The Clerk's Tale

Armaan Malhi
Mr. Mcknight
H english 3­4
07 October 2015
The Clerk’s Tale
SUMMARY OF THE CLERK
The clerk, or Oxford cleric, was a student of philosophy but is now a clerk. The clerk enjoys learning more than anything in the world, all the money he has and the money that is given to him by his friends is used to buy books about philosophy, usually the books are works of Aristotle. The Clerk is a young man who recently got out of college, and he is very thin because instead of buying food with his money he buys books. The Clerk is also poor because he does not save his money he just spends it on books so he can learn. Chaucer seems to like the
Clerk because he describes him using mostly compliments such as the Clerk was “respectful in the extreme”

Overall the Clerk is a very humble man who only speaks when necessary, is fascinated by learning primarily philosophy as well as other subjects, and is grateful for his friends and companions.
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SUMMARY OF THE CLERK’S TALE
The Clerk’s tale tells us about the story of a marquis of Salucia, a town in western Italy, and how he married a woman and tested her loyalty to the extremes. The marquis was named
Walter and his subjects wanted him to marry but he did not want to because he did not want to lose his freedom. His subjects however want an heir to the throne, so Walter agrees to marry someone and sets a wedding date, as long as he gets to pick his bride without any opposition. On the day of the wedding Walter asks the poorest man among the poor, Janicula, if he can marry his daughter, Griselda, who was very beautiful and kind. Janicula and Griselda both agree, but
Walter makes Griselda promise that she should always obey his authority and will, she consents to these conditions. Not long after the wedding Griselda gives birth to a girl, and Walter decides to test Griselda’s loyalty by saying that he killed their daughter because the people

Griselda accepts her husband’s decision with a heavy heart.
After about four years Griselda bears Walter a son, and again Walter decides to test Griselda's loyalty by saying he killed their son because the people were complaining that the next ruler will have a lineage of a poor family in their background, however Walter sent this child to be raised in Bologna as well. Griselda is sad but accepts Walter’s will. Rumors about how Walter was killing his own children spread throughout the town and upset the people. To test Griselda’s loyalty one last time he tells her that the people are upset because she was of a lower class, and has a fake bull of divorce from the pope forged. Walter tells Griselda that he is going to marry
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another woman and that she is no longer his wife. She accepts Walter’s decision and returns to her father in the poorest part of Salucia. Walter then sends a messenger to call his children in
Bologna back to Salucia, he pretends like he is going to marry his daughter. When the children arrive, Walter asks Griselda if she would help him get the palace ready for his wedding, and