Attitudes Of Marriage In The Cantebury Tales

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Attitudes of matrimony in

Chaucer? s The Canterbury Tales

Krupa Desai

Period 3-English H IV

Ms. Saddik

May 24, 1999

Chaucer? s The Canterbury Tales, demonstrate many different attitudes and perceptual experiences

towards matrimony. Some of these thoughts are really traditional, such as that illustrated in the Franklin? s Tale. On the other manus, other narratives present a broad position, such as the matrimonies portrayed in the Miller? s and The Wife of Bath? s narratives. While several of these narratives are instead amusing, they do so picture the attitudes towards matrimony at that clip in history. D.W. Robertson, Jr. calls matrimony & # 8220 ; the solution to the job of love, the force which directs the will which is in bend the beginning of moral action & # 8221 ; ( Robertson, 88 ) . & # 8220 ; Marriage in Chaucer? s clip intend a brotherhood between spirit and flesh and was therefore portion of the matrimony between Christ and the Church & # 8221 ; ( Bennett, 113 ) . The Canterbury Tales show many maltreatments of this sacred bond, as will be discussed below.

One illustration of corruptness in matrimony is The Miller? s Tale. This narrative includes a lecherous clerk, a vain clerk, and an old adult male entangled in a web of fraudulence and criminal conversation construed by a married adult females. It is obvious in this narrative that about each of these characters show complete neglect to the establishment of matrimony. The two work forces, Nicholas and Absalon, both try to prosecute in extramarital personal businesss with Alison, the old adult male? s married woman. Both of the work forces are guilty of seeking to score Alison, which shows their indifference towards the countenances and Torahs of matrimony. Still Alison, who should be the wiser, besides breaks the Torahs of matrimony. She takes Nicholas because she wants to, merely as she ignores Absalon because she wants to. Line 104-

109 of the Miller? s Tale show Alison? s blatant discourtesy for her matrimony to & # 8220 ; Old John & # 8221 ; and her planned fraudulence:

& # 8220 ; That she hir love hym graunted atte laste,

And swoor hir ooth, by seint Thomas of Kent

That she wol been at his commandment,

Whan that she may hir leyser wel espie.

Myn housbonde is so ful of louvered window

That but ye wayte wel and been privee? & # 8221 ;

On the contrary, Alison? s hubby loved her more than his ain life, although he felt foolish for get marrieding her since she was so immature and flighty. This, in bend, led him to maintain a close ticker on her whenever possible. The Miller? s chief point in his narrative is that if a adult male obtains what he wants from God or from his married woman, he won? t ask inquiries or become covetous. Apparently the Miller feels that the male is after his ain sexual pleasance and doesn? t concern himself with how his married woman uses her & # 8220 ; privetee & # 8221 ; as pointed out in lines 55-58:

& # 8220 ; An housbonde shal nat been inquisityf

Of Goddes pryvetee, nor of his wyf.

So he may fynde Goddes foyson at that place,

Of the remenant nedeth nat enquere. & # 8221 ;

Narratives like the Miller? s narrative are still popular in today? s society, those which claim that green-eyed monster and unfaithfulness arise from matrimonies between old work forces and beautiful immature adult females.

Another narrative which contains a instead broad point of position of matrimony is The Wife of Bath? s Tale. The married woman of bath clearly has a unworried attitude towards matrimony. She knows that the sufferings of matrimony are now inflicted upon adult females, instead, adult females inflict these sufferings upon their hubbies. In puting Forth her positions of matrimony, nevertheless, she really proves that the opposite is true in lines 1-3 in her prologue:

& # 8220 ; Experience, though noon auctoritee

Were in this universe, is right ynough for me

To speke of wo that is in mariage? & # 8221 ;

The married woman of bath, in her prologue, proves to her ain satisfaction that the Miller? s perceptual experience of matrimony is right, and so declares that it is so acceptable for a adult female to get married more than one time. She claims that celibacy is non necessary for a successful matrimony. She besides claimed that virginity is ne’er even mentioned in the Bible, as is seen in the drawn-out transition of lines 59-72 of her prologue:

& # 8220 ; Wher can ye seye in any manere age

That hye God defended mariage

By expres word? I praye yow, telleth me.

Or where comanded he virginitee?

I woot every bit wel as ye, it is no drede,

Th? apostl, whan he speketh of maydenhede,

He seyde that percept therof hadde he noon:

Work force may conseille a womman to been oon,

But consellyng is no comandement.

He putte it in oure owene juggement.

For hadde God comanded maydenhede

Thanne hadde he dampned marrying with the dede ;

And certes, if ther were no seed ysowe,

Virginitee, thanne whereof sholde it growe? & # 8221 ;

She subsequently asks where virginity would come from if no 1 gave up their virginity. Clearly, the married woman of bath? s prologue is mostly an statement in defence of her multiple matrimonies than an effort to turn out her thought that & # 8220 ; if society was reorganized so that adult females? s laterality was recognized, society would be much improved & # 8221 ; ( Wil

liams, 72 ) . Her prologue depicts adult females as “a trade good to be bought and used in matrimony, one whose economic and spiritual undertaking was to pay the debt in a society where? Al is for to selle” ( Robertson, 209 ) . However, she claims to hold control over this procedure. For illustration, her first three hubbies gave her economic security in exchange for the sexual usage of her organic structure. This “degradation of sexual life” in the civilization is greatly evoked, and supported by the Church? s bid to “pay the debt” ( Robertson, 210 ) . The married woman of bath clearly Rebels against male domination with respects to her first three hubbies but still accepts the ways in which she survives economically. Overall, matrimony for the Wife of Bath is much more than sexual pleasance ; it provides her with a “vast sense of power in the exercising of her sovereignty ; it makes her experience the godlike powers which the snake promised Eve would follow the feeding of the apple? ” ( Rowland, 358 ) . Through stubbornness, the married woman of bath declares that a married woman will accomplish sovereignty in matrimony, which is good for both, the married woman and hubby, as a adult females? s sovereignty provides for peace. She besides

sees adult females as objects and trade goods to be purchased, which is likely why she has such a great deficiency of regard for matrimony.

On the other manus, The Franklin? s Tale is one narrative which provides a narrative about a matrimony where the Torahs of courtesy regulation. For illustration, the knight in the narrative promised his married woman that he would ne’er seek to rule her or demo any signifier of green-eyed monster, and at the same clip he would obey any bid she gave him. This is projected in lines 17-22 in The Franklin? s Narrative:

& # 8220 ; Of his free wil he swoor hire as a knight

That nevere in al his lif he twenty-four hours ne dark

Ne shold upon hime take no maistrye

Again hir wil, ne kithe hire jalousye,

But hire obeye and folwe hir wil in Al,

As any lovere to his lady shal. & # 8221 ;

Arveragus and Dorigen? s love and regard for each other is evident at many topographic points throughout the class of the narrative. Dorigen reciprocates his vow to her in lines 25-32 of The Franklin? s Narrative:

& # 8220 ; She thanked hym, and with ful greet humblesse

She seyde, & # 8220 ; sire, sith of youre gentilesse

Ye profre me to hold so big a reyne,

Ne wolde nevere God bitwixe us tweyne,

As in my gilding, were outher werre or strif.

Sire, I wol be your low, twere wyf,

Have heer my trouthe, til that myn herte breste. & # 8221 ;

Therefore been bothe in quiete and in reste. & # 8221 ;

The Franklin goes on to depict the blissful felicity between Arveragus and Dorigen and goes every bit far as to state that married twosomes portion a felicity that person who isn? T married couldn? t appreciate or step. This occurs in lines 75-77 of The Franklin? s Narrative:

& # 8220 ; Who koude telle, but he hadde wedded be,

The joye, the ese, and the properitee

That is bitwixe an housbonde and his wyf? & # 8221 ;

However, subsequently in the narrative, the twosome? s felicity takes a bend for the worse when Dorigen makes a pledge of sexual intercourse to Aurelius in joke, and Arveragus makes the baronial determination to do Dorigen base by her word. While one might state the knight was foolish non to contend for his darling Dorigen, it can be argued that he knew the value of a promise and would travel to great lengths to maintain his word and award ; both of these positions were appreciated by the Franklin.

In summing up, comparing Alison? s criminal conversation and unfaithfulness to Dorigen? s faithful love to Arvegus and the married woman of bath? s attitude toward celibacy or deficiency thereof, we have seen Chaucer? s The Canterbury Tales portray the construct of matrimonies in several different ways.

Bibliography

Bennet, Henry. Chaucer and the Fifteenth Century. London: Oxford University Press,

1942. 113.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer.

Ed. F.N. Robinson. Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1933. 19-314.

Robertson, D.W. Concepts of Pilgrimage and Marriage. Critical Essays on Chaucer? s

Canterbury Tales. Ed. M. Andrew. 1st erectile dysfunction. Buckingham: Open University Press,

1991. 87-210.

Rowland, Beryl. Companion to Chaucer Studies. London: Oxford University Press,

1968. 358.

Williams, George. A New View of Chaucer. Durham: Duke University Press, 1965. 72.

Plants Cited