Utopia, anyone?

More says that during Raphael's narrative that he thought of "various objections." Did you find the laws and customs "perfectly ridiculous" as well? Which, in particular? Did you find any that you would like to see adopted in the United States?

Troilus and Cressida

Scholars agree that Chaucer wrote for the court, even though his books, especially The Canterbury Tales would appeal to a wider audience. He wrote Triolus and Cressida first, so it is safer to assume that his audience was a little more educated. The text tells us that although Chaucer had a source for this tale, it is very original. What do you make of the characterization of Troilus, Cressida, and Pandarus? We talked in class about the exaggerated romantic lover character of Troilus, in contrast to Diomede, and indeed to Cressida herself. How real is Troilus? What is the effect of creating his character the way Chaucer did? What about Troilus, or about the conventions of writing romance, or about courtly love, do you think Chaucer is wanting to explore--and perhaps comment on without coming out and saying it?

Sum up the Tales

After reading 10 full tales, I think we can discuss the work as a whole. What kinds of connections to you find between the tales (and the tellers of the tales)? In the introduction to Troilus and Cressida, the translater of our text says that while "the pilgrimage itself is realistic, many of the tales are not." Why are the tales so fantastic, or moral, or farcical? What might that suggest to you about the nature and purpose of tales in general? In looking at the whole of The Canterbury Tales, what purpose does it serve? to delight? to teach? both?

I know I take some getting used to, but I tend to ask a series of questions that magnify one question, so don't worry about answering each.

The Wisdom of the Wife

Since we all read the Wife of Bath's Tale for class today, I figure we can go ahead and discuss it here before we meet again on Tuesday. Remember, your reponse to this post is not due until Tuesday.


I've always been a little troubled by how the tale ends. Why do you think the woman transforms herself at the end? What statement does that make about age, youth and women's value?

The General Prologue and first few tales

We looked carefully at the descriptions of the pilgrims in The General Prologue and we mentioned the appropriateness of the tale to the teller briefly when we discussed The Knight's, Miller's and Reeve's Tales. Try for a minute to make some general projections about the kind of tales we can expect from the other pilgrims who have long descriptions. Some pilgrims, as you know, are just listed and not fully described in the prologue--although some are more described in the prologues to the actual tales.

I'm thinking particularly about the representatives of the clergy and the law, but don't forget the Wife of Bath and the Franklin.