The Summoner's Tale Character Analysis

I’m Sorry, Excuse Their Anal Behavior They Had Issues as Toddlers:

A Psychoanalysis of The Anal Stage of Development effects in “The Summoner’s Tale”.

Can one’s experiences as a toddler affect their personalities later on in life? According to the Freudian psychosexual stages of development this reigns true. The Anal stage of development plays a huge role in defining why multiple characters like; John the Friar, Wife of Thomas, Thomas, and the Landlord’s Wife act the way that they do within the tale. The characters within the tale display either an anal expulsive personality or, an anal retentive personality, that personality is explained by their behavior and thought process. However, some of the characters display a mixture of both personalities

Which is ironic as her husband is for the most part an opposite personality. According to the actions that the Wife displays throughout the tale she has no intentions of holding any of her feelings or thoughts back. For example, when the Friar arrives at her house to see her husband, Thomas, she boldly says that “my child is deed withinne thise wykes two” (III 1852). The inappropriate statement Thomas’s Wife makes is a prime illustration that her actions are fueled by her inability to keep private matters, private, and to not discuss them unless under specific circumstances. To further this idea, the Wife of Thomas has a hard time keeping her thoughts inside, and instead feels most accomplished when she releases them as they come to her, representing anal expulsive attributes. Though Thomas’s Wife’s actions may seem bizarre, they are largely common, as anal expulsive personalities tend to “react against others attempts to restrict them by doing what they want whenever they want” (Hiriyappa). Similarly, the Wife speaks out again during the time that both men are present within the house about her frustrations with her husband and how she is able to understand that he is sick. Thomas’s Wife explains to the Friar that Thomas is grouchy and she can tell this by his lack of willingness to have sex with her; “oother desport right noon of hym have I; I may nat plese hym in

When the Friar brings forth the situation to the Lord of the Manor, the Lord of the Manor’s Wife is bewildered by it. When asked about her opinion on the situation she is disinterested and appalled by the men’s issue at hand; “how that me thynketh? Quod she. So God me speede, I seye a cherl hath doon a cherles dede” (III 22105-2206). In comparison to the Lord of the Manor who is an anal retentive character in the concept that he strongly relies on others and does not like to hold his questions or ideas back form anyone, the Friar is a mixture of both personalities and too feels strongly about the situation. Therefor it is unusual that the Wife does not show any intense feelings or actions that would draw her out to be either anal retentive or anal expulsive. The reason behind this may be that she had no developmental issues during her anal stage as the “anal personality arises during the time when the superego is formed, a fixation at this stage can lead to a highly moralistic and overly controlled personality style” (Albert, Abrams, Abrams 113) and she does not demonstrate a strong personality. Therefore, the Lord of the Manor’s Wife may be viewed as ‘normal’ when compared to the rest of the characters within the tale. Another aspects that sets her