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Analysis of geoffrey chaucer
Analysis of geoffrey chaucer
The impact of Geoffrey Chaucer on literature
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Idealism in the Knight's Tale
Despite its glorified accounts of the chivalrous lives of gentlemen, the Knight¹s Tale proves to be more than a tragically romantic saga with a happy ending. For beneath this guise lies an exploration into the trifling world of the day¹s aristocratic class. Here, where physical substance is superseded by appearance, reality gives way to disillusioned canon and emotion is sacrificed for honor. Naïve idealism emerges as the dominant characteristic of the seemingly flawless knight and we, as the reader, are asked to discern the effect of this fanciful quality on the story as a whole.
To further investigate this argument one basic premise must be established as the groundwork: Theseus is the character with whom the knight most closely associates himself. Upholding "trouthe and honour" in their conquests of battle and noble rule, both epitomize the sacred rite of "chivalrie". In the Knight¹s Tale, nearly all the attributes with which he is praised in the Prologue are directly used in correlation with the duke. Thus, the language and actions of Theseus throughout the story can be superimposed onto the knight. These connections, along with the selective narration of the knight, allow the reader to observe the essence of their gallantry and the disparities that exist in this lifestyle. Undoubtedly Chaucer intended this to be a biting attack on the aristocracy, which to so many seemed impeccable.
Generalized and idyllic, the voice of the narrator offers the first clue into the puzzle of the knight. With well-chosen words, he tiptoes through the plot, careful never to pass any judgement on the characters and their actions. His high language all but excludes ...
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...ered a gypon Al bismotered with his habergeon, For he was late ycome from his viage,
Works Cited and Consulted
Elbow, Peter. "How Chaucer Transcends Oppositions in the Knight's Tale." Chaucer Review. Vol. 7. No. 2. Ed. Robert Frank. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University, 1972.
Finalyson, John. "The Knight's Tale: The Dialogue Of Romance, Epic, And Philosophy." Chaucer Review. Vol. 27. No. 2. Ed. Robert Frank. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University, 1992.
Frost, William. "An Interpretation of Chaucer's Knight's Tale." Chaucer Criticism. Vol. 1. Ed. Richard Schoeck. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1960.
Roney, Lois. Chaucer's Knight's Tale and Theories of Scholastic Psychology. Tampa: University of South Florida Press, 1990.
Spearing, A.C. The Knight's Tale. London: Cambridge University Press, 1966.
The Knight’s leadership is one quality that Chaucer values. The Knight is a wise, noble, modest, and brave man. Chaucer recognizes this when he writes, “To ride abroad had followed chivalry, / Truth, honor, generousness and courtesy. / He has done nobly in his sovereign’s war / And ridden into battle, no man more, / As well in Christian as in heathen places, / And ever honored for his noble graces” (ll. 45-50). Chaucer speaks highly of the Knight because he was well liked and the everyone looked up to him.
Through jest of a game the Green knight enlightens Gawain the short sights of chivalry. He comes to realize within himself that the system which bore him values appearance over truth. Ultimately he understands that chivalry provides a valuable set of ideals toward which to strive, but a person must retain consciousness of his or her own mortality and weakness in order to live deeply. While it is chivalrous notions, which kept him, alive throughout the test of the Green Knight, only through acute awareness of the physical world surrounding him was he able to develop himself and understand the Knights message. From the onset of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the author relies intensely upon descriptive language to create ambiance and tonality, but it is only later in the work, upon Sir Gawain’s development, that like Gawain, the reader is able to derive meaning from the descriptive physicality and understand the symbiotic relationship of nature and society.
The greatest part of these studies have involved the middle-English text Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Extensive work has been done on this alliterative four-part poem written by an anonymous contemporary of Chaucer: feminists have attacked his diatribe against women at the end, or analyzed the interaction between Gawain and the women of Bercilak’s court; those of the D. W. Robertson school seek the inevitable biblical allusions and allegory concealed within the medieval text; Formalists and philologists find endless enjoyment in discovering the exact meaning of certain ambiguous and archaic words within the story. Another approach that yields interesting, if somewhat dated, results, is a Psychological or Archetypal analysis of the poem. By casting the Green Knight in the role of the Jungian Shadow, Sir Gawain’s adventure to the Green Chapel becomes a journey of self-discovery and a quest - a not entirely successful one - for personal individuation.
Toswell, M.J. "Chaucer's Pardoner, Chaucer's World, Chaucer's Style: Three Approaches to Medieval Literature." College Literature 28.3 (2001): 155. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Feb. 2011.
Boardman, Phillip C. "Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400)." Enduring Legacies: Ancient and Medieval Cultures. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson Custom Pub., 2000. 430-54. Print.
The Great Depression was a period in America’s history that scarred the economic welfare of it citizens, however when it was over the many lessons were learned and the American people became stronger than before. Leaders and politicians kept a positive attitude and expected that once the country bounced back from the lost, that it would be an uphill battle to sustain the economy. President Herbert Hubert stayed optimistic but he could not dodge being blamed for the economic downfall by the American people and as a result was not re-elected. Many believed that The Great Depression was just a recession that could have been remedied, instead leading monetary authorities made poor decisions that caused the recession to worsen.
From The Riverside Chaucer, Third Edition. Ed. Larry D. Benson, Ph.D. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. Chaucer, Geoffrey. A. The Canterbury Tales.
Ettorre, B. (1996). Religion in the workplace: Implications for managers. Management Review. 85. (12). 15. 4. Retrieved from http://www.amanet.org/
Patterson, Lee. "The living witnesses of our redemption: Martyrdom and imitation in Chaucer's Prioress's Tale.” Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. Durham; Fall 2001. 507-560
Faith in the workplace offers various degrees of complexity. The rights of individuals coupled with the requirements of organizations presents a daunting task. Hence, employers must utilize all the resources at their disposal such as the EEOC in order to fairly and adequately align business objectives with accommodating employee religious practices. Moreover, in order to manage conflict, resentment, and misunderstandings the organizational culture must transform into an environment of inclusiveness, understanding, and continuous communication.
...ad the Knight tell this long, drawn out, overly chivalric tale as a contrast to the Knight's personality. The Knight is an subtly un-chivalrous person who tells a story so full of chivalry that it basically parodies itself. I think that the Knight is making up for his own un-chivalrous behavior by telling a very chivalrous story, as if to show the other pilgrims that he knew how to be honorable.
An interesting aspect of the famous literary work, "The Canterbury Tales," is the contrast of realistic and exaggerated qualities that Chaucer entitles to each of his characters. When viewed more closely, one can determine whether each of the characters is convincing or questionable based on their personalities. This essay will analyze the characteristics and personalities of the Knight, Squire, Monk, Plowman, Miller, and Parson of Chaucer's tale.
...ghthood within their story. Both poets remind the readers of the disparity between the ideals of chivalries presented in romances, and the reality of lived knighthood, highlighting how problematic the understanding of chivalry and Christianity (knighthood) could be for medieval audiences. Though chivalry shines as a brilliant light of the high civilization in the fourteenth century, both tales suggests that chivalry is at best a limited system, which achieves its brilliant at the cost of a distortion of natural life. It was part of the social and ethical system but did not take into account the entire range of human needs, mainly the fact of human morality and sense of human frailty. The context in which knights are depicted and celebrated in the medieval romance does not support a smooth connection between the harsh realities of a century of internecine strife.
Mitchell, J. Allan. (2005). Chaucer's Clerk's Tale and the Question of Ethical Monstrosity. Studies in Philology. Chapel Hill: Winter 2005. Vol.102, Iss. 1; pg. 1, 26 pgs
Estreicher and Gray (2010) listed three factors that exacerbate the problems managers face today with accommodating religion in the workplace. The three factors include: immigration increasing religious diversity in the workforce, r...