Hood College Chaucerians

"Men myghten dreden wel and skilfully This lyf to lese, myn owene deere brother, If this were lyvynge oonly and noon other." (320-322) (Jurassic Park, 1993)

And with that word it happed hym, par cas, To take the botel ther the poyson was, And drank, and yaf his felawe dynke also, For which anon they storven bothe two. (885-888) (The Lion King, 1994)

I was not expecting the Merchant’s Tale to pull me in so many different directions but he does! In the beginning of the tale, I was all on board with his long spiel about how amazing and wonderful it is to have a wife. As a wife, I know I'm pretty awesome so I appreciated the acknowledgement. But, then January (by the way, what a name!) comes into the scene and starts talking about his specifications for a wife. I mean, she can’t even be older than 20 so I guess all of us over-20s are just doomed forever. It's cool; those women didn't want to be ol' Jan's wife anyway.  After dealing with January and his lovely character, I got some major Tristan and Isolde vibes coming from May and Damian and I was all for it! And then Hades and Persephone (Pluto and Proserpina) come in!? Be still my heart. The Merchant is ticking all my fan-girl boxes. However, at the very end of the tale I had a feeling we were dipping into biblical territory with May being tempted by Damian in t...

O thyng biseke I yow, and warne also, That  ye ne prikke with no tormentynge This tendre mayden, as ye han doon mo; For she is fostred in hire norissynge Moore, tendrely, and, to my supposynge, She koude nat adversitee endure As koude a povre fostred creature. (1037-1043) Giphy.com 

And therfore may ye se that oure prayeres - I speke of us, we mendinantz, we freres - Be to the hye God moore acceptable Than youres, with youre festes at the table. Fro Paradise first, if I shal nat lie, Was man out chaced for his glotonye, And chaast was man in Paradis, certein. (1911-1917) (The Interview, 2014)

I have been waiting for the Wife of Bath and she’s here! Words cannot accurately express how much I love her. She’s one of those characters that has so much depth and it’s always so fascinating to read through all her layers to see how she became this bad-ass woman. Girlfriend is not afraid to break the mold and fit things towards her agenda. Taking Scripture and interpreting it so that she is absolved of marrying five times? That’s a bold move to just stomp on those double standards. Perhaps my favorite part after her little spiel about marriage is her actively talking about the crap women go through when tied to a man. She notes that men will often choose wives for a variety of vain reasons but then moan and gripe about her whether she’s rich, poor, ugly, pretty. Women can’t win in the world, but despite all the gender constraints on the Wife of Bath, she continues to do her thing and make the system work for her rather than against her. 

"Put simply: if you believe that public scholars are doing something that is necessary for the continuing health and popularity of our discipline, then you owe them your support when their work brings an abusive backlash." -- Sara Bond and Donna Zuckerberg "Support isn't a zero-sum game: withholding it from someone you consider privileged doesn't mean you'll have more to give to someone less privileged." -- Sara Bond and Donna Zuckerberg Quotes taken from "Whose Job Is It to Support a Harassed Scholar?" By Donna Zuckerberg

After what seems like a lifetime of dialogue and plot development between Arcite and Palamon, I am so happy to have finally heard Emelye's voice in Part 3. Up until this point, the whole debate over Emelye has been between two males who she knows nothing about. Her monologue to Diana was finally the first time we, as readers, hear what Emelye wants and her thoughts on this tug of war for her heart. She has no designs of becoming a wife or bearing children. She's content to serve her goddess, be one with nature (which is exactly what we saw her doing in Part 1) and just live out her days holding onto her virginity. It's not a lot to ask for. I already liked Emelye, and felt sorry for her in the previous Parts, but I really respected her when she beseeches Diana to give her to a man who desires her most. I think, considering the circumstances and her fate regardless of winner, her mind was in the right place in asking for a man who truly wants her as a woman, rather than a m...

'Now certes, false Arcite, throw shalt nat so! I loved hir first, and tolde thee my wo  As to my counseil and my brother sworn, To forthre me, as I have told biforn. For which thou art ybounden as a knight To helpe me, if it lay in thy might, Or elles artow fals, I dar wel sayn!' This Arcite ful proudly spak agein: 'Thou shalt', quod he, 'be rather fals than I. And thou art fals, I telle thee outrely; For par amour I loved hire first er thow. (1145-1155)

For saucefleem he was with eyen narwe. As hoot he was and lecherous as a sparwe, With scaled browes blake and piled berd; Of his visage children were aferd. Ther nas quicksilver, litarge, ne brimstoon, Boras, ceruce, ne oille of tartre noon, Ne ointment that wolde clense and bite,  That him mighte helpen of his whelkes white (625-632) Gif Courtesy of: The Fox and The Hound