2. The Wife of Bath's Tale is considered by some critics to indicate that Chaucer may have been a feminist. Why might they believe this? Do you agree? Remember to cite evidence from the text or some other source.
3.Hahn's essay (see critical reader)onThe Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle identifies the motif of the loathly lady, but arguesit has a different purpose than asserting the feminine. What does he think the function of the story is?
4. In the context of Elizabethan and Jacobean sonnets, how can we define "conceits"?
5. Discuss what you think is the most striking or outrageous example.
6. What does Revard (1997) suggest about the relationship between language, sex, power and transgression in the English Renaissance?
1. Cite some variations in the Loathly Lady fabula across the three tales in your Reader. Focus on the conditions by which the lady is either beautiful or ugly, and the actions of the knight/king/”here”…
ReplyDeleteHi guys, I want to answer about question 1. These stories which ‘The wife of Bath’s Tale’ and ‘The wedding of sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle’ involve expressions about appearance of an ugly woman who is the main character of these stories. I think these expressions show that people have thought of women’s appearance importantly as it does in modern society. However, two tales have described in slight different ways. For example,
As The wife of Bath’s Tale,
“There can no man imagine an uglier creature.” (999)
“For though I am ugly, and old, and poor,” (1063)
“his wife looked so ugly” (1082)
As The wedding of sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle,
“Her face was red, her nose running
Her mouth wide, her teeth all yellow.
Her eyes were bleary, as large as balls,
Her mouth just as large.
Her teeth hung out of her lips,
Her cheeks were as broad as a women’s hips.” (P.10)
As you can see from the examples, ‘The wife of Bath’s Tale’, only used ‘ugly’ to express a loathly lady in the tale. But on the other hand, ‘The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle’ has described in detail about the look of loathly lady. It expressed various parts of her face, such as color of her face, status of her nose, size of her mouth, color of her teeth, size of her cheeks and also about her eyes. I think this show the criticism, not only about the appearance-oriented views of men but also about the appearance-oriented views of society.
-Reference
Hahn, T. (Ed.). (1995). The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle. In Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications.
Chaucer, G. (c.1390). The Wife of Bath.
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DeleteJust like you said people have thoughts that women’s appearance is important in modern society. It is so unfair to women. In the past, women lived in a subordinate position, but now, men and women are equal.
DeleteIn modern society, whether to make a friend or look for a job, most people will focus on your appearance at first, and then to assess your ability, especially for women. Some positions are only prepared for the beautiful one. So, what should a beautiful woman have? Pretty face, svelte figure or something else? I am not sure, but clearly, only having pretty face and svelte figure is not enough. Beauty should be an inner thing, such as rich knowledge, warm-hearted, confidence and so on. When we judge others, we should not just judge from the appearance, or only show how shallow we are.
I totally agree with your words. The current generation has changed, which is contrary to the content in the writing. There is a focus on outward appearance but, as you said, a person's inner qualities are considered more important, and people are evaluated and judged differently these days. You cannot know about a person simply from their looks, and society no longer ignores you on the sole fact that you're a woman. This generation is a generation of equality between men and women, and women's status in society is increasingly getting higher. Society no longer accepts discrimination or ignorance against women. We have a right to live in a society where men and women are equal.
DeleteHi. I agree with your opinions, but I think that the standard of beauty is able to be different from each situation. For example, there is a famous figure skating player, Yu-na Kim, in South Korea. She doesn't have a pretty appearance like actors. But, many people say that she has a pretty appearance, even though she doesn’t look like actors. Because she has the better ability than others in the figure skating field, her appearance also looks beautiful. To be sure, a number of people judge the appearance many times in modern society. But, the beauty is sometimes judged by the ability.
DeleteI am one the same page with you. Of course, inner thing that you mentioned on reply is so significant than appearance, and also we should not judge a person by his roe her appearance. But, when we meet someone, we value the first impressions. So I think that above all the first thing is visually to get attracted to appearances such as style, beautiful smile, kindness for other people as well as beautiful face. Face is not everything about appearances. Even though a woman has not beautiful face, she might have a beautiful smile on her face. It makes her more attractingly. This thinking applies to society. I sure that we cannot know everything related him or her from appearances, but the appearances play important roles in personal relationship.
Delete1.Cite some variations in the Loathly Lady fibula across the three tales in your Reader. Focus on the conditions by which the lady is either beautiful or ugly, and the actions of the knight/king/"hero"...
ReplyDeleteThe Wife of Bath’s Tale was one of the stories of The Canterbury Tales. It was written by Geoffrey Chaucer who is famous as the father of English poetry. This tales reflected the 14th century British social life (Geoffrey Chaucer, n.d.). The wedding of sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle was derived from the story of King Arthur that originated from the European classical mythology- Celtic mythology (Celtic mythology, n.d.).
There was a loathly lady existed in them and the last story- King Henry.In general, they are similar to each other because they told a story that when a man gave an old ugly woman what she wanted, he got a beautiful wife. However, they are not the same in detail- specially the attitude of knight or king to the loathly lady.
In the Wife of Bath’s Tale, when the knight saw her for the first time, he just felt she was an uglier creature that no man can imagine (l. 999). when the ugly woman asked him to marry her, the knight said “alas and woe is me! I know right well that such was my promise, for god’s love, choose a new request! Take all my goods and let my body go (l. 1058-1061).” Obviously, he would rather give up all his property than wed an ugly old lady. Actually, he has no other choices, so he had to marry her even if she was his damnation. At this moment, his heart was filled with woe because his wife looked so ugly (l. 1082). Faced with his wife, “great was the woe the knight had in his thought (l. 1083).” However his wife always smiled. Knight complained that too ugly as his wife was, and too old, too low born lineage she have. He felt he should not suffer the treatment like this (l. 1100-1103). At the end of tale, the knight gave the right to his wife, and then loathly lady became a beautiful young girl. Knight was very pleased to saw this scene and hugged his wife, at the moment he felt he was surrounded by happiness (l. 1250-1256).
In my esteem, this tale emphasized on the sovereignty of woman has. But for a man, he also cared about the appearance of his wife. Otherwise, why he was so unwilling to marry an ugly woman, he would rather give up all his property. If he has the second way to choose, I think he will never marry her.
You're right. As you said, if he did not marry her, he would not have been able to marry a beautiful, young woman. I think rather than judging physical appearance, they valued and considered the importance of character. Many people only focus on what they see, and make judgments based on physical appearance. However, when they realise that it is wrong, they find themselves in regret. It is difficult to know a person's character or personality from the very beginning. Even so, we must look at a person's character rather than their appearance.
DeleteKnight doesn't have the right judgment. I think that all of the smiled people are beautiful, though they are very ugly. But, Knight complained her appearance, although she smiled every time. Nowadays, I think that a number of people are more focused on the smiled appearance than on the pretty appearance. Many people are able to judge the personality through the smile. That is the reason why the smiled appearance is different from how much a person is smiled for life. When Samsung employs the staff, it is focused on the smile of people in the interview (“채용 담당자가 전하는 ‘삼성맨’ 될 수 있는 비법은?,“ 2012).
DeleteReference
채용 담당자가 전하는 ‘삼성맨’ 될 수 있는 비법은?. (2012, March 14). Donga.com. Retrieved from http://news.donga.com/3/all/20120314/44761194/1
The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
ReplyDeleteBefore analyze this tale, I would like to mention the Knights of the Round Table (King Arthur, n.d.) ordinance because I think their attitude to the loathly lady is closely related to their ordinance.
To never do outrage nor murder.
Always to flee treason.
To by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy.
To always do ladies, gentlewomen and windows succor.
To never force ladies, gentlewomen or widows.
Not to take up battles in wrongful quarrels (King Arthur, n.d.).
In this tale, it is mainly about the feeling of King Arthur to loathly lady. King Arthur surely marveled because no words can describe her appearance which the lady he met in Inglewood that was the ugliest creature he ever seen before (p. 76). When King Arthur got require of loathly lady, he felt he suffer in a disaster, his heart heavy and sad (p. 78). He said, “I moan. I am woebegone (p. 79).” Yet, he still gentlemen to ask the name of loathly lady with urge tone and wish her have a good day (p. 78). The attitude of sir Gawain was not obviously, he just said that for his honored king, he will wed loathly lady without hesitate even if she as foul as Beelzebub because this is his duty as a knight (p. 79).
From this part, I think it reflects the loyal of Sir Gawain and embodied a kind of knight spirit.
King Henry
This is a very short tale, the loathly lady in this tale looked like a fiend that came from hell. Each huntsman escaped with frightened. She put forward many cruel requirements and King Henry satisfied her one by one although his heart was full of sore. When the lady asked him to swear that took her for his bride. He said, “Oh God forbid.” I think she didn’t hear what he says, and then she became a fair woman because he was the only one who satisfied all her requirements with a courteous (p. 83).
References
Geoffrey, Chaucer. (n.d.). Geoffrey Chaucer. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://baike.baidu.com/view/73787.htm
Celtic mythology. (n.d.). Celtic mythology. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://baike.baidu.com/view/526154.htm
King Arthur. (n.d.). King Arthur. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://baike.baidu.com/view/10631.htm
Geoffrey, Chaucer. (c.1390). The Wife of Bath.
Hahn, T. (Ed.). (1995). The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle. In Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications.
Steeleye Span (1972). King Henry. In Below the Salt. US: Shanachie.
2.The Wife of Bath's Tale is considered by some critics to indicate that Chaucer may have been a feminist. Why might they believe this? Do you agree? Remember to cite evidence from the text or some other source.
ReplyDeleteI don’t agree with them. Some of critics indicated that Chaucer may have been a feminist because in The Wife of Bath's Tale, we can find the rights of women exceed men in many aspects. For example, the knight was condemned to be dead because of he raped a woman. “By course of law, and should have lost his head (l. 892).” The Queen and other ladies prayed the king for grace, and then the king gave knight to the queen for which she can decide his life (l. 894-898). The rights of queen and ladies exceed the law. We can also find it out from the answer. “What is the thing that most women desire? (l. 905)” It is the sovereignty. The women want to be in mastery above their husband and love (l. 1038-1040).
But in other words, who gave the rights to women? Obviously, their husbands. Even if a woman can achieve all her wishes, the sovereignty was still hold in man’s hands. The king gave rights to his wife and the knight gave rights to loathly lady to decide whether she is beautiful or ugly. The writer, in female’s view, describes the status between male and female in marriage. In woman’s view, if she got mastery in her husband, she would be beautiful and young. In the past, women lived in a subordinate position, they wanted to get attention from their husbands. In my esteem, as a wife, the thing that she most desire is the whole-hearted love of her husband rather than the sovereignty in marriage. Just like loathly lady in the tale, she said, “I would not for all the metal, nor for ore. That under earth is buried or lies above. Have anything except that I were thy wife, and also thy love (L1064-1066).”
References
Geoffrey, Chaucer. (c.1390). The Wife of Bath.
Gai, Y. M. (2005). Journal of ChiFeng College (Soc. Sci): The Anti-Feminist Tendency in the Wife of Bath’s Tale, Retrieved May 1, 2012,from http://wenku.baidu.com/view/d491cc287375a417866f8fa9.html
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ReplyDelete2.The Wife of Bath's Tale is considered by some critics to indicate that Chaucer may have been a feminist. Why might they believe this? Do you agree? Remember to cite evidence from the text or some other source.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with Chaucer may have been a feminist. The Wife of Bath`s Tale was written in the late middles ages, between 1387 and 1400, by Geoffrey Chaucer (libraries.com. n.d.). The background of The Wife of Bath`s Tale is in king Arthur`s time and a knight raped a maiden. Following the law, he was condemned to be killed. But the queen of King Arthur asked him for giving the final say that kill or save him. “So long prayed the king for grace” (L.895), “To choose whether she would him save or put to death” (L.898). I think even though the queen has a right to kill him, she gained this power from king of Arthur. That is not natural right.
Also “What thing it is that women most desire”(L.905). The queen proposed to fine what women the most want. The knight tried to find the answer, one day, he met an old hag and he explained this problem to her. “If you could teach me, I would well repay you. Pledge me thy word here in my hand, she said” (L.1008, 1009). After that, finally, the knight said the answer to the queen. “Women desire to have sovereignty. As well over her husband as her love, and to be in mastery above him” (L. 1038~1040.). I think the reason that the writer written the answer like that is a woman lived in last middle age, the medieval period for women, have not any rights as a women and human being. “There is very little that she does that is truly revolutionary or empowering for women of her time”. (Articlemuriad.com, 2006) So women desire to have sovereignty. That does not means female chauvinism. MY personal think is The Wife of Bath`s Tale has nothing with feminism, just appeals that women want to improve theirs right as human being,
Reference
Articlemyriad.com (2006). Feminist Analysis of the Prologue for the Wife of Bath (Canterbury Tales). Retrieved May 8, 2012 From http://www.articlemyriad.com/feminist-analysis-prologue-wife-bath/
Librarius. (n.d). The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale. Retrieved May 8, 2012 From http://www.librarius.com/canttran/wftltrfs.htm
Geoffrey, Chaucer. (c.1390). The Wife of Bath.
Or maybe we can analyze it from the society background and life experience of Chaucer to improve he was not a feminist.
DeleteIn the context of Elizabethan and Jacobean sonnets, how can we define "conceits"?
ReplyDeleteThe sonnet is is regarded as the general fixed-form poem in English. Both Wyatt and Surrey introduced this form in England in the middle of 1500s. They helped to make it popular through their translations and imitations of the Italian poet Petraarch's (1304-74) sonnets published in Tottel's Miscellany (1557). It was the introductory and extremely persuasive anthology of verse in modern English (Asarnow).
"The sonnets meter is iambic pentameter, its length 14 lines. Petraarchan, or italian sonnets are divided by their rhyme scheme into an octave and a sestet of lines (abba abba in the octave, and a variety of patterns in the sestet, such as cde cde, or cdcdcd)." The Shakespearean, or English sonnet at times follows an octave and sestet style to understand its development of concepts. In these two kinds of sonnets the thought builds in the octave and generally "turns" (prefers to take a different new direction) in the sestet, although in English sonnets, the concept frequently includes in particular subsequent quatrain and only "turns" or is concluded in the couplet. Every now and then the sonnets ''turn" is recognized as its volta, Italian for turn (Asarnow).During the Renaissance period the sonnets were frequently based on extended metaphors known as conceits. They used figurative languages, for example metaphors, similies, personifications and hyperboles. Some other simple themes, for example, the conflict with love includes the mutable ways of life because of the influence of time and the related dependability on art in time as compared with the limitation of existing things. The ideal example of love conventions of the Petrarchan sonnet were greatly present in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. They were considered partly as a sentimental reference point, because at that time numerous poets wrote lengthy varieties of sonnets. Therefore, a lot of sonnets depict:
1. A miserable love relationship, and love as a battle or war or competition.
2. A lover who is courteous, generally depressed husband of his fair one.
3. Stock love-agony imagery-eyes that shines more brightly than the sun, bright pearl like teeth, glances that kill or excites the lover, eyes beaming light, etc.
4. A lover who frequently at the end unable to succeed in study, art, or war (suitable activities for courtiers). (Asarnow).
In the Renaissance era and subsequent century the poets usually preferred to use literary conventions, structures and rhetorical structures. But they could not create something completely new by using the name of "uniqueness" or being "imaginative"- the new aesthetic that the Romantics of the beginning of the 19th century disagreed with. However, Alexander Pope- the famous poet of a certain period before the Romantics described this prior aesthetic in his poem An essay on criticism:according to him the aim for the poets was to belief and write 'What oft was thought, but ne'er well expressed." (Asarnow)
Reference
Asarnow, D. (n.d.). The Elizabethan (&jacobean) Sonnet. Retrieved May 30,2012, from http://faculty.up.edu/asarnow/324/Sonnets03.htm
1.Cite some variations in the Loathly Lady fabula across the three tales in your Reader. Focus on the conditions by which the lady is either beautiful or ugly, and the actions of the knight/king/"hero"...
ReplyDeleteA ugly woman appears in ‘The wife of Bath`s Tale’ and ‘The wedding of sir Gawain and Dame Rannelle’.
“Save on the green he saw sitting a woman. There can be man imagine an uglier creature” (L.998, 999). “For though I am ugly, and old, and poor” (L. 1063). The knight found a woman who has old and ugly appearance when he passes a forest. The ugly woman answered that she knows the answer to the question. So, the night came back to a palace with the ugly woman. Due to her help, he saved his life. I think that that is the action of hero because the ugly woman helped the knight under the circumstances.
“There he met with a lady. She was the ugliest creature. That a man ever saw. Her face was red, her nose running, her mouth wide, her teeth all yellow. Her eyes were bleary, as large as balls,,,,,,,” (Hahn, 1995, p.10). Even though, in this story, he marries the woman who is ugly and needy, he takes a full responsibility as a wise man and sincere husband. By appearing the ugly woman, his personality stands out more.
References
Chaucer, G. (c.1390). The Wife of Bath.
Hahn, T. (Ed.). (1995). The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle. In Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications.
1. Cite some variations in the Loathly Lady fibula across the three tales in you Reader. Focus on the conditions by which the lady is either beautiful or ugly, and the actions of the knight/king/”hero”…
ReplyDeleteGeoffery Chaucer is the greatest poet of the middle ages in England and is called the Father of English poetry (Doopedia, n.d.). As the last work of Geoffrey chaucer, the canterbury tales consist of the 24 stories. One of them is the wife of Bath’s tale, which gives the insight of the women in the middle age. It is called “the first marriage group story” (Yeyoung, 2008).
The similarity between “The wife of Bath’s tale” and “The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell is to mention the appearance of the loathly lady.
In “The wife of Bath’s tale”,
“..Save on the green he saw sitting a woman.. (L. 998)
There can no man imagine an uglier creature. (L.998)”
“For though I am ugly, and old, and poor (L. 1063)”
“So woeful was he, his wife looked so ugly (L. 1082)”
In case of “The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell”
“She was the ugliest creature. That a man ever saw. King Arthur surely marveled. Her face was red, her nose running, Her mouth wide, her teeth all yellow. Her eyes were bleary, as large as balls, Her mouth just as large. Her teeth hung out of her lips, Her cheeks were as broad as a woman’s hips (Hahn, T. 1995).”
Reference List
Chaucer, G. (c.1390). The Wife of Bath.
Doopedia, n.d. Geoffrey Chaucer, 1343~1400. Retrieved June 17, 2012 from http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=171670
Hahn, T. (Ed.). (1995). The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle. In Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications.
Yeyoung, 2008. The Canterbury tales 중 the wife of bath’s tale. Retrieved June 17, 2012 from http://blog.naver.com/yeyoung8831?Redirect=Log&logNo=80052059850