Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Lines 857-881
o Set in legendary time of ‘Kyng Arthour’ when country was ‘fulfild of faierie’
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 Arthurian fairy-tale- common trope of medieval Literature
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 Criticism to society/church- at a careful distance- clever way of satirising society at a distance
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 ‘Once upon a time’ style- associated with children’s fairy stories
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g
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 Contrasts with abrupt conversational opening of prologue
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 Blames religion for loss of romance in society
o C soon defies/undermines this- changes tone and mood early on by introducing ‘modern’ friars whose
Christianity W says drove fairies out
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 Friars swore oaths of poverty, chastity and obedience to their religious order
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 Simile and listing ‘as thikke as motes in the sonne-beem/Blessynge halles, chambres, kichenes,
boures’- emphasises view of friars as invasive plague on society
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o ‘incubus’ = malignant spirit believed to have sex with women as they sleep- highlights friars’ poor reputation
in this era
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o Critique of 2 key male figures in society- friar and knight in quick succession highlights purpose of opening to
tale = discrediting men
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 Defying conventions and using as prism to criticise men
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Lines 882-888
o ‘lusty batchelor’- can mean energetic/vigorous not just lascivious
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o W describes way one of King Arthur’s knights rapes a young maiden
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 Blunt terms ‘by verray force, he rafte hire maidenhead’
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• Rhythm stresses young women’s purity making emphasis placed on knight’s violent force all the
more shocking/immoral
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• ‘maidenhed’ = young, pure, virginity
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o A knightly romance- subverts conventions of genre as instead of honourable knight rescuing damsel in distressdishonourable knight is ‘rescued’ by foul old women
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 W deliberately makes K’s crime against women as bad as it can be to place him in worst possible moral
position and to reinforce impression this is what can be expected from all men
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Lines 889-918
o K is condemned to death but redeemed by ‘queene and othere ladies mo’
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 Fairy-tale format is in direct conflict with content and language of rape and suffering
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 Normally king would pass judgement but King Arthur submits to his wife’s will
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• But like W was allowed to continue by host- king allows queen- patriarchal bonds
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• Emphasising illogical quality of women?
• Or capacity of women to be more merciful even to those who have transgressed so greatly?
o Transaction language- contract between queen and K- carries in stylistic qualities of prologue
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o Not until K submits absolutely to be ruled by a woman (as J does) can he be redeemed and lead a happy life
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Lines 919-988
o K travels through the land on his quest but can’t find 2 people who can agree on same answer
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 Complexity of women/irrational aspect
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 'richesse’ ‘rich array’ ‘lust abedde’ ‘yflatered and ypleased’- comically links to what W desires
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 Instead of just listing possible answers- W contributes own opinion- ‘he goth ful ny the sothe, I wol nat
lye’
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 Women wish to be clean of sin- clearly emphasises idea of appearing and being- women not actually
clean but like to present themselves as pure
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 Story of Midas = Greek king and under long hair had donkey ears
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 But just commented she doesn’t think it’s worth anything for women to be praised for discretion
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• Prologue link- women’s’ gossiping nature
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Lines 989-1013
o K enters forest and encounters 24 dancing ladies who mysteriously disappear and are replaced by foul-looking
old women
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He speaks to her politely- significant contrast to how he treated maiden earlier
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 Old women makes K promise to do next thing she asks and K agrees
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 K promises without even querying how old women can know right answer- emphasises his submission
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 But has to agree as if not he will have no answer and will die
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‘plight me thy trouthe’- imperatives
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 Solemn promise to pledge to someone
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o C establishes matriarchal setting- ‘many a noble wyf, and many a mayde, and many a wydwe’
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o Lines 1023-25 slowing of pace of narrative- building suspense as K delivers answer- monosyllables and
repetition- creates sense K is intimidated/under pressure
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 W’s narrative voice comically coming through
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 Echoes W’s own personal concern- element of comedy
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o Courtly love tradition- aristocratic lady would receive attentions of courtly lover and husband
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 ‘sovereynetee/as wel over hir housbond as hir love’- W’s desire to have maistrie over both
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 What was valued in medieval period- class/status
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o Not a single woman in court disagrees with this and K is granted his life
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o ‘thy lyf is sauf; for’- C uses caesura to highlight release of tension for K
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o K is horrified- would rather do anything than marry her but agrees
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 W adds to comedy by emphasising joylessness of marriage ceremony and old woman’s sarcastic surprise
at K’s behaviour when they go to bed
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 Irony K raped young women without thought but now unwilling to have sex with his legitimate wife
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 Humorous or are we invited to feel sympathy?
o K echoes W- has to sleep with old/unattractive spouse (although was W’s choice)
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 Rhetorical questions ‘fareth every knight thus with his wyf as ye?’- richly comic tone and more
naturalistic comic dialogue
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 Comical contrast between attractive K and physically unattractive old women
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Contrasts to K’s previous courteous speech to the old women ‘thou art so loothly, and so oold’
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 ‘lough’- emphasises K’s superficial understanding of gentilesse- assumes outward poverty = inferior
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‘wo’ which W enacts on all her husbands is re-enacted in old women’s manipulation of K and his prejudices
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 Conversely K disgusted with idea of old age- C suggests marriage stages as constant sense of conflict and
potential for disappointment
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Lines 1104-1176
o Old women’s tantalising offer to ‘amende al this’- K can’t understand offer as unaware she’s supernatural
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o Another change of tone- W delays denouement by introducing a formal digression on nature of ‘gentillesse’
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 Surface meaning = social status
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o Shift from conventional chivalric romance to parody of a sermon
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 Old women can further assert her power over K as she withholds her decision to relieve his anguish until
she’s deliverer digression
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o ‘crist wole we clayme of hym oure gentillesse’- comes from God not social status
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o ‘Dantes tale’- citing Dante as an authority- argues real nobility doesn’t come from our parents since they can’t
bequeath virtuous living in the way that worldly goods can
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o Old women denies the connection between birth and behavior claiming ‘gentillesse’ comes directly from God
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 Christian argument- nobility originates from divine Creator
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 W allows old women to take full advantage of this lecture and gives her moral high ground
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o Quotes ‘auctoritees’ proving e
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’s of low born people who achieve greatness due to noble behavior
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o Draws on ancient philosophy and learning- male textual authority ‘reedeth Senek, and redeth eek Boece’
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o ‘nat biquethe, for no thing/to noon of us’- triple negation highlights finality of old women’s argument
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o Adds final dimension to W’s complex condemnation of male behaviour- by outlining what genteel behaviour
should be- emphasises ways men fall short
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 If ‘gentilesse’ is a virtue then W should be able to behave according to its principles as well as anyone
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 Projection of W’s character- enables her to get the better of yet another man
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Lines 177-1218
o Biblical exemplum of Christ himself being poor- idealised/saviour of mankind- can’t be something K accuses old
women of
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 Reformulates K’s censure into virtue using biblical references/Christian teaching to ally poverty with
virtue
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 Contrast C having old women support ‘clerkes’ with W’s derisory attitude towards clerks in her Prologue
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o ‘he that coveiteth is a povre wight’- covetousness/jealousy was 1 of 7 deadly sins- depicted as the true
transgression
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 From 1199 of ‘Poverte is’- C has old women’s lecture build in pace and tone grow more passionateemphasises that poverty is next to virtuousness so K can’t resent her for it
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o Old women adopts more teasing tone towards K ‘men sholde an oold wight doon favour’- appealing to one of
key ideals of chivalry- K transgressed before in chivalric code by raping innocent women
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o Deeply ironic- W is contradictory- virtuous living doesn’t fit with her character seen in Prologue
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 Sudden reversal of expectations- old women announces she’ll satisfy her husband carnal appetitesreverse is typical of W herself
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Lines 1219-1264
o Old women gives K a cruel choice betw having her ugly and faithful or beautiful and potentially unfaithful
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 Echoes anti-female material W put into mouths of her old husbands ‘if that she be fair…/every holour
wol hire have’
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 Feminist perspective - shows how woman are judged on their looks/can’t be both beautiful and chaste
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o ‘my lady and my love’ ‘plesance’- semantic field of courtly romance
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o ‘I do no fors the wheither of the two’- irony- K has been educated in noble behavior by a woman who is his
social inferior
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 Undoing established social order- old women achieving maistrie over her husband (W’s narrative
voice/concerns coming through)
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 Inclusion of adjective ‘wise’ may be C’s entreaty to audience to consider how apt this is- should marriage
be a state of constant conflict unless either the husband or wife is rendered utterly submissive?
 C’s views may contrast with that of his narrator and he may wish to expose her hypocrisy
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 K grants her ‘maistrie’- only then is he rewarded by her transformation into a beautiful and loyal wife
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 'bothe fair and good’- modern reader- highly problematic- K has committed awful transgression yet
being rewarded
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g
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Old women- exaggeration- K has moved in split second from misery to unbelievable happiness- ‘good and
trewe/as evere was wyf, syn that the world was newe’
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 Perhaps hopeful ending for medieval audience but unsatisfying for modern reader
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 C draws on tradition of alliterative poetry- repeating ‘h’ and ‘b’ sounds for emphasis
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 ‘Housbondes meeke, Yonge and fresh abedde’
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 W reconfigures the lady of the tale’s promise to be true and changes focus to women’s desire for a
young and obedient husband
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 C invites audience to explore W’s potential blasphemy but equally challenges patriarchal stance of
medieval Church
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 Clever use of rhyme as very first word ‘experience’ rhymes with ‘pestilence’- highlights narrative arcsuggesting that her own experience shows the need for female maistrie and that the contravention of
this control can only end in disaster
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 Or if both prologue and tale merely underline female vices epitomised in figure of irrepressible W
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 Structurally- close parallels between endings act to signify unity of the work- audience intended to see
both as continuous piece
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 Paralleling of phraseology and colloquial terms ‘God help me so’ line 823 and ‘I prey to God’ line 1242deliberate and forceful

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