Among other moral lessons conveyed by Shakespeare through Hamlet, is the moral dilemma of revenge and punishment. Hamlet has been told by his father’s ghost that Claudius was his murderer and as a son it was Hamlet’s duty to avenge Senior Hamlet. However, Hamlet is seen to be in a constant conflict between his mind and heart, between what is morally the right thing to do and what is not. His confusion is evident in one of his soliloquies, where he is seen to engage in self-rebuke for delaying his revenge and is considering that the ghost might be just an illusion. In Hamlet’s own words “I know my course. The spirit that I have seen [m]ay be the devil; and the devil hath power [t]o assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps [o]ut of my weakness
In these tales, Chaucer describes the world from the perspective of people coming from all walks of life. On one hand there is the Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale with a theme derived from a biblical saying that goes “Radix malorum est Cupiditas” meaning “Greed is the root of [all] evil,” while on the other there is the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale which illustrates the picture of a woman in conflict with the moral code of conduct society expects her to follow (Chaucer 711). Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale focuses on the morality associated with the subject of marriage and women’s dominance over men in relationships. The protagonist, Wife of Bath challenges the teachings of Bible and justifies her five marriages by saying “Lo, here is the wise king, Don Solomon; I think he had some wives, well more than one. Now would to God it lawful were for me [t]o be refreshed here half so much as he” (681). These words reflect the bold and independent thoughts of a modern day women who has her own perspective of morality and believes that “God bade us to wax and multiply” (682). She does not care what the society thinks about her, but believes
According to the pardoner all evil deeds stem out of sins like gluttony, avarice, gambling, lechery and false promises. The pardoner adopts an ironic approach in delivering his moral lesson where he uses his own hypocrisy as an example and says that says “Thus the very same vice that I practice, I preach against… Yet still I can make other folks begin to leave avarice and solely repent” (713). This hypocrisy can be seen in today’s world to as one of the morally wrong deeds that lead to conflicts and must be avoided. The entire moral lesson of the Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale is summed up by the Pardoner in the end where he
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 pardoner telling a story about greed and saying that if you don’t repent you will get what’s coming to you. A great example of this is in line 289-290, “Thus these murders receive...
The pardoner, in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Pardoner’s Tale, is a devious character. He is a man with a great knowledge of the Catholic Church and a great love of God. However, despite the fact that he is someone whom is looked at with respect at the time, the pardoner is nothing more than an imposter who makes his living by fooling people into thinking he forgives their sins, and in exchange for pardons, he takes their money. His sermon-like stories and false relics fool the people of the towns he visits and make him seem as a plausible man, which is exactly what the pardoner wants. In fact, the pardoner is an avaricious and deceitful character whose driving force in life is his motto, “Radix malorum est cupiditas,” which is Latin for “greed is the root of evil.” The pardoner’s entire practice is based upon his motto and is motivated entirely by greed.
Shakespearean revenge tragedy is most remarkable in Hamlet, where no happy ending occurs for any of the characters. External forces steer Hamlet’s internal considerations. The internal is what is going on in Hamlet’s mind, presumably what is right and what is just. The external are constant pressures coming in from an outside source. Equally, both forces contribute to the development of Hamlet’s character; from a melancholy man who could not make his mind up to a courageous and ready man. Moreover, leaves Hamlet on an emotional rollercoaster contemplating over and over in his mind the nature of his action. In what may be Shakespeare’s most remarkable soliloquy “To Be or Not to Be . . .” (3.1.1), Hamlet endeavors to contemplate the righteousness of life over death and his suicide. Hamlet cannot escape the feeling of being trapped internally and weighing the moral ramifications of life and death. These forces
In this paper I will compare two of Chaucer’s characters using both the interpretation of the characters as written and how those same characters would be interpreted today. The two roles I will be discussing are the Wife of Bath and the Summoner. I will attempt to show that although the Wife of Bath was supported as a good woman in part because of her sexual prowess as the character was written, the same sort of character - were she to tell her tale today - would be shamed and looked down upon as promiscuous and unworthy. The Summoner, on the other hand, would not be reinterpreted very differently and would be as reviled today as he was at the time of writing. His corruption, lechery and drunkenness would still be condemned.
With the Wife of Bath's five different husbands and the search of a new one, she didn't only know what she wanted but how to get it, she did this through ways of being controlling and selfish, but still, came out succeeding at the end of her relationships. The Wife of Bath, with her simple words of the five men she had been with, it was easily detailed with what mattered to her "they were good, and rich, and old, they were scarcely able to keep the statute by which they were bound to me" (p. 191). This is an explaination of exactly what she wanted and how she was able to be continue to be stable. Her unbelieveable control for the husbands she had, in which she thought they would be her "debtor and slave" (p. 189). Chaucer is expressing the sexual, as well as, the controlling side of the Wife of Bath, this also shows the unrealistic expectations she brought forth. At last, she tells exactly how she feels "you should speak thus and put them in the wrong, for no man can perjure himself and lie half so boldly as a woman can" (p. 193). Convicing her husbands ...
As time passed, and his temper cools, Hamlet questions whether he had truly seen his uncle, or if he had instead seen, “A devil, and the devil hath power T’ assume a pleasing shape.” (Shakespeare 117) Hamlet overcomes his doubt by arranging a trap for Claudius, inserting a scene into a play that Claudius plans to watch, that showcases the specific events involving King Hamlet’s murder. Claudius is made visibly uncomfortable by how specific the scene is, and leaves the theater hastily, confirming in Hamlet’s eyes the truth of what the ghost told him. While the truth behind the ghost’s words has been revealed to Hamlet, he is immediately presented with a new dilemma, in what is perhaps one of the most famous soliloquies in history. Hamlet struggles as he questions everything he knows with the revelation that his mother married his father’s killer. The famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy recounts Hamlet’s existential crisis as he questions whether it is nobler to live and put up with the nasty twists that foul luck and life may throw his way, or to fight it all by putting an end to his own life. Ultimately, Hamlet chooses the former option for fear of what may come his way in the afterlife. Hamlet’s struggle once more makes him a relatable hero for the audience, as he faces a distinctly human moment of weakness, and questions everything he knows, a feeling many feel
The Wife of Bath’s tale details the events that follow a knight’s raping of a girl, utilizing the classic motif of the loathly lady to state what all women desire. According to the hag, who enslaves the knight via their contract into marriage, every woman desires the “self-same sovereignty [o]ver her husband as over her lover” (286). Here the Wife of Bath is expressing a domination of the feminine, or Dionysian, over the masculine, or the Apollonian. In contrast, the Pardoner’s Apollonian vision is patriarchal in nature. The Pardoner establishes a framework steeped in the traditions of the Catholic Church, an organization typically ruled by men. Furthermore, during this time many did not see women as anything more than a means by which to have children. The Pardoner alludes to Lot and how in his drunkenness he gave himself up to lust and slept with his daughters. He calls lust a vice “bred of wine and lechery” (245). By rejecting Dionysian sexuality and deeming immoral any enjoyment of male-female relations, the Pardoner has denied women the only value society thinks they have. Lastly, the Pardoner exhibits stereotypically homosexual traits for the time. Chaucer says in the General Prologue that the Pardoner just might be “a gelding or a mare”
Another trait that is displayed by the Pardoner and a character in his tale is hypocrisy. Although the Pardoner is extremely greedy, he continues to try and teach that "Avarice is the root of all evil" (6). The characters in his tale display great hypocrisy as well. As the tale begins, the friends all act very trustworthy and faithful towards all of their friends. They nobly make a decision to risk their lives while trying to slay their friend's murderer. As they talk about their challenge, they pledge "to live and die each of them for the other, / As if he were his own blood brother" (241-242). At the end of the tale, the "brothers" begin to reveal their true nature. They all turn on each other in an attempt to steal the treasure for themselves.
In the Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer illustrates the different perspective between men and women on the concept of marriage and love. In The Wife of Bath’s tale, it is shown the woman appreciating marriage and wanting to be able to love a man unconditionally as where in The Miller’s Tale, love isn’t anything, but sex with the man in the story. In accordance with Chaucer, the complication with marriage is that men are consumed by sexual desire and are easily abused by women like The Wife of Bath. As noticed, The Miller’s Tale is all about adultery. “Just like men, the wives have secrets, as does God”, says the Miller. Both have information that the other do not know about that are sacred and better left unsaid.
In medieval England, society’s roles were dominated by men and women were either kept at home or doing labor work. Among the most famous medieval English literature, “The Canterbury Tales” by Geoffrey Chaucer, lies ‘The Wife of Bath's Prologue’ and ‘The Wife of Bath's Tale.’ Within, Chaucer shares his perspective of the Wife of Bath, the Queen, and the Crone. Through the use of symbolism and diction, Chaucer aims to change society’s expectations of women.
Throughout Hamlet, each character’s course of revenge surrounds them with corruption, obsession, and fatality. Shakespeare shows that revenge proves to be extremely problematic. Revenge causes corruption by changing an individual’s persona and nature. Obsession to revenge brings forth difficulties such as destroyed relationships. Finally, revenge can be the foundation to the ultimate sacrifice of fatality. Hamlet goes to show that revenge is never the correct route to follow, and it is always the route with a dead
Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is an important part of his most famed work, The Canterbury Tales. One of the most respected highly analyzed of all of the tales, this particular one is important both for its character development and its prevailing themes. It seamlessly integrates ideas on society at that time with strong literary development. This work stands the test of time both because of its literary qualities and because of what it can teach us about the role of women in late Medieval society.
The Wife of Bath is one of the most famous characters within Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. In her prologue, it is quickly made clear that she has had a lot of husbands and by a lot I mean five. Since she has all this experience with men, The Wife of Bath dedicates her prologue to describing how each of her marriages went. In her five marriages she has been accused of lusting too much, to being too controlling, and being abused. While some good husbands were good and some were bad, The Wife of Bath depicts a solid image of her feelings toward men. In her relationships, she must always have the upper hand. She is the type of woman who gets what she wants when she wants it. While describing one of her marriages, The Wife of Bath explains how
In a typical revenge tragedy, a hero is called upon by the ghost of a family member to avenge his death ("Revenge Tragedy"). Hamlet is the main protagonist and hero called upon by his father's ghost to "revenge his foul and most unnatural murder" (1.5.31). When Hamlet first hears that his father was murdered, he exclaims, "Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift...may sweep to my revenge" (1.5.35-37). He is hungry to avenge his father; however, Hamlet does nothing and at the end of Act II he scolds himself that "this player...could force his soul so to his own conceit...all for nothing...yet, [he]...can say nothing for a king upon whose property and most dear life a damned defeat was made" (2.2.578-598). Hamlet is upset that he hasn't yet acted to avenge his father, but some mere actor can build up so much emotion for nothing. Shakespeare complicates the plot because revenge tragedies are supposed to have a courageous and aggressive protagonist who swiftly carries out his deed of revenge; instead, Shakespeare modifies the hero and portrays Hamlet as an indecisive and contemplative man.