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Essay about Chaucers Canterbury Tales - 2379 Words

Chaucers Canterbury Tales After reading explications of Chaucers Canterbury Tales, a student is likely to come away with the impression that the Franklin is the critics favorite punching bag. To the average reader in the modern English-speaking world, the Franklin comes across as surprisingly fair-minded and level-headed, noteworthy as the man kind and inventive enough to resolve the marriage cycle with a tale of decency and openness. The critics, however, often depict the Franklin as a man primarily concerned with upward mobility, finding in his tale a number of remarks intended to win over the nobility and subtly assert his own claim to a kind of nobility. The contrast between the fawning Franklin of certain critical approaches and†¦show more content†¦Marxist critics look for social and economic themes in a work, ones of which the author was unaware because the authors own consciousness is affected by the system of production in which he or she lived (157). This critical stance is particularly fit ting when one approaches the Canterbury Tales: Chaucers conscious emphasis on social class, combined with a modern readers lack of familiarity with the economic conditions of Chaucers work, requires almost any explicator of Chaucers work to indulge, to some degree, in Marxist criticism. In her essay The Franklin as Dorigen, Susan Crane blends Marxist and feminist approaches to point out links between the Franklin and the heroine of his tale. The heroine of romance, she notes, occupies an insecure position in society. Noble by birth, and therefore superior to the common run of people, she is nevertheless still a woman, in a society which marginalizes women (Crane 238-239). The superior/subordinate position of Dorigen, Crane says, is an echo of the Franklins own unclear status as a possible member of the gentlemanly class. Like the woman of nobility, the Franklin stands at the boundary between authority and submission (240). For Crane, a key element in the Franklins choice of tale is his role as vavasour. Small land-holders of this sort often appear in Old French romances, depicted as peaceable, hospitable men disinclined toShow MoreRelatedChaucers The Canterbury Tales1381 Words   |  6 PagesThe Canterbury Tales serves as a moral manual in the Middle Ages. In the tales, Geoffrey Chaucer portrays the problems of the society. For instance, Chaucer uses the monk and the friar in comparison to the parson to show what the ecclesiastical class are doing versus what they are supposed to be doing. In other words, it is to make people be aware of these problems. It can be inferred that the author’s main goal is for this literary work to serve as a message to the people along with changing theRead More Chaucers Canterbury Tales2103 Words   |  9 Pagesbe forever immortalized as Geoffrey Chaucer the writer, and the Satirist. The true goal of any Satire is to point out the flaws in certain aspect of soci ety, while also inspiring reform to that very same aspect in one way or another. In Chaucer’s Canterbury tales, Chaucer satirizes the corruption Catholic Church and those associated. Chaucer saw that hypocrisy polluted the pureness of the church and expressed his disillusionment through the use of satire. Fearless of discommunication Geoffrey ChaucerRead MoreEssay on Chaucers The Canterbury Tales927 Words   |  4 PagesChaucers The Canterbury Tales In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer comments on moral corruption within the Roman Catholic Church. He criticizes many high-ranking members of the Church and describes a lack of morality in medieval society; yet in the â€Å"Retraction,† Chaucer recants much of his work and pledges to be true to Christianity. Seemingly opposite views exist within the â€Å"Retraction† and The Canterbury Tales. However, this contradiction does not weaken Chaucer’s social commentary.Read MoreGeoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales1030 Words   |  5 PagesGeoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is a collection of several tales that are all told by different characters and all convey different messages. The story presented in the general prologue is that a group of pilgrims is traveling to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket, and during their journey they take turns telling tales and talking about themselves. Chaucer uses the pilgrims to express his beliefs, about religion , marriage, social class, and many other topics. One of the pilgrims is the MancipleRead MoreMarriage In Chaucers The Canterbury Tales1709 Words   |  7 PagesIn Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, a group of traveling pilgrims on their way from London to Canterbury pass the time by telling each other stories and tales. A handful of the tales are on the topic of marriage, most notably The Miller’s Tale, The Wife of Bath’s Tale and The Merchant’s Tale. The Miller talks about his wife and marriage poorly in his prologue and his tale is just as cynical. The Wife of Bath reveals in her prologue that she has had five husbands, something that was frownedRead MoreChaucers Canterbury Tales741 Words   |  3 Pagesreference to one of The Canterbury Tales discuss, what means Chaucer uses to create the highly individualized (and often comic) characters and how successful is his creation. The Friar from The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer was a master at creating highly individualized characters who are often comic and realistic at the same time and always have good traits as well as bad ones. The aim of this essay is to demonstrate this ability on the example of the Friar from The Canterbury Tales who is one of theRead MoreEssay on The Pardoners Tale of Chaucers The Canterbury Tales1482 Words   |  6 PagesThe Pardoners Tale of Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales is a structured novel which starts with the narrator obtaining twenty traveling companions at an inn. They are all traveling to Canterbury to pay homage to a saint. On their way, these colorful individuals decide to make the trip more bearable by having a story telling contest. Each will tell one story on the way to Canterbury, and one story on the way back. The winner will be decided by the innsRead MoreChaucers Society in Canterbury Tales815 Words   |  4 Pages Chaucers society represents every social class. In doing so, it shows what it takes to actually make a society function. The different people carry different stories to share. These stories carry lessons learned in hopes of sharing them with others so that they may not end up in the same predicaments. After all, that is the main point of sharing stories, isnt it? In the Nun and Priests tale, a story of never trusting a flatterer is told. The Pardoner tries to sell indulgences to the pilgrimsRead More Chaucers The Canterbury Tales: The Parson’s Tale Essay2219 Words   |  9 PagesChaucers The Canterbury Tales: The Parson’s Tale The critical acclaim for The Canterbury Tales as a whole is matched by the puzzlement over the work’s conclusion, the â€Å"Parson’s Tale† and Chaucer’s retraction. By modern standards, it hardly seems the â€Å"merry tale† the Parson promises his audience, and after the liveliness of much of the rest of the Tales, it appears to close the work not with a bang, but a whimper. However, this does not mean that the tale and retraction aren’t worthyRead MoreEssay Immorality in Chaucers Canterbury Tales1646 Words   |  7 Pagesambiguity are two concepts that will ruin any relationship. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, he specifically illustrates through his pilgrims’ stories some comical and realistic events that display immorality in the Middle Ages. There are several characters whose stories are focused on presenting the immorality within their tales. Like that of â€Å"The Miller’s Tale,† and â€Å"The Merchant’s Tale.† Chaucer utilizes these tales to display one specific immoral act, which is sexual sin or lust. Chaucer

My Papas Waltz Analysis free essay sample

As I listened to â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† being read aloud I felt a connection to it; a connection that I did not feel when I read it to myself. When I heard the poem aloud I was able to connect it my own life and the drunken â€Å"waltz† of a hard working father taking his son to bed. The performance added to the poem because it brought the words to life. I am a hearing learner so listen to the poem made it easier for me to comprehend it. However the performance did not change my perception of the poem. Before hearing it aloud I understood that it was the story of a father putting his son to bed. Hearing it aloud just made it easier to understand the emotion and the love of a hardworking man and his son. The verses that stuck out the most to me in this poem are 12-15 â€Å"You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt. We will write a custom essay sample on My Papas Waltz Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page (Roethke, 2010) I am not sure why this line stuck out to me but as I watched my children and thought about our own hard working man (my husband) granted he does not drink but he still has that waltz. It is the waltz of a tired man that still musters the energy to tuck his children in bed.

Return Of The Native Essays - Thomas Hardy, The Return Of The Native

Return Of The Native The entire opening chapter of The Return of the Native is devoted to a lengthy description of Egdon Heath, the setting of the novel. The heath must be significant in terms of the themes and the continue progress of the novel. The author of the novel, Thomas Hardy, made the heath so significant to the point that it can be look upon as a character like any other in the novel. The heath's constant correlation with the plot and its ?personality? even transformed it into the major antagonist of the story. In the opening chapter the heath is introduced just as how a major character of most novels would be introduced with detail. In fact, the way Hardy devoted the entire first chapter just to describe it gives it the level of importance that is over any other characters in the book. This seems to suggest that the heath is like the ?ruler? of the story, it is the King, and it is more powerful than any person is. The heath demonstrates the idea that fate is more powerful than the desires of individuals. This theme can be seems throughout the novel. The biggest effect of this theme is on Eustacia. The fact that Clym delayed sending his letter to Eustacia, coupled with the fact that Captain Vye unwittingly kept the letter from Eustacia until it was too late, suggests that perhaps destiny is against her. It is under the downpour of the rain, on the rugged heath where Eustacia laments her fate. Eustacia's own remark, ?how destiny is against me!? (354) and ?I have been injured and blighted and crushed by things beyond my control!? (354) affirm the existence of such a force, the power of fate. On Egdon Heath, night and darkness comes before its ?astronomical hour? (11). This presents the idea of Egdon Heath's unchangeable place in time. This early arrival of darkness gives Egdon Heath a sense of gloom. Dominance of darkness is clearly ominous and Hardy also says of the heath that it could ?retard the dawn, sadden noon?and intensify the opacity of a moonless midnight to a cause of shaking and dread? (11-12). It is also inferred that the Heath itself creates the darkness ?the heath exhaling darkness as rapidly as the heavens precipitated it? (12). This description of the Heath gives it not only a human like, but in fact, a monster-like quality. We see an image of a giant creature of darkness breathing out darkness. The atmosphere or tone created here is verging on evilness. The Heath is as hostile as it is gloomy. The place is ?full of a watchful intentness?for when other things sank brooding to sleep the heath appeared slowly to awake and listen? (12). The Heath is personified as some sort of nocturnal predator and in the later progress of the novel, we see that the Heath is indeed hostile, perhaps ?indifferent? would be the appropriate adjective, to the characters. Mrs.Yeobright's journey across the Heath after being turned away by Eustacia comes to mind. The conditions of the Heath under which Mrs.Yeobright makes her journey is described as ?a torrid attack? (260) and ?the sun had branded the whole heath with its mark? (260). ?Brand? suggests pain and possibly torture and we find this is not far from the truth when Mrs.Yeobright makes her ill-fated return journey. However, the Heath is at its most hostile and cruel in darkness. It is in the middle of the night that the climax of the tragedy is reached, as Eustacia commits suicide amid the ferocity of the storm. In the opening chapter there is a forewarning of this, as we learn of the Heath that ?the storm was its lover and the wind its friend? (13). As mentioned before, it is appropriate to describe the Heath as 'indifferent'. There is a feeling of helplessness that runs through the novel, as the characters fall prey to chance or fate. The tone is ironic, because we are watching the actions of the characters with superior knowledge. For instance, Clym's blaming himself for his mother's death is ironical: he does not know the conditions responsible for it and he is unaware that his