The “Clerk's Tale” of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales can be considered as a mirror of society, where social classes maintain very strong tensions. visible between them. This essay will analyze the "Clerk's Tale" by placing it in a socio-political context and focusing on the interactions between Griselda and Walter, who belong to different social classes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"?Get the original essayIntroduction and analysis methodThe "Clerk's Tale" is one of the stories that form the "marriage tale group" from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Although the stories of this group were told by people (the Pilgrims) with very different personalities, it is certain that marriage is an important subject that Chaucer chose to explore. It is also important to note that the group of matrimonial tales is also one of the best known groups in Chaucer's magnum opus, if not the most criticized. Additionally, marriage is still a serious topic to discuss, just as it was in Chaucer's time; this makes the Clerk's Tale still relevant today. Chaucer's character, the Clerk, is a philosophy student at Oxford. He is considered one of the ideal pilgrims because of his diligence and humility. In the prologue, its gentleness is already observed, as the Host comments. This gentleness of the clerk even transcended the story he tells: Griselda is also gentle and reserved compared to Walter. It is satisfying to know that the clerk, as a scholar, is at odds with the established and essentially discriminatory power structure that was present in his time; he shows this when he comments that it is "wrong" for Walter to test Griselda without basis. Since "The Clerk's Tale" is still relevant in today's world, there are elements and questions it raises that still manifest in today's society: things like morality, power relations between ruler and subject and between the sexes, issues related to marriage and the education of children, freedom of expression, etc. As we have observed, all of these themes are almost, if not completely, universal to the human experience. Moreover, these questions transcend eras, because they remain concerns of the postmodern world. Among all these, the theme of power relations is the most predominant observed in the “Clerk’s Tale”. The tale itself is a mirror of the social strata of the Middle Ages: the elite of royalty and nobility, the small stratum of merchants and the large part of the laity. In fact, the unique quality of "The Clerk's Tale" is its juxtaposed presentation of the nobility and the peasantry who "go well together." To effectively emphasize the “crossing of worlds” to the audience or readers, the opposites have been placed next to each other, bypassing (i.e. without worrying about) the other classes “between” them – of where a peasant woman and a nobleman. Knowing that power relations are still an issue today and that “The Clerk's Tale” is consciously about power relations, it is necessary to situate the story in a socio-political perspective. Thus, this essay will analyze "The Clerk's Tale" by examining how characters from a specific social class interact with other characters from another class. A quick note: the story itself, without the prologue and the blurb, might make the reader think that it is essentially anti-feminist. In fact, without wanting to be prescriptive, history without a prologue and without an envoy is obviously anti-feminist. However, the prologue andenvoy must be taken into consideration, as Chaucer does not appear to agree with the anti-feminist narrative. On GriseldaGriselda is obviously the "weaker" character compared to Walter, given that she is from the lowest social class. and a woman – she is therefore doubly "weak" by the standards of the medieval power structure: she is the character most prone to abuse. Regardless, she is the main character in his fairy tale; she was the one who “needed” to be saved – but by what kind of salvation? Is the restoration of its wealth and stature enough to save it? Unfortunately, this is not the case. It is still not enough for material wealth to repair the damage caused to a person's soul and dignity. Indeed, by studying the character of Griselda, we also locate the political experience of the medieval peasantry. Most likely, his peasant life is a bittersweet experience. On the one hand, the peasantry was generally discriminated against with impunity; and discrimination against them is in itself a form of denial of human equality. In contrast, Griselda's poverty almost certainly developed her virtues. But first let's look at her state before she met Walter. She appears for the first time in the second part of the tale, whose setting (a poor village) contrasts with that of Walter's good life shown in the first part; his life was the opposite of the nobleman's carefree ways. In addition, the village would be located not far from the “honorable palace” of the marquis, which is also a manifestation of the juxtaposition of the poor and the rich. However, from the beginning, as cliché as it may seem, Griselda is presented as a “perfect” woman, although she is poor: she is virtuous, beautiful, loving and chaste. Even Walter did not deny these qualities. However, it is unfair to say that the laity have the same characteristics as hers: therefore Griselda cannot represent the poor in terms of personality. However, we cannot ignore the fact that she still belongs to this social class. Likewise, when Walter asked for her hand in marriage, the tale still proclaims Griselda's humility. When he asked her if she could promise to do whatever he told her to do, she agreed, saying, "And here I swear that never willfully/In word or thought will I disobey you …” (Chaucer, Gutenberg. net) Moving on, the conflict itself was started by another person; and for whom was the problem posed? The conflict created is of course directed towards Griselda. It is unfortunate that another person has to create a problem for his fellow man, for no practical reason. However, the most obvious thing here is that the one who caused problems for Griselda is her own husband, Marquis Saluzzo. This simple fact can easily spark an anti-feminist reaction to this story. Furthermore, the "weaker" person is the one who is tested by the more powerful person, while through the virtues and actions that the tale tells about her, Griselda is the more praiseworthy of the two. However, despite the invented trials, she remained faithful to her husband; she did not even protest the alleged murder of her children; she remained faithful to her promise. Rosemary Canfield Riesman of Salem Press also says in her feminist analysis of The Canterbury Tales: "Afterwards, she continues to express her love for the man she believes to be the murderer of her children. » (Canfield Riesman, Salempress.com) After all, did Griselda “live happily ever after”? Luckily for her, yes. It was her virtue that saved her and not her restored wealth and social status, which are only temporary and earthly things forthe virtuous. And notice her reaction when she finally sees her children towards the end of the story: for Griselda, it is enough to see her entire family, her children alive and healthy after all her ordeals. On Walter, Walter is generally seen as a tyrant, which is rather unfortunate because, as Canfield Riesman quotes Jill Mann: “There is no support for Walter's behavior in the narrative; on the contrary, Chaucer carefully adds explicit condemnations of his obsessive desire to test Griselda. (Canfield Riesman, Salempress.com) Walter is not required to represent the nobility in general in terms of personality; however, it is still important to consider that he is upper class and recognizes the power he possesses, which is linked to his social status. For example, he indulged in quiet hunting, which was a sport of the nobility of his time. Even the fact that he always seeks immediate pleasures (as told in the first part of the tale) means that he has free time to enjoy and not to earn a living. The main question about Walter's character, however, is his "mysterious" side. motive to test Griselda. Before revealing the identity of their children (in the sixth section), he tells Griselda: "Be no longer dismayed, nor ill-paid, afraid, nor discontented/... /Now I know, dear wife, your steadfastness . » (Chaucer, Gutenberg.net) However, his revelation of his motives does not explain why he had to test his steadfastness. Also note that even Walter knew of Griselda's virtue before he even married her; he observed her while hunting and sees her for the first time. Furthermore, her virtues are one of the reasons he married her. Another interesting aspect of this story is the irony displayed by Walter. Just by looking at how he and Griselda were described in the first part of the story, two important deductions can be drawn: Griselda is ready to become a wife (mainly due to her industry and concern for her father), while Walter is not ready. to be a husband (because he didn't want to get married and was just in a hurry to do so). Therefore, given his attitude towards love and marriage, it is Walter who should be tested as to whether he is steadfast in his love for Griselda, but this was not the case: it is he who tested his wife. So why is he the one who tests love and marriage? other? The most likely answer is that he is the more powerful one in their relationship. He is the male and the one who is of noble birth. Additionally, he took advantage of the fact that Griselda had vowed to follow his every order. He has the freedom to make his wife do anything. Another question is: if Walter's wife was from the nobility, would he test her as well? The answer here should not be prescriptive, as there is only a 50/50 chance that he will. Walter would have less reason to test a wife from the nobility because she would have less reason to desire Walter's wealth. However, this is still entirely possible due to the nature of Walter's character. So what does this say? Again, this suggests a bias against secularists, as there seems to be a tendency for Walter to test someone from the lower class rather than someone from the upper class. Also, let's return to the topic of listening to the concerns of one's people. Note that when Walter turned to his personal motives, he also paid less or no attention to his people. The effect is that they have been silenced. What is surprising, however, is that these were the people who were the first to move the plot of the story: they pressured Walter to get married so that he would have. 2010.