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Shakespeare's 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!
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>
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 in the Miller's Tale and May of the Merchant's Tale are similar in several ways. Both are young women who have married men much older than themselves. They both become involved with young, manipulative men. They also conspire to and do cuckold their husbands. This is not what marriage is about and it is demonstrated in both tales. What makes the Miller's Tale bawdy comedy and the Merchant's tale bitter satire is in the characterization. In the Miller's tale we are giving stereotyped characters. The principals are cardboard cut-outs sent into farcical motion. The Merchant's Tale gives us much more background and detail of the character's lives. The reader is more involved and can feel their situations. Here we will focus on the two women of each tale and how they demonstrate this difference.
As the Miller's tale progresses this exposition of jealousy is shown to have a good cause. Because the wife is young and desirable she is seen as unable to resist the advances of an equally young scholar, “while her husband was at Osney / (these clerks are very subtle and sly) / and privily he grabbed her by the crotch” (line 87-89). The clerk forces himself upon Alison, “and said, Unless I have my will of you, / sweetheart, I'm sure to die for suppressed love” (lines 91-92). Alison being so young and inexperienced is unable to resist the urges of the clerk Nicholas, “and made her oath, by Saint Thomas a Becket, / that she would be his to command (lines 105-106).
In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales a storytelling competition is proposed by the Host. In his mind, it was only proper for the Knight to tell his story first. The sneaky Host rigged the drawing of straws and the Knight won the honor of going first. He told a Roman Epic of loyalty and love, set in classical antiquity that portrayed his gallant manner and elevated social class. The Miller's Tale, a parody of the Knight's Tale, came next. The Miller's Tale was more contemporary and left out many of the ideals that were displayed by the characters in the Knight's Tale. This fabliau told by the Miller seemed to debase the Knight's Tale and also to debase the Knight himself.
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 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 ...
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.
The Miller's tale introduces a carpenter, John, his wife, Alison, and a student lodger, Nicholas. The identification of John as a carpenter immediately causes the audience to relate these characters to another famous carpenter and his wife, namely, Joseph and Mary from the Bible. (quote) The character of John is similar to Joseph not only because of their shared profession, but also because of the shared situations with their wives before marriage. Chaucer mentions how it was a rather rash move for John to marry Alison, a woman much younger than he. He says "He might have known, were Cato on his shelf,/A man should marry someone like himself" (89). Just as Joseph was wary of marrying Mary because she was already pregnant such that he "did not want to expose her to p...
Society is portrayed differently now than the medieval period. Women are stereotyped of as the overly sensitive while men lack. In The Miller's Tale, the roles were exchanged. It was a popular thought that courtly love was more common during Chaucer's time but he shows a different approach and a "behind the scenes" look at middle class people. A fairy tale has a moral that is clear and concise, however, The Miller's Tale has a moral but it's more discrete and indefinite.
This waxing and waning of Troilus' and Criseyde's happiness in love allows Chaucer to explore the different manifestations of love in his contemporary society, and what the costs of loving might be. In particular, Criseyde's fear of love, and betrayal of Troilus' love, raises the question: who is allowed to choose to love?
During the Middle Ages using the method of courtly love was very common. It was defined as a way of worshiping a woman to get their attention and love in a noble way by doing heroic deeds or just by giving the women gifts. Back then the most known courtly lovers were the knights for being known as very chivalrous and noble men. In “the Miller’s Tale”, the use of courtly love is the complete opposite of what it usually is. The story telling the story, in other words the miller makes a complete parody of courtly love and what it stands for, he makes it seem very vulgar by the way he talks about the characters in a very sexual manner and the deeds that the characters do throughout the story. I think this story was made for that purpose, to make a fool of what courtly love really is, because in reality the miller thinks that courtly love is just a waste of time and thinks it’s just foolishness to believe that love is really like that.
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.
The debate of which individual should have the authority in a marriage, the man or the woman, is a topic that has remained unanswered for centuries. While he does not solve this debate, Geoffrey Chaucer attempts to unpack the different elements that factor into it. In Canterbury Tales, primarily in the prologue of the Wife of Bath and both tales of the Wife of Bath and the Clerk, Chaucer displays different types of marriages. These marriages analyze how a man or woman can gain authority over the other. These marriages vary in terms of their dynamics due to the unique individuals and their environments. Through an analysis of the marriages depicted by Chaucer in the prologue and tales of the Clerk and the Wife of Bath, one can see the different
...ionship dynamics exhibited in both the Wife’s prologue and in her knightly tale place male and female on equal footing; they are by turns equally despicable and commendable. As the Wife finds harmony with the one she loves and the hag provides a happy ending for both herself and for the knight, Chaucer seems to be presenting a balance between the masculine and the feminine: harmony is achieved through sacrifice on both parts. True love and a healthy relationship can never come about without this compromise, because both sexes desire control over the other. Something must be given up on each side. Chaucer implies that female triumph over a male’s control can still bring about a happy ending; as long as they think they’re on top, men will be content, and as long as they are given some semblance of power, women will happily devote themselves to the men they control.