The Clerk's Tale (With Elements Of Religious Allegory?

Clerk’s Tale

Folk Tale (With elements of religious allegory)

Walter, Griselda ‘The Clerk’s Tale” starts out with a king does not wish to marry, but agrees to do so when he is asked to by his council. They wanted him to have an heir. He agrees and marries a lower class woman by the name of Griselda, only if she would do whatever he asked both with grace and happiness. Years later, he decides to test this agreement. He takes away their first child, and she does not get upset. He takes away their second, and she still does not get upset. Then (for the last test), he pretends to marry another girl. The “bride to be” is really her daughter, but she helps her get ready anyways. It has been about five years from when the second child was taken so

This was the first to not only have mutual respect, but also mutual love. Saying that, it seems strange to think that it came from the Franklin of all people. The next best (but still awful) marriage tale is “The Clerk’s Tale.” The reasoning for choosing this one is that it deals with actual love (Walter did not have to choose a lower class wife), nobody was made a cuckold, and everyone lived happily ever after. “The Shipman’s Tale” and “The Merchant’s Tale” are pretty much tied for third place. To me, both stories are very similar; tales where the “blind” husband is made a cuckold of by one of his close friends. The reason why the Wife of Bath’s prologue is last is because she seems so unhappy. The fact that her tale was about her wishes, proves that she is not content with her life. She has yet to be loved as more than just a pretty face or a wealthy noble. This tale is known for the “Dorigen’s Complaint,” where she talks about all of the women through history who have killed themselves when in a position where they might lose honor. She says, “Yet I would rather render up my life than to be faithless or endure a shame upon my body, or lose my name”(Chaucer 426). It is written to help express Chaucer’s views over the subject of marriage and honor killings. The most generous character, in my opinion, is Aurelius. Mainly because not only did he let Dorigen free from her promise when he says, “...I release into your hand all

Mainly because I really enjoy a tale that explains the origin of something in the world today. In this case, it was the black crow. This tale is very rhetorical because the teller constantly references his knowledges of the arts or mythology to try and impress the other pilgrims; even though he uses them in poor context. He says, “Here Solomon is in accord, with David in his psalms, and Seneca too” (Chaucer 484). Most of the allusions or metaphors he uses are not pertinent to the plot at all. The central warning is to watch what you say and that some secrets are meant to be kept. The crow was just mindlessly repeating whatever he heard, which is not how one should go through life. You must learn to “hold your tongue.” The crow should be punished because it was not his business to tell Phoebus at all. The central warning could also have to do with these lines about a bird that you want to keep caged, “Freedom is what it sets it heart upon” (Chaucer 479). This means that no matter how much you love and try and shelter someone, what they want most is to be free to do what they want. This goes along with “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” where her only wish is to make decisions for herself. This tale proves that trouble comes from quarreling by having Phoebus only getting angrier when he argues with the crow about the validity of his statements.”O wicked thief, now I shall pay you for you lying tale!” (Chaucer 483). He gets more and more worked