Chaucer's Retraction in The Canterbury Tales
Chaucer's ability to characterize people from all walks of life in explicit detail, as is so wonderfully displayed in The Canterbury Tales, is just one factor that allowed him to be known as one of history's finest literary artists. At the end of a career that would be considered by most artists as an extremely successful one, what could have caused Chaucer to apologize for any of the works which defined literary success? In "Chaucer's Retraction," which appears at the end of The Canterbury Tales (Norton 311), Chaucer not only apologizes for several of his secular works, he also goes so far as to revoke them, and ask for forgiveness for such works which "tended toward sin" (313), as he puts it. Such an extreme action seems to be somewhat irrational. Some believe that Chaucer, nearing the end of his earthly life, was preparing himself for God's judgment in the afterlife. If, by means of his writings, he was guilty of some grave sin, which would keep him from the eternal bliss of heaven, such a retraction might be considered justifiable. Furthermore, the concept of being tormented in the depths of hell for all eternity could easily persuade any person, especially on his deathbed, to renounce all past actions, good or bad. Maybe it is better to be safe than to be sorry, forever. While it is impossible to truly discern Chaucer's reasoning, assuming him to be the actual author of this passage, a closer examination of the "offending" text, as well as a look at some of the social and religious influences of the time period, might give us a clue as to why such a gifted poet would take this position.
The dominant theme of the pilgrimage in The Canterbury Tales illustrates one obvious religious...
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...xed with molten lead, brass and other kinds of metal; immense worms with poisonous teeth gnawed at some; others were fastened on by one on stakes with fiery thorns. The torturers tore them with their nails, flogged them with dreadful scourges, and lacerated them in dreadful agonies [The Monk of Evesham's Vision, 1197] (qtd. in Speed 4).
When facing the end of one's life, the notion of spending all eternity in such a place would surely make even the most avid non-believer think twice. A true believer in Christianity might very well think that it is much better to be safe, than to be sorry forever.
Works Cited
"Chaucer's Retraction." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Seventh Edition. Volume1. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Inc., 2000.
Speed, Peter, ed. Those Who Prayed, An Anthology of Medieval Sources. New York: Italica Press, 1997.
In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” Geoffrey Chaucer masterfully frames an informal homily. Through the use of verbal and situational irony, Chaucer is able to accentuate the moral characteristics of the Pardoner. The essence of the story is exemplified by the blatant discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the message of his story. By analyzing this contrast, the reader can place himself in the mind of the Pardoner in order to account for his psychology.
The portrayal of the Pardoner in the Canterbury Tales gives Chaucer a chance to satirize religious men in their deceitful, lying ways. The Pardoner is a liar. He persuades people to purchase certificates of forgiveness by preaching his moral stories. Chaucer creates the Pardoner to be a very greedy and deceitful preacher when he writes, "'And thus I preach against the very vice/ I make my living out of--avarice,'" (Chaucer 24-25). The Pardoner is telling his crowd that he preaches certain stories to make a living rooted in greed. He is so obssesed with greed, and want for money, the Pardoner will blatantly lie every day of his life. Chaucer is satirizing religious men in the story to make fun of them, and try to improve their behavior in the
...rom the world. But all he wanted to do was try and fit in and fall in love. He thought that all Dominican males had this type of mojo that made them stand out among others; all Oscar wanted to do was be a masculine Dominican male and in his search for this type of masculinity his life was ended short. Dominican masculinity instead of representing a sense of power and masculinity, it represents a self-destructive personality that backfires. All Oscar wanted was to have this masculinity but he nearly kills himself once he gives up his search for it. Yet Yunior can’t have a healthy relationship and it affects him. I think Dominican masculinity in the book “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” represents something that can never really be achieved, and if achieved will not make you happy. But instead be happy for what you are and for what you have to offer the world.
Chaucer 's characters appear heavily invested in the belief that the gods and the stars, not their own earthbound decisions and abilities, control their fates. Their steadfast faith in the power and prudence of the gods contrasts sharply with their often visible lack of confidence in themselves. Is this lack of confidence born out of the characters ' deference to the gods? Or conversely, is this obsession with the supernatural perhaps an attempt to rationalize, excuse, and possibly overcome their previous and potential shortcomings of which the characters are so often aware? In a collection of tales in which pride, honor, superlative excellence, and supernatural influence are so prominent, the rampant confusion, self-doubt, and "negative boasts"
...t man in a time of great despair. Through the greatness of his actions, satirically pointing out the corruption in the Catholic church, Chaucer earned a reputation as one of the greatest writers in the English language. Fearless of the Church’s retaliation, Chaucer continued to educate his audience, the English speaking commoners of Medieval Europe, who had long been taken advantage of by the Church, becoming one the greatest and first English satirist and the Father of English satire.
Yunior is our narrator, but makes it clear to us that he is not a nerd like Oscar. He likes the ladies and is actually very suave with them. He is a good influence on Oscar when it comes to turning him into a Dominican playboy, but if we look deeply, Oscar was actually more of an influence on Yunior than he realizes. While Yunior is trying to turn Oscar into a man, the tables turn and Oscar teaches Yunior how to be a real man and learn how to respect women. Oscar was not violent with women even though he chased after them, which was actually quite admirable for Yunior. Yunior is the perfect example of the machismo that Diaz is trying to portray in his Dominican stereotyping. According to a study done in Stanford, we learn that males who consider themselves to be macho have an: “expansive and almost uncontrollable” sexual appetite. Being that this sexual appetite is so uncontrollable, macho men try and feed this appetite in any way possible. They focus on sexual dominance because for them it is all about their pride, like we see in Yunior. It is a competition between men to demonstrate their machoism focusing on who can conquer more women. In a machoistic man’s mind there are only two roles for women which include “la casa y la calle”, or the house and the street which is a very antifeminist idea in which Diaz portrays in his book. Men want to dominate and women want to be protected, but the ironic thing is that many times women need to be protected from their own partners due to domestic abuse—either verbal, mental, or physical. Diaz showed the violence and rage that men have inside them, and also the vulnerability and lack of confidence some of the women have being that they went without defending themselves. While the book never mentioned Yunior raising his hand on a girl, he was not the most respectful towards women including Lola, which may be why Lola is “the one that got
New Readings of Chaucer’s Poetry. Edited by Robert G. Benson and Susan J. Ridyard. Cambridge: D.S. & B.S. Brewer, a.k.a. The Brewer, 2003. Schwartz, Debora B. & Co.
...livery. Sometimes you can say what you want but in a different way. This doesn't mean you are compromising your position or being untrue to yourself. It means you are working on yourself and expanding your communication skills. And if you don't think that's worth the effort, then you are ignoring the lost opportunities.
With this data we were able to obtain sentiment scores, and compare them to the stock prices
The disadvantages often associated with this type of test is that the score tends to differ based on minority/non-minority group. "Non-minorities typically score one standard deviation above minorities which may result in adverse impact depending on how the scores are used in the selection process (HR-Guide, 2002).” For example, in a survey conducted by 154 organizations across Canada, Ng and Sears reported positive association with “lower levels of minority group representation in the organization as a whole, and in management ranks (Catano, 2013).” Due to the increased knowledge-based skills necessary for a job, reading and verbal skills are required in the cognitive ability test. For minority groups that proves to be a disadvantage, since English is not their first language. Similarly, it negatively impacts an applicant based on sex. Knowledge of mathematics may negatively impact the score for females. The way the score is used is important because if a knockout were to be the case, which it is in this particular selection process than it has a negative impact on minority
Mandell, Jerome. Geoffrey Chaucer : building the fragments of the Canterbury tales. N.J. : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1992.
Roger Babusci et al. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1994. 115-136. Print. “The Medieval Period: 1066-1485.”
Chaucer uses his characters and their tales to affirm nominalism. The Pardoner and his tale prove that he is a pardoner in name only - his social status does not reflect who he really is. The metaphor that death is a man in the Pardoner’s Tale is not to be taken literally because it is actually symbolizing the plague. The disclaimers that various narrators give reveal that their words are deceiving - they appear to reflect the opinions of the narrators, but they do not. Throughout The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer affirms nominalism and destroys the convention that things are what they appear to be.
The Canterbury Tales is a great contemplation of stories, that display humorous and ironic examples of medieval life, which imitate moral and ethical problems in history and even those presented today. Chaucer owed a great deal to the authors who produced these works before his time. Chaucer tweaked their materials, gave them new meanings and revealed unscathed truths, thus providing fresh ideas to his readers. Chaucer's main goal for these tales was to create settings in which people can relate, to portray lessons and the irony of human existence.
According to Mohamad Tajuddin (1998), the word mosque, as understood in the present architectural terminology, is a building used by Muslims for the performance of prayer. Nash Rahman (1998).also define mosque as a symbol of the greatness of Islamic buildings, stands majestically across the globe. It remains a g...