner's Tale”
-Chaucer couldn't have written this 100 years ago.
-The Church has become disempowered by its astonishing corruption and greed
-Partially a result from the Bubonic Plague
-A piece of Plague Literature
-Martin Luther is the Heresy that the Church couldn't deal with, because by
then they became too weak
-We see here the unraveling of the Catholic Church in European Culture
-Because of this, they are at the center of many conspiracy theories
-The pardoner is a eunuch
-The pardoner is an antithesis of what a priest does – he doesn't spread
anything. Not his faith (his metaphysical “seed”).
-Indulgences were coming under fire around this time.
-The pardoner is a wealthy man, but he's utterly unappealing in every sense
-Think of the Austin Powers tricks – the pardoner keeps his money right in
front of his crotch
-The money replaces his masculinity
-The pardoner sells pardons and relics
-The degregading of relics – he's selling pig bones
as saint's bones for relics|
-The pardoner is the biblical Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
-He is Pure Evil
-Can a corrupt churchman save souls?
-Chaucer translated Boethius' – Consolation of
Philosophy (Neo-Platonist)
-Boethius is a very wealthy man in
-He has a vision of Lady Philosophy
-Everything is for the Higher Good
-Those who have the Least have the most opportunity to see beyond the Physical
world
-Plato's Cave (or as Marty dubbed it, The Porno Cave)
-Everything we believe is just shadow
-Some people escape the chairs they are in, and see the Real. But we don't
believe these people because we think they are crazy
-The real is in the next world
-The Pardoner: “I'm willing to take the wealth off your hands.”
-He is always lying. He can't seem to tell the truth
-He takes their money, and gives them shit
-He's particularly good at stealing from the poor
-He's selling a different shadow on the wall, and people believe him. In that
respect, he's leading them astray
The Tale itself:
-These three guys have the Seven Deadly Sins
-One of their friends died, and these revelers are cursing in the name of God
-They intend to kill Death
-(They have to be pretty drunk to come up with the idea and think it's feasible)
-This is bad because you're committing the sin that Satan did – Pride. Giving
Eternal Life is God's job
-They don't encounter death – they encounter an Old Man who can't die. Not only
is he Immortal, but he keeps on aging.
-The Myth of the Wandering Jew
-Is present at the time of the Crucifixion
-The Jew comes out of his shop and says “hurry up a little bit” to Jesus
walking to Calvary
-Jesus says: “my death will come soon enough, but you will live forever.”
-He can't stay in any place more than 14 days
-He has to continue doing good deeds for his atonement
-Seeking an atonement that he might never get
-The three men find an old man, who is a Wandering Jew figure, and they treat
him badly
-He tells them where to find death – by a tree where there is treasure
-The three conspire to kill the other ones, and in the end they all die by
their plotting
-This tale is a sermon about greed. And this is a good sermon in construction
-He gives this great sermon, then tells people to buy his stuff even after he
said it's useless
-Maybe it's part of his shtick – can see if he can dupe them even after all
that. He's that good
-It's like the magicians who show tricks, then do them anyways and still make
it look cool. It's all in the execution
Julian of
-was an anchoress
-lived in almost complete
isolation and prayer
-it would be
broken by confession
-broken by meals
-broken by
visitors
-Julian, like many other anchoresses, has visions
-she calls them “showings”
-how does the human mind respond to solitary confinement?
-people want to become a channel to these visions
-Julian’s rejections of the world are not as severe as others
-her relationship with God became pronounced when she got really sick
-she desires death. This is not the same
as being suicidal
-you can’t pull the plug yourselves. No
suicide
-suffering brings you closer to God
-there is an element of sadomasochistic delight in
reading about women mortifying themselves (for God, but some guys ignore that
part)
-the most popular way was the denial of food
-they only at the Eucharist
and water. You couldn’t have the Eucharist
all the time either. They were not like
a box of wheat thins you could munch on while praying -Carolyn Walker Brynum – Holy Feast/Holy Fast
-Rudolph Bell – Holy Anorexia
-the church has problems with these women – in part because they’ve become
celebrities
-anorexia is only marginally about body image – it’s about control
-for women back then, this was the only thing they control
-anorexics are generally white women of the middle/middle-upper class
-all of this helps give them control over others
-there is no official documentation about how these
women started to look bad physically
-the church is really ambivalent about these women
-Anjela of Foligno
-talks about her riotous youth
– she had been a very bad girl
-takes on the habit, and
decides to reject her body
-had erotic dreams about
demons “tormenting” her in S&M positions
-set fire to her privates
-drinks the water used to
clean the feet of lepers. She can’t keep
it down
-where do we draw the line between faith and sheer nuttiness lie?
-starving releases endorphins, and we like endorphins
-this pleasure is both hallucinatory and erotic
-they are people who have holy
visions
-Julian desires more pain because of Imitatio Christi
-he suffered for us, we should
suffer for him
-Jesus has to suffer on some
level that we can’t comprehend
-She has a “showing” of Mary with Child
-extraordinary maternal
longing for that child
-Julian has no idea what it means to be a mother
-you’re not about to die for a stranger, but you would for your own child
-her most famous vision is of Maternal Jesus Christ
-the idea that Jesus is hermaphroditic
-he is supposedly Father, Son and Mother.
That Jesus is beyond genders. He
has two, not zero. Intersexed.
-it is not enough to have Mary, but we need Jesus as well as a Mother
-Julian didn’t think that Jesus was a
hermaphrodite. It was highly symbolic.
-Jesus crosses every bit of limial space in what he
did on Earth.
-the visions were often written out by clerks so it is entirely possible
that they got censored. Julian wrote
hers out herself, though.
-The idea of the Leap of Faith – Abraham and Isaac
-But what does the voice of God look like to a jury if you end up killing your
child? What do people say when they say God told them to do it?
Margery Kempe
-Scholars cut Julian a lot of slack but they won't cut Margery any.
-For one, Margery was a celebrity and not living in a convent
-She was known for her extraordinary emotional responses in church.
Demonstrative
-had 14 children
-She receives a lot of criticism because she doesn't have that “official”
authority
-She's not a virgin anymore – Julian acts as more of a poster child for faith
-Margery is a redeemed sinner
-It was believed that in the middle ages that if a woman was raped but became
pregnant, that it wasn't really rape because she then enjoyed it. So it was
harder to press charges then
-One of the greatest ambivalences of the Christian faith is that the church
desires an endless evangelical reach, which would require their followers to
have kids. On the other hand, the thing that really drives most Christian
virgins crazy is non-procreative sex.
-Margery was accused of being a Lollard
-Wycliffe, Lollardy -> Places its emphasis on good
deeds and pioty.
-Lollardy
-Good Deeds = Good Rewards
-Individuals can have spiritual salvation without the intercession of the
Church*
-Lay People could perform ritual acts as well as priests. That Lay People could
help other Lay People achieve spiritual salvation. You don't need the Church*
* = Reasons the Church charged Lollardy to be a heresy
-She's a smart and well-traveled woman, so she's been on many pilgrimages
-She visited Julian of Norwich
-Margery is tried for being a Lollard
-Big difference between Wife of Bath and Margery is that the WoB had a job in the Garment industry, and Margery doesn't
have a job
-Margery is charged for heresy
-Joan of Arc is tried for heresy. She isn't educated, but when she's challenged
to answer questions about the faith, she can answer them all like a theologian.
She is made a saint.
-Margery is taken to court, and she wins. This is amazing.
-Chastity and virginity are two different things. You can be chaste and not a
virgin. Margery takes back her chastity
-She's famous for being a celebrity
-She refers to herself as “the creature” in her narrative
-She's trying to suggest an act of deep and profound humility
-it can be argued, though, as being really egotistical
-She sounds like her church behavior is very Pharisee-like because she is over
the top
Second Shepherd’s Play
-Part of the
-always call the author here the Wakefield Master
-called cycles/mysteries
-they are called mystery plays because they “reveal” (the mystery of creation and revelation)
-were put on by Guilds (not entirely dissimilar to modern-day unions) in various towns.
-they fill in the space that the liturgy doesn’t
-these plays would have not been done in church
-it would take several days to put on
-Oberronigad (in
-only non-professional actors do it
-this is of a time before troops of professional actors
-Shakespeare jokes about cycles in Midsummer Nights Dream
-they had cool effects (fireworks, trapdoors, etc…)
(Globe theatre)
-groundlings were the people who stand by the stage
-this idea of talking and opening the fourth wall makes an interesting space
-there would always be some conversation between the play and the audience and the audience and the audience
-it moves back and forth – all characters live in the time that the play is happening and in the present
-the first Shepard complains about the cold
-this is a
complaint from the 15th century.
-the second shepherd complains about his wife
-battle of the sexes! Think about the Noah play
-how tough it is to be married
-the world is still in a state of chaos before the birth of Christ
-the universe is conspiring against people
Mircea Eliade – Myth of the Eternal Return
-traditional religions use religious in a very specific way
-it brings people back to the time when the event occurred
(best example – taking the Eucharist. Transubstantiation)
-Mac – a lower-level aristocrat, the wolf in sheep’s clothing, something satanic about him, steals a sheep, cast a spell on the shepherds
Mac has problems too: he’s poor, constantly arguing with his wife Jill. But they get along in some ways, because they have tons of kids
-somewhat profane instead of suggested of the Eucharist (they’re going to eat the sheep)
-Mac and Jill decide to pretend the sheep is a baby, put him in a crib
-they’re going to exist as a profane and an inversion of the holy family
-these plays are meant to explain what isn’t in the scriptures
-they find out it’s not a baby when he tries to kiss it
-they punish him by playing parachute (they will eventually let the sides of the tarp/blanket/sheet go)
-the angel shows up and sings, and then takes them to the nativity scene
-with the birth of Christ, there is unity, order, silence, etc….
-they give the Christ child a tennis ball. They see him as a prince
-tennis is an expensive game. They give him a princely gift. – only rich people, including princes, can play tennis