Hood College Chaucerians

Thow and thy ofspring evere shul be blake, Ne nevere swete noise shul he make, But evere crye again tempest and rain, In tokeninge that thrugh thee my wif is slain. (299- 302)

Cecile answerede, ‘O nice creature, Thow seidest no word, sin thow spak to me, That I ne knew therwith thy nicetee, And that thow were, in every manner wise, A lewed officer and a vein justise. (493-497)

“Thre dayes lyved she in this torment, And nevere cessed hem the feith to teche That she hadde fostred; hem she gan to preche,” (Lines 537-539) This is the mosaic above the altar in the crypt of St. Cecilia

There are A LOT of things happening in this tale, but underneath it all, is this a tale about trusting fortune or faith?

He nolde no swich cursednesse observe. Ivel shal have that ivel wol deserve; Therefore with wilde hors he dide hem drawe, And after that he hang hem by the lawe. (631-634) Versus (From general prologue) And sikerly she was of greet desport, And ful plesaunt and amiable of port,... She was so charitable, and so pitous (137-138/143) Tenor gif Keyboard

"This mirour eek, that I have in myn hond, Hath swich a myght that men may in it see Whan ther shal fallen any adversitee Unto youre regne or to youreself also, And openly who is youre freend or foo." (Lines 132-136)                                                                     oncepodcast.com

Of sondry doutes thus they jangle and trete, As lewed peple demeth comunly Of thinges that been maad moore subtilly Than they kan in hir lewednesse comprehende; They demen gladly to the badder ende. (220-224)

This was set up to be the best tale yet, but then it barely got started at all. :( In at the halle dore al sodeynly Ther cam a knyght upon a steede of bras, And in his hand a brood mirour of glas. Upon his thombe he hadde of gold a ryng, And by his syde a naked swerd hangyng; And up he rideth to the heighe bord.  (80-85) So there’s my quote. 

For now goth he ful faste imagining If by his wives cheere he mighte se, Or by hir word apercieve, that she Were chaunged; but he nevere hir koude finde But evere in oon ilike sad and kinde. (598-602)

"But now of women wolde I asked fain If thise assayes mighte nat suffice? What koude a sturdy housbond moore devise To preve hir wifhod and hir stedfastnesse, And he continuinge evere in sturdinesse?" (Lines 696-700)   "Patientia (Patience)" Peter Brugel the Elder 1556-1557 From a series "The Seven Virtues" 

Oh my... the Friar is soooo ready to dig into the Summoner for all of his faults, but is he ready to get it thrown back at him? I have read the Summoner's tale before, but I can's remember all of the details of it...and now that I've gotten much better at reading and understanding middle English, I cant wait to read the response to the Friar. It's about to be a roast fest... The Friar is making the Summoner out to be a super horrible person; after all, can anyone who makes a deal with the devil really be a good person? (Bearskin from the German fairytale being the exception...) I mean, honestly, he calls the Devil his brother! From my understanding of the general prologue, neither of these men are exceptional Christians; so, if the devil takes the Summoner down to hell in the Friar's story, I can't wait to see what happens to the Friar... (btw isn't it funny that he gets called out by a poor old lady!)

What is the correlation between the Wife of Bath's Prologue and her tale? Would one be less impactful without the other?                                                                               The Ugly Duchess, Quentin Mastsys 1513

'Women desiren to have sovereintee As wel over hir housbonde as hir love And for to been in maistrye him above.' (1038-1040)

The Man of Law's Tale was not what I was expecting it to be. Although, religious justice is a theme throughout, it was not the "justice" I had in mind. In contrast to the other tales we have read, it is very different. It has conventions like the Knight's Tale, but instead of the tale being riddled with romantic medieval tropes, it is full of familiar religious narratives and iconography. In my opinion, this tale resembles a sermon. The Man of Law embeds his tale with Christian iconography to reinforce his own personal moral and religious beliefs. Looking at this tale in a broader perspective, it is clear that in Chaucer's world religious conflict was a very real issue, and this tale emphasizes his worldview. I still cannot decide if I like this tale or not. It is filled with death and suffering, but the outcome of it all, ends up being something good. Cantigas de Santa Maria 13th Century Alfonso X

"And up the window dide he hastily, And out his ers he putteth prively, Over the buttock, to the haunche-bon." Pp. 139 (3801-3803)

Whan Nicholas had doon thus everydel, And thakked hire aboute the lendes wel, He kiste hir swete, and taketh his sautrye And playeth faste, and maketh melodye. (3303-3306) Pinterest.com