The “Clerk’s Tale”, Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales reflects society’s tensions. This essay will analyze “Clerk’s Tale” from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. It will place it in a sociopolitical setting and focus on the interactions of Walter and Griselda who come from different social groups.
This paper will begin by introducing the research, followed by a discussion of the methodology used to analyze the data.
The “Clerk’s Tale”, one of the stories in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “marriage group” of tales, is one of the stories. Although the stories were told by different people (the pilgrims), it is clear that Chaucer focused on marriage. Noting that the Marriage Group of Tales is one of Chaucer’s most well-known groups, it is not surprising that they are also the most criticised. The topic of marriage is still an important subject in today’s world, just like it was in Chaucer’s time. Chaucer’s Clerk character is a student at Oxford philosophy. He is regarded as one the greatest pilgrims due to his humility and diligence. The Host remarks on his meekness as a prologue. The meekness displayed by the clerk went beyond the story he is telling: Griselda also seems reserved and meek compared with Walter. It is quite satisfying to see that the clerk is a knowledgeable man and is opposed to the established power structure. He commented that it was “evil” for Walter not to test Griselda.
Because the “Clerk’s Tale”, as it is known, still has relevance in our world today. There are issues and elements that it raises about morality, power relationships between rulers and subjects and between the sexes, marriage, child rearing, freedom to speak, etc. These themes, while not universal, are almost universal in human experience. These themes transcend time and are still relevant in the postmodern age.
The theme power relations is the most prominent of all. This is evident in the “Clerk’s Tale.” The “Clerk’s Tale’s singularity is its juxtaposed depiction of the nobility with the peasantry “doing well together”. This was done to effectively highlight the “crossings of the worlds”, and to avoid (i.e. The other classes were not considered – hence the peasant girl, and the nobleman.
It is important to view the story from a socio-political perspective, given the fact that power relations remain a problem today. This essay will look at the interactions between characters of one social class and those from another.
A note about the story: without the prologue and envoy, the reader might think it is anti-feminist. The story is clearly anti-feminist even though it does not intend to be prescriptive. Chaucer is not in agreement with Chaucer’s anti-feminist story and should be considered.
On Griselda
Walter is clearly the “weaker” character than Griselda. This is because she is a lower social class woman and a female. Griselda also has the tendency to be abused, making her the second weakest character. She is, however, the main character of her fairytale. Are her wealth and stature sufficient to save them? Unfortunately, it doesn’t. It is not possible to restore a person’s dignity and soul with material wealth.
Actually, the study of Griselda’s character helps us to locate the political experience of Medieval peasantry. Her peasant experience is probably bittersweet. Peasantry was discriminated against with impunity. This is because discrimination against them can be a form denying the equality among humans. Griselda was almost certain to have developed her virtues through poverty.
Let’s start by looking at her pre-Walter. The tale’s second section features her first appearance. It is set in a poor village, and contrasts with Walter’s idyllic life. Her life was quite different from Walter’s carefree. A further indication of the juxtaposition of rich and poor is that the village is not far from “honorable” palace of the marquis.
Griselda’s story is a clich?d one. She is virtuous, beautiful and loving. Walter acknowledged these qualities. It is unfair to claim that the laity shares the same traits as hers. Griselda therefore cannot be considered a poor person in personality. But we can’t ignore the fact she comes from this social group.
Griselda showed humility when Walter asked to marry her. She agreed to a promise from Walter to do everything he asks.
Now, let’s move on to the actual cause of the conflict. Who was the person who started it? The conflict created is directed at Griselda. It is difficult that someone would create problems for their partner, even if there was no practical reason. The Marquis Saluzzo, Griselda’s husband, is the obvious culprit. This simple fact can quickly elicit an anti-feminist reaction. Griselda has the merits and actions to prove that she is stronger than the “weaker” one.
Despite the made-up trials she remained loyal her husband. Rosemary Canfield Riesman at Salem Press states that, in her feminist analysis The Canterbury Tales she continued to show her love for the man who she believes killed her children. (Canfield Riesman – Salempress.com).
Did Griselda truly “live happily everafter”? For her, the answer was yes. Her virtuousness saved her, not her social status and restored wealth. These are only temporary and earthly benefits for the virtuous. Notice her reaction to seeing her children nearing the end of her story. It is enough that Griselda sees her family complete, with her children still alive after all her trials.
Walter
Walter is often portrayed by Canfield Risman as a tyrant. But, Canfield Riesman quotes Jill Mann : “There isn’t any support for Walter’s behaviour in the narrative. Chaucer instead carefully adds to that explicit condemnations of Walter’s obsession to test Griselda.” He is known for his leisurely hunting, which is considered a noble sport. Even though he looks for immediate pleasures (as he says in the first portion of the tale), this means that he is able to have fun and not work.
Walter’s motive to test Griselda is the main question. He tells Griselda that he is not aghast or evil paid. Walter had seen Griselda as a hunter and was impressed by her virtuousness. She is also one reason he married them.
Walter’s irony adds another dimension to the tale. Griselda’s relationship with Walter can be seen in the opening of the story. Griselda has a desire to become a wife due to her father’s work, while Walter doesn’t have the desire to marry. He didn’t care about marriage and was forced into it. Walter’s attitude towards love, marriage and family should be the one that is tested. However, Griselda was tested by Walter.
He is the one who tests the other. Their relationship is stronger because he is probably the most powerful. He is the male. He also took advantage that Griselda had vowed obedience to all his orders. He can make his wife follow any order he wishes.
Another question: Would Walter also test his wife, if she were from the nobility? This is not a prescriptive question, as there is only a 50-50 chance that he will. Walter would have a lower chance of testing a nobility-married woman because she wouldn’t be able to have Walter as her husband. It is possible, however, due to Walter’s nature. What does all this suggest? It also suggests prejudice against laity as Walter may test people from the lower than upper classes.
Let us also not forget about the issue of listening to people’s concerns. You will notice that Walter was able to focus more on his personal goals than his people. They were then silenced. The shocking thing is that it was the people who moved the story’s plot first: they forced Walter to marry to ensure he had an heir. Griselda is not a target of their hatred, even though Walter said so. As mentioned in the fifth section, they were there to support her and wept with her when Walter had to take her home.
Walter had a happy ending, despite all the negative things. Walter received the greatest gift, and this also applies to Griselda: reconciliation with their family. He was not the one who saved Griselda. Her own virtues had already saved her. Griselda might be compared as a fairytale queen, but Walter isn’t a Prince Charming. This is because he was the one who tempted her for personal reasons.
Marriage and Society
The symbolism of the social class relationship can be found in Walter’s and Griseldas marriage. It is often frustrating to see the classes at odds with each other, even though it might seem so. It is clear that tensions between social strata has been evident since the dawn of human history. The upper and lower classes have, just like marriage, unbreakable relationships with one another, even though there might be obvious differences.
Let’s take the marriage as an illustration: Walter comes to us from the upper-class, while Griselda hails from the lower. Walter (upperclass) makes an attempt to reconcile his feelings with Griselda. He also obeyed the call of the people and married her, which suggests he listens to laity concerns. Walter is best described this way. However, this ability diminished after he got married and planned to test Griselda. He shifts his focus from the needs of his people to his personal affairs, which led to his “need” for his wife to test him.
The situation does indicate that people need to be able to tell if they are loyal to their lords, especially in the context Medieval society. The test is meant to assess loyalty but it also reveals a more fundamental fact: the people do not trust the lord. This is where the problem between them begins to emerge. Testing reveals that the person who does the testing is the most powerful (the higher class). This is the same as what happened to Walter and Griselda. Walter holds all the power necessary to control his wife. He even made her swear to obey him. This holds almost true for both upper and low classes. The upper classes have more resources to “pacify” their lower counterparts: they can exercise more political control, are more wealthy, and receive better education. However, the upper classes are more scared of the lower classes because they lack a collective effort.
In conclusion,
The “Clerk’s Tale”, despite being written centuries ago, is still interesting to read. It shows that both the upper and lower classes are still “under the vow of marriage”. Although the boundaries are still clearly drawn, the relationship remains intact.
As it has been said, morality is the determining factor. Who should have the ability to judge the virtue of another person’s character? Walter or Griselda should be tested? Who can subjugate another? This essay argues that no less virtuous person should judge a better-mannered fellow, and that the social and political power of a person does not logically allow them to abuse the less-enabled. The absurd trials of Griselda shows her humbleness. It is still questionable whether literature can be analyzed in a sociopolitical perspective. Morality is the underlying issue.
Works cited
Rosemary Canfield Riesman. Salempress.com. “A Feminist Perspective On The Canterbury Tales.” Salem Press, n. d. Web. 1 Oct. 2010.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Canterbury Tales & Other Poems.” Ed. D. Laing Purves is the author. gutenberg.net. Project Gutenberg, Nov. 2000. Web. 1 Oct. 2010.
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