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shakespeare view on courtly love
courtly love in chaucers miller tale
did chaucer use courtly love
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Do you believe that Chaucer thinks courtly love provides a useful set of rules and behaviors to guide man and women in their relationship?
By analyzing two of the major characters, Nicholas and Absalon, and their relative success in relationships, explain what you believe Chaucer is telling us about courtly love though this tale.
The Miller's tale story is about two characters that were pursuing the attention and affection of the beautiful Alison who was married to John the carpenter. These characters were Nicholas and Absalon. The character whose efforts proved triumphant in doing so was Nicholas. However, Absalon was the character that reminded faithful to the rules of courtly love and his attempts to wins over Alison accomplished nothing. Courtly love is a forbidden relationship and is characterized by five main attributes. It was believed that by following these guidelines, the man would win the affection of an unobtainable women and their adulterous relationship would begin. Both Nicholas and Absalon at times fulfilled each of the five character tics.
Nicholas in a way did fulfill this attribute of being an aristocrat to some degree. Noble lord and ladies practiced courtly love. Even though in the story the miller's tale it says, "His lodger a poor student"( pg 60). Nicholas was still a well educated young man. "Who made some studies in the arts, but all his fancy turned to astrology and geomancy,"( pg 60) This revealed that his family was not part of the lower class. The fact that he was getting an education proves that he was not underprivileged. When it came to being Ritualistic, Nicholas failed to fulfill this element. He did not exchange gifts or tokens of their affair. He did not try to wooo Alison by sing so...
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...t that with john out of the picture believed that he truly had a chance to be with Alison and finally entice her. Absalon followed this ideal idea. He tried to imitate it so that it would work to his advantage. He took it to heart and he highly regarded the idea of courtly live.
Absalon was the character in the miller's tale that that followed most of the set of rules and behaviour compared to Nicholas. However his efforts were done in vain and he ended up alone. Instead Nicholas was successful in wooing Alison. Chaucer was trying to convey to the reader that even if the rules of courtly lover are followed precisely, there is no guarantee it will lead men into a forbidden relationship. The miller's tale was a prime example. It all depends on what the women wants in a man. Her personality, values and morals have to be compatible with the man that is pursuing her!
The Merchant's revealed nature, however, combats the very destruction of creation and individual that he tried to attain. As the Merchant tries to subsume the reality of marriage, love, and relationship under his own enviously blind view, Chaucer shows us another individual, significant and important in his own way. Instead of acting as a totalizing discourse, Chaucer uses the Merchant's tale to reveal his depraved envy and to reveal him as no more than a wanton cynic. Thus, Chaucer provides the very perspective that the Merchant tries to steal from his audience.
Nelson, Marie. "Biheste is Dette: Marriage promises in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales." 2001. Dept. of English, Wentworth University. 15 July 2003 <http://www.wentworth.edu/nelson/chaucer>
This whole tale clearly depicts the injustice that occurred upon John just because he was extremely gullible. It was not fair that his society believed the words of few, rather than actually investigating the truth. This social problem was exploited throughout the tale. This also applies to love itself. In this tale, “everything is fair in love and war”, but Chaucer clearly shows society should not be like this. Society should not take into account love, but facts. Whomever is at fault should be punished, but not the way as Chaucer depicts society to
In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Cantebury Tales, many stories are told leading to a wide range of topics. One particular and significant topic Chaucer touches on many times is the role of women. In stories such as The Millers Tale, The Knight's Tale, and the Wife of Bath's Tale the women of each story are portrayed extremely different. Alisoun, Emelye, and the wife of Bath, each exemplify three dissimilar ways in which women love. The way Chaucer describes each of these characters is dependent on the out come of each particular story. Chaucer is careful with his word choice and figurative language with each woman, enabling the reader to get a very visual and sometimes humorous picture.
In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer’s real opinions about marriage and relationships between men and women are shown. Marriage is an institution viewed upon in many different ways. Some believe it is a consecrated union of two people in order to procreate. On the other hand, there are those who look at it as a social contract which often binds two people that are not necessarily right for each other. Chaucer combines these two beliefs into one major belief. Chaucer seems to look at marriage as an obligation that is constantly dominated by one of its two members, this view being shown in the prologues and tales of the Clerk, the Wife of Bath, and the Miller.
Forbes, Shannon. "'To Alisoun Now Wol I Tellen Al My Love-Longing': Chaucer's Treatment of the Courtly Love Discourse in the Miller's Tale." Women's Studies 36.1 (2007): 1-14. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 May 2013
Alison is described as young and wild. She is like an animal: " Thereto she koude skippe and make game/ As any kyde or calf folwynge his dame" (I. 3259-60). We know that she would be willing to go along with any idea as long as it is "fun". We can see her childish immaturity in the scenes where she lets Absalom "kiss" her. We do not learn the details of her marriage such as her feeling toward John, her husband. We simply know that it is a mis-matched marriage with a large age gap between them.
Though Chaucer showed multiple tales of various characters in The Canterbury Tales, the Miller’s and Wife of Bath’s tale surpassed them all on their concept of marriage and love. Both allow the reader to understand where they are coming from and their perception. While one does not seem to believe too much in love, the other does. However, both clearly believe that women control the game of love in their own respective ways.
In the Miller’s Tale, the story tells of a carpenter and his wife, Allison and how she is pursued by multiple men. The first man to pursue her is Nicolas, a man boarding with the Miller. When the carpenter is away he begins flirting with Allison in hopes of making love. Originally she refuses, but eventually she gives in to his will. Chaucer seems to be pointing out that women are easily swayed by temptation by showing us that Allison is unable to stop herself from making love with Nicolas. In addition Chaucer is also showing us how disloyal women can by using Allison’s extramarital affair as an example. However this stereotyping is not just limited to women in the miller tale but also reaches men too. Later in the story, Nicolas manages to convince the carpenter that there is going to be a massive flood and that he should hide. However this is all just a lie, which Nicolas is using to get the carpenter out of the way so he can be with Allison. Through the carpenter, it seems as if Chaucer is pointing out that men are generally gullible and easily fooled. The stereotyping continues when Absolon enters the story and attempts to woo the likes of Allison. Absolon is unsuccessful in his attempt to woo her however, and Allison tricks him by pretending to offer him ...
In a relationship, Love is a feeling that humans share with a special person. Some bonds could be mutual, while others are dissociated. During the Medieval period, love affairs were dominated by one gender, men, and the women had little or no control over decisions. Before a gentleman married a lady, the gentleman first boasted about her beauty, championed the cause of the lady, and did whatever the lady requested. The era was influenced by knights, and dictated by honor and chivalry that each knight had to display to their king and queen. As a gentleman, a knight had to be just at all times, especially toward ladies. At this time, there was a king named Arthur. King Arthur had a flourishing kingdom that abruptly ended. Later on, many authors recounted the story of the reign of King Arthur. Sir Thomas Malory published Le Morte d’Arthur, and Geoffrey Chaucer published The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Although both of these books recount the reign of King Arthur, the stories are very diverse and unique in their own way. Both stories demonstrate for a relationship to be successful, both partners must be submissive, must be brave, and must be willing to learn from mistakes.
In the Middle Ages, when The Canterbury Tales was written, society became captivated by love and the thought of courtly and debonair love was the governing part of all relationships and commanded how love should be conducted. These principles changed literature completely and created a new genre dedicated to brave, valorous knights embarking on noble quests with the intention of some reward, whether that be their life, lover, or any other want. The Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, accurately portrays and depicts this type of genre. Containing a collection of stories within the main novel, only one of those stories, entitled “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, truly outlines the 14th century community beliefs on courtly love.
In “The Franklin’s Tale,” Chaucer seems to put importance to the values that were not valued by most people in the particular time period that he is writing in. In this tale, Dorigen and Averagus marry for love in an equal union, which is found rare in the Medieval time period in Europe. Most women were not treated as equals in a marriage. In the end when Dorigen ends up being true to her husband, they stay together; this is likely because of the relationship they had. It is evident how Chaucer values fidelity by the way that Dorigen and Averagus’ marriage plays out. It seems that because of their healthy relationship, Chaucer rewards them for it by working their hardships out.
In his attempt to surpass the Knight, the Miller sacrifices decorum for the sake of entertainment, reflecting his bawdy nature. When first traveling with the Miller, Chaucer listened to the Miller bellow “his ballads and jokes of harlotries” (1712). Scandalous topics appear throughout the Miller’s tale of a young girl “so graceful and so slim” named Alison who cheats on her husband, John, with his student, Nicholas (1720). When “handy Nicholas” first encounters Alison, he “[catches] her between the legs” and woos her, and they devise a plan to sleep with each other secretly (1721). This lecherous scheme fuels the entire plot of the tale. However, the parish clerk Absolom with his “gray eyes” and “nightingale” nature, typical attributes of lusty men, attempts to win Alison’s heart (1722, 1723). Although Absolom utilizes every method to win Alison’s heart even chewing “licorice and cardamom,” he ends up kissing her “bare bum” whereas Nicholas sleeps with her (1729, 1730). Chaucer’s initial encounter with the drunken Mi...
On the contrary, Alison’s husband loved her more than his own life, although he felt foolish for marrying her since she was so young and skittish. This, in turn, led him to keep a close watch on her whenever possible. The Miller’s main point in his story is that if a man obtains what he wants from God or from his wife, he won’t ask questions or become jealous.
The Knight’s Tale and The Miller’s Tale are both told by pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. Although the two stories are set in the same time period and have a similar theme, they each have a distinctive tone. The Knight tells a romantic story that reflects his higher social class during the era in which he lives. The Miller tells a story in which lust, not love, is the guiding motive for the characters. The Miller is in fact drunk when he tells his story, so the Miller’s Tale contains lots of dirty jokes and complicated tricks. The Miller’s tale mirrors the Knight’s tale in a lot of ways. Both of the stories contain a love triangle.