The Canterbury Tales: Analysis and Comparison of Two Essays
"The Knight's Tale and Trecento Italian Historiography" by James H. McGregor appears in a book of essays on Chaucer and Boccaccio. In this essay, author McGregor cites his belief that Chaucer's "Knight's Tale" is based on the Italian "trecento" or history writing, along with some influences from Boccaccio's "Decameron" and "Teseida," along with Dante's Inferno. McGregor writes, "In looking at the background of the Knight's Tale then, Dante's view of history must be considered and so must the later vision of Boccaccio's Decameron" (McGregor 213). McGregor then summarizes the history in Dante's work and Boccaccio's works to help give some credence to his claims. He compares the "Knight's Tale" with these two works, showing areas that would seem familiar to Italian readers if they encountered Chaucer's work. In fact, Chaucer's knight tells the tale of Theseus, and so does "Teseida," which indicates how heavily Chaucer's work was influenced by Boccaccio. The author notes, "The central critical issue raised by the Knight's Tale becomes one of deciding how we are to interpret Chaucer's juxtaposition of the Knight's history with Boccaccio's story of Theseus's failure" (McGregor 220). He also notes that Chaucer introduces a histori
Gruenler next discusses the "Prioress' Tale" a story of religious devotion and violence against the Jews. During this time, England was fighting France in the Hundred Years' War, and England had suffered some very costly defeats at the hands of the French. Gruenler writes, "I would suggest that Chaucer is finding his way, through the fallibility of the Prioress, to an understanding of how religion requires victims, so that the persecution of Jews can be seen as a victimization in which all Christians participate" (Gruenler 35). The author believes this violence, that occurred in London and throughout the country, inspired Chaucer to write some of the tales in "The Canterbury Tales" as a treatise against violence and war. " Each of the tales is humorous or satirical in some way, and one essay discusses new fragments of the manuscript that contained differences in the accepted version of some of the stories. Gruenler continues, "Girard's formulation of the social meaning of the Passion provides a powerful tool for unfolding Chaucer's engagement with the Gospels and his times" (Gruenler 35). Both make note that other works clearly influenced Chaucer, and they note that the humor Chaucer was so good at creating did not exist in the previous works. Author Gruenler makes his point by first giving background on Christian beliefs during Chaucer's time, especially the beliefs surrounding the Gospels. Ultimately, the author believes the tale is satirizing religious piousness that often condones violence in the name of religion. The essays also shed light on Chaucer's influences on his writings, and compare his writings with other historical works, indicating their similarities. Both of these essays bring up aspects of "The Canterbury Tales" that casual readers might not recognize or understand. He cites another author who clears up the link between Christ and violence. The tale talks about the boy's religious devotion and his miraculous survival, but it also satirizes the religious devotion of the Prioress herself. Instead, McGregor believes the tale is really about force and control and that the knight's story really shows that "the attempt to control human behavior through force is misguided" (McGregor 223). Thus, desire creates violence, and Chaucer uses the tales to show this linkage and his aversion to violence.
Common topics in this essay:
Knight's Tale,
Author Gruenler,
Prioress Gruenler,
Canterbury Tales,
War England,
Fragment VII,
Tales Chaucer's,
Boccaccio's Decameron,
France Gruenler,
Chaucer's Chaucer,
knight's tale,
gruenler 35,
canterbury tales,
author believes,
boccaccio's decameron,
human violence,
author notes,
religious devotion,
inspired chaucer,
epic poem,
canterbury tales epic,
tales epic poem,
ultimately author believes,
|
Acceptance Essays
