A Review of The Canterbury Tales: The Nun's Priest's Tale

  I finished another of the Canterbury Tales some weeks ago but have been busy with some other things. I usually don't take this long to post this on Saturday.  Well here it is! Enjoy!

Chaucer was no doubt a very interesting man. He did many things in his life, some of which are quite controversial. From fighting in the Hundred Years War on the English side, and being taken captive by the French, to Chaucer paying off a woman who accused him of rape, Chaucer was truly colorful. His stories are of course at least as colorful as the author behind them.
 It is interesting to note that Chaucer intended the Canterbury Tales to be over a hundred stories. He died though sadly before this project was finished. Most copies of the Canterbury Tales today do not contain the full book. To make sure if your copy does, see if it has all twenty-two complete tales in it.

 Perhaps one of the most well known stories of The Canterbury Tales is the Nun's Priest's Tale. But the story is actually not about clergy, and in fact has nothing to do with it. Instead it a good moral lesson about arrogance while following the rooster Chanticleer.
 This tale has had a tremendous influence on English Literature and is perhaps one of the most loved of Chaucer's stories. I also find it interesting that this story makes a sorrowful reference to the death of Richard the Lionheart, king of England.

                                                                     The Prologue: 

 The story begins telling of a old widow that lives on poor food with her daughters. She has on her land several animals including a rooster names Chanticleer.

The host was bored with The Monk's Tale. The monk in return agreed for another to tell a new tale. An unnamed nun goes on to tell a story about a saint. 

                                                                    The Tale:

There was once a poor widow that lived a simple life. She did not posses much. She had on her land several animals including a rooster names Chanticleer.

 Chanticleer had a beautiful voice and was more dependable than any clock of the day. Chanticleer had a group of seven chickens all for his pleasure. Of these, Pertelote was the one he cared the most for. He had loved her since being a week old.
 One morning, Chanticleer groans fearfully. He had had a terrible dream from the night before of a wild beast that wanted to kill him. When he tells this to his wife Pertelote, she tells him to not be a coward and that no female respects a husband who is a coward.
Meanwhile, one night a fox enters the old woman's field. He lays and waits to kill Chanticleer.
 One day, Chanticleer is bathing outside. He comes to notice the fox near him and and starts to flee from it.
 The Fox, with all his treacherous flattery, wins Chanticleer to perform for him. Chanticleer is told by the fox of how beautiful a voice he has. Flattered, the rooster begins to sing. The fox's teeth grab Chanticleer at the throat suddenly, and ran off with him while the hens all weep for the loss of Chanticleer.
 Immediately, other animals run after Chanticleer for his rescue. Once the fox and his prey reached the Forrest though, Chanticleer tricks the fox by telling him that he is all the fox's now. As the fox begins to speak to the other animals, Chanticleer escapes.
 The fox tries to win back Chanticleer by making it look like he meant him no harm. This time however, Chanticleer makes sure not to give into the flattery of the fox.
 The theme of the moral was thus never to listen to flattery. The Poet Shakespeare says it right:

 The Holy Scriptures of course testify to this truth. Scripture warns in many places of flattery. The Wise words of Proverbs are no exception to this rule. ''He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue. '' -Proverbs 28: 23, KJV

Some Thoughts on Sense and Sensibility Volume Two

 I just recently finished the second part of Jane Austin's first novel. I am not going to give details here of the events of the second part of the story, though I would like to say a few things.
 The second part is mostly about the Dashwood sisters in London. As Marianne becomes heart broken when Mr. Willoughby never responds to her letters, and even finds that he is with another woman of great fortune, a certain Lucy Ferrars comes to know Eleanor and lead on a convincing story that Edward truly loves herself.
 But perhaps so central to the second volume is details about Colonel Brandon's past that reveals him in every way to be the British gentlemen that he is. I thought the second part of the story really developed him.
 As far as Marianne Dashwood  goes, the second volume in many ways is gloomy yet revealing. On the one hand, Marianne begins to break emotionally apart from Willoughby, though this takes a good amount of time. Yet, it eventually gives a relief to Marianne from her persistence in waiting for his proposal to marriage. In many ways Marianne matures through this part of the novel.
 I am not going to give many details here, as I said earlier. But let me again reaffirm part that this part of the book gives away many spoilers! This is especially so as concerns Colonel Brandon.
 One again, like the previous volume the story is told largely by the tone attributed to Eleanor's character. Throughout much of this Volume, Eleanor is left uneasy by Lucy's stories of Edward's affection towards herself. But unlike Marianne, Eleanor does not reveal her hurt or feelings to others. Eleanor is far too concerned with the well being of her family, to die from a heart break.
 Colonel Brandon as ever is in love with Marianne. Yet he cares for Marianne's feelings more than his own. The second volume of this story gave me a further compassion towards his character than I had had previously.
 Jane Austin's tone of the story is truly excellent. She in no way rushes the plot nor makes it seem long and dry. Her plots are built with layers and layers of further information on the characters. Her books are truly character driven.  Every chapter seems perfectly fit and tied to each volume of the book. I truly consider this one of my favorite novels.

 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not: charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
 -1 Corinthians 13: 4

 

What are Medieval Studies?

I am working on getting a B. S. in History and have the eventual desire to gain an M. A. In English Studies. That said I also desire to gain education through a Medieval Studies Program.
 Sometimes I am asked what job can one get through schooling in Medieval Studies? Before I answer this, let me briefly state what Medieval Studies is.
 Medieval Studies is not on it's own a degree one gets in college. It is usually offered in this country only at the graduate level as concerns gaining a degree. To enter a Medieval Studies Program, one must be getting a master's degree in a related field while also mastering in a field of a Medieval subject. In other words, if you master in history, then you can also master in medieval history, if you master in art, you can master also master in Medieval Art, if you master in Philosophy, you can also master in Medieval Philosophy, and you if you master in English, you can master in Medieval Literature. The last one is closest to what J. R. Tolkien got at Oxford University, and what C. S. Lewis later taught at Cambridge University. So in brief, you have a normal degree plus one you get in Medieval Studies. That should enough job security for one.
 Medieval History is the study of key historical few events and the world around them: The Crusades, the Hundred Years War, the Black Death, just to name a few.
 Medieval Literature is the study of all written works from the Middle Ages, both historical, as well as those of stories. These include the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, again just to name a few.
 Medieval Art is the study of paintings etc. from that time.
 Medieval Philosophy is the study of the theological minds of Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and many more.
 J. R. R. Tolkien taught Anglo-Saxon, something that is heavily influential in his Middle Works.
 C. S. Lewis was actually not a Medievalist by profession for most of his life. He taught English Literature at Oxford University until 1954 when Cambridge University promoted him to the head of Medieval and Renaissance Literature there. Lewis also wrote several books on Medieval Literature.
 To enter a program one must have fluent knowledge in Medieval Latin. There are currently only four colleges in TN that provide it: The University of TN, Maryville College, University of the South, and Middle TN State University. Of these only UT and University of the South give a major in it, while I think UT is also the only one that gives it at the graduate level, though I am not sure about that.
 Here at the University of TN there are currently only 25 students at best that are in the Medieval Studies Programs.
 A good friend has informed me that all the Medieval Studies in this country are currently at liberal universities, which is unfortunate. That said, I still desire to be a Medievalist by profession.
 I am currently reading Medieval Studies an Introduction by James W. Powell. It gives an overview of many things a Medievalist would learn in college.

 All that said, here is a little more information on Medieval Studies. I am excerpting this from A handbook to Literature by William Harmon and Hugh Holman, 10th edition:
 Medievalism, A spirit of sympathy for the Middle Ages along with a desire to preserve or revive certain qualities of Medieval life. Traces can be found as early as Spenser and throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with their more or less amateur interest in antiquities. It was nineteenth century romanticism , however, that sponsored the most robust flourishing of Medievalism, the development of which was aided by increasingly accurate scholarship, along with a growing respect for the Roman Catholic unity of pre-Reformation Europe. One or more elements of Medievalism can be found in Scot, Byron, Keats, Tennyson, the Pre-Raphaelites, Ruskin, Morris, Poe, Henry Adams, Newman, Hardy, Hopkins, and such more recent figures as E. A. Robinson, C. M. Doughty, T. E. Lawrence, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, David Jones, and a host of writers of fantasy and science fiction. Mark Twain was the chief enemy of medievalism in the late nineteenth century.  He attacked it indirectly { by using Walter Scott as the name of a wrecked steamboat in Huckleberry Finn} and directly throughout A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court.



 Medieval Studies was thus largely a movement that came out of the nineteenth century. The Study of Medieval times through this program is currently being threatened however, by the lack of knowledge of most people today of classical languages that is necessary to be a Medievalist.
 It has been said that some of the greatest works ever written were from the nineteenth century. Sir Walter Scott's Ivanoe and the Talisman no doubt glorify Medieval chivalry.
 I personally fine Jane Austin's novels to have a very Medieval tone. The courtship, the patriarchy, the chivalry, that Austin promotes, so reflects the 19th century novel that she so often wrote.
 My desire is to get my B. S. In History, and gain an M. A. in English Literature, with an M. A. in Medieval Literature.
 The arts for many years have been taken over far too long by leftist. A lot of people seem to forget that many of the greatest writers were actually conservative: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Austin, just to name a few. That is course another topic though, for another time...
 I find it particularity interesting that every year the humanities in colleges are losing more students. Less people are going for History or English than ever.  More and more in college, are going for the sciences, to be engineers, nurses, etc. Electronics have for so many people replaced the reading of books. Social media has now become people's leisure rather than dancing outside with other people during festivals or writing poetry. More people now would rather watch a movie than read a book.    It seems the arts are facing a slow setback among college education in the modern world.

A Medieval Book on Courtly Love

No wonder so many myths and stories concerning romance between the male and female towards each other have been written as inspired by that of the Middle Ages. Often times we attribute to people chivalrous qualities to men, and ladylike manners to women. So often do people forget that many of the things we believe about ourselves and the word around us were largely formulated in the Middle Ages. These Medieval Times saw the blossoming of Courtly love.
 Whereas today when most males contact  a girl that they are interested in, it is usually done by some informal and even pushy manner. A guy make ask a girl out on a date or for a way to contact her as a form of pursuing her.

 In the Middle Ages, Knights wrote poetry about the ladies they courted. They would frequently send a sonnet to win the heart of the woman they courted.

As some of you probably know I spend a lot of time at bookstores! I reguarly to to Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, and others. I am at Mckay's bookstore probably at least twice a week. Sometimes I buy books quickly though that is not the norm. I usually spend a good amount of time in bookstores.
 So as I was at Mckay's bookstore some weeks ago, I was surprised to find a book in the poetry section that I had never heard of. It was in fact one of the most widely read romantic works from Medieval Times. It was called the Romance of the Rose, and it is a book I plan to read soon. The book was written by Guillaume de Lorris, an author that we today we know little of.

The French Poet Capellanus, was clear on guidelines to courtly love. Capellanus was a 12th century French poet of some notable French works of courtly love including The Art of Courtly Love.  

One of the things that came to my mind when I recently learned about how knights would write sonnets for the women they loved, is that people use to put their minds more to work as concerns literary things than do many today. Indeed, how much easier it is for many today to chat on date nights and watch movies then write poetry of each other.  Our world brags so much on education yet has lost so much sight of it, especially as concerns the arts. 

 Anyhow, those were just some of my thoughts. Share yours on this topic of courtly love below if you so please! 

 The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris is on my reading list within the near future! 

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely hind, a graceful doe. Let her affection fill you at all times with delight, be infatuated always with her love. -Proverbs 5:18-19