Summary and Analysis of Tale of Melibee (The Canterbury Tales)
Prologue to the Tale of Melibee:
The Host interrupted the Tale of Sir Thopas, pleading with the narrator to desist. He told him that the rhymes were doggerel, and asks him to tell a tale in prose. The narrator agrees and asks for the group's attention once more.
Analysis
The connecting passages between the tales that Chaucer himself tells are more dramatically fulfilling than the stories themselves, which are little more than comic anecdotes. These passages best illustrate the narrative behind the tales themselves. The tales exist as they relate to one another in a complex set of interactions between the various pilgrims; they are not simply a set of free-standing short stories given a rough context. The tales themselves are products of this interaction; the Tale of Melibee that Chaucer will give is a response to the Host's unfavorable reaction to the Tale of Sir Thopas.
The Tale of Melibee:
A young man called Melibee, mighty and rich, had a wife named Prudence and a daughter Sophie. One day while he was in the fields he left his wife and daughter in his house. Three of his old foes broke into the house, raped his wife and left his daughter for dead by wounding her in five places her feet, hands, eyes, nose and mouth. When Melibee returned he began to weep. Prudence consoled him, then asked him to desist and to be as patient as Job. She tells him to call on the counsel of his true friends. His physicians vowed to cure Sophie. They advice him to set guards at his house, but not to attempt vengeance. The younger men, however, advised him to declare war. Prudence agreed with the elders, who did not want to attack the perpetrators in haste. However, Melibee cites Solomon, who advised that no wife or child should ever have mastery over a husband. Melibee and Prudence continue to debate on the subject, discussing every bit of minutiae in the subject debated. Finally she advises that he delay his attack on his enemies, telling them that if they will accept peace they shall be forgiven. They came to the court of Melibee and he gives them an option: they can put the punishment in the hands of Melibee or Prudence. The wisest of his enemies admits that they are unworthy to come into his court, and submit to his judgment.
Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, is not one of the most well-known presidents to have ever served in office though he did do some good things during his presidency. The vice president’s journey to the presidency began after the assassination of the beloved president, John F. Kennedy. Before serving as president, he was the youngest Senator to ever serve as a majority leader and he sat in the House of Representatives. Although Johnson served two terms as president, he only ran in one election because of the death of Kennedy. However, the one election he ran in, he won in by a landslide (Ridings & Melver 231). Lyndon B Johnson, the Democratic president, who served from 1963-1969, might have been infamous for the decisions he made during the Vietnam War, but his Great Society and Civil Rights Act helped shape the nation in a good way.
Lambdin, Laura C. and Robert T. Lambdin, ed. Chaucer's Pilgrims: An Historical Guide to the Pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales. London: Greenwood Press, 1996.
In the “Canterbury Tales”, Chaucer depicts each character of the pilgrimage using allegorical descriptions. The pilgrimage in itself can be seen as an allegory since it represents more than a physical journey but a journey of one’s true self. The flaws exposed in the characters are also seen as a reflection of their surroundings. Therefore, each character is used to exemplify the faults of medieval society. For example, the description of the Physician is a direct example of irony. Chaucer begins by describing the Physician in a flattering light.
“The Canterbury Tales” was written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer. These tales constitutes a frame story which each pilgrim has to tell their own story to the Chaucer, the pilgrim; not the poet. As we know, the tale itself is a satire, but the stylistic structure in the tales creates a sense that can be a parody as well. To support this idea of parody, it is need to know the definition of parody and how Chaucer use this style to make his own ideas clear through the general prologue and the tales such as “The Miller’s Tale” and “The Knight’s Tale”.
Compared to the industry as a whole, Mondavi is not responding to the changing marketplace and demands. While there has been some growth in the ultra and luxury premium market segments, the explosion in the last 15 years had been in the popular premium ($3-7 per bottle) and super-premium ($7-14) sector. Mondavi’s own Woodbridge offering is responsible for 76% of its case volume and 57% of its revenue as of 2001, but seemingly exists in isolation amidst all the high-end offerings from the company. Competitors that have established themselves in jug wine, beer, and other spirits are taking advantage of their sales volume and migrating upward. While E&J Gallo, Constellation, and the beer producers may not have the reputation for quality and craft that RMW possesses, their substantial financial weight has allowed them to develop or purchase brands that could compete in the higher altitudes and price segments. Meanwhile, competitors with similar histories in premium winemaking are taking advantage of lower production costs to horizontally integrate, acquire land, and build new wineries in different countries, as Kendall Jackson has done with the Villa Arceno (Italy) and Yangarra Park (Australia) wines.
Chaucer’s book The Canterbury Tales presents a frame story written at the end of the 14th century. It narrates the story of a group of pilgrims who participate in a story-telling contest that they made up to entertain each other while they travel to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Because of this, some of the tales become particularly attractive for they are written within a frame of parody which, as a style that mocks genre, is usually achieved by the deliberate exaggeration of some aspects of it for comic effect. Chaucer uses parody to highlight some aspects of the medieval society that presented in an exaggerated manner, not only do they amuse the readers, but also makes them reflect on them. He uses the individual parody of each tale to create a satirical book in which the behaviours of its characters paint an ironic and critical portrait of the English society at that time. Thus, the tales turn satirical, ironic, earthy, bawdy, and comical. When analysing the Knight’s and the Miller’s tale, one can realise how Chaucer mocks the courtly love convention, and other social codes of behaviour typical of the medieval times.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, (written c. 1387), is a richly varied compilation of fictional stories as told by a group of twenty-nine persons involved in a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury, England during the fourteenth century. This journey is to take those travelers who desire religious catharsis to the shrine of the holy martyr St. Thomas a Becket of Canterbury. The device of a springtime pilgrimage provided Chaucer with a diverse range of characters and experiences, with him being both a narrator and an observer. Written in Middle English, each tale depicts parables from each traveler.
In his Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer assembles a band of pilgrims who, at the behest of their host, engage in a story-telling contest along their route. The stories told along the way serve a number of purposes, among them to entertain, to instruct, and to enlighten. In addition to the intrinsic value of the tales taken individually, the tales in their telling reveal much about the tellers. The pitting of tales one against another provides a third level of complexity, revealing the interpersonal dynamics of the societal microcosm comprising the diverse group of pilgrims.
... beloved wife has made the decision for him. After going through this incredible journey of his, not only did he study women but he had to explain what women most desired to the queen. Otherwise he would have been beheaded, but was spared because of his looks. Was this justice? Indeed it would have been justice back in the 1300’s because if you were beautiful you could be spared and do a noble deed for the king/queen as they asked. If you did not complete it who knows what could have happened. But for the knight, he completed what he was told to do and in fact after he raped the woman and he was being prosecuted, the journey of his made him find the true knight inside of him. The old woman choice that was offer to the knight demonstrated that he learned his lesson through his sufficient punishment and redemption for his crime.
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, a collection of tales is presented during a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. The pilgrims on the journey are from divergent economic and social backgrounds but they have all amalgamated to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas. Chaucer uses each pilgrim to tell a tale which portrays an arduous medieval society. The values, morals and social structures of the society can be examined through the fictitious tales, unravelling a corrupt, unjust and manipulative world, a world that is based around an ecclesiastical society.
In the short space of a generation, the American wine industry has maintained the tradition of boldness, innovation, creativeness, and success. American wineries that have been successful cannot rest on those successes, however. The industry and its competitive forces continue to change and members of the current industry will survive only if they are able to anticipate and deal with these changes. While there are significant threats to the American wine industry, there is also a large domestic and worldwide market of potential consumers who have yet to enjoy the fine taste of America’s wines.
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.
When initially analyzing the Old World Wine Industry versus the New World Wine Industry, the differences are evident. Strong representations of this include factors such as size, production methods, brand equity, and production orientation. Through conducting an analysis using Porter’s Five Forces, one can clearly see the clear delineating factors between the Old and New World.
Wiseman, A. E., & Ellig, J. (2007). The Politics of Wine: Trade Barriers, Interest Groups, and the Commerce Clause. Journal Of Politics, 69(3), 859-875. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2508.2007.00580.x
...eveals insecurities of him in the process while that itself tells us more about the popular culture in this time. Chaucer, along with many of the other pilgrims attempts to place themselves in a socially desirable or even superior position. With the Narrator having the responsibility of articulating the tales to us in a coherent fashion, he might feel pressure to present himself as all-knowing or superior to his companions rather than show us an honest and unbiased point of view. After all, he is telling the story; the Narrator can ultimately choose to tell us whatever he pleases. The Narrator plays the role of telling tales and providing the groundwork for this pilgrimage story, but since his ideas and opinions are designed in such a particular way; he indirectly tells us so much more about not only about the pilgrimage but of this time period’s culture as a whole.