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Moral in jofrey Chaucer canterbury tales
Analysis of the physicians tale
Chaucer as a moralist in Canterbury tales
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Dishonesty and Hypocrisy in The Physician's and Pardoner's Tales
Chaucer presents characters in the Physician's and Pardoner's Tales who are very similar to each other in one important way. Although the characters seem on the surface to be mirror images of each other, they have an important underlying similarity: both the physician and the pardoner are not what they appear to be to most people. Both are hypocritical, although they show this hypocrisy in different ways.
One way of seeing this hypocrisy, in the case of the physician's tale, is to examine the way the similarities and differences between the knight Virginius and the physician himself in terms of what he sees as moral actions. It seems fairly clear that the physician identifies himself with Virginius during the telling of the tale. One of the main ways in which the physician identifies with Virginius is by sharing his concern for Virginia's future state of virtue. He shows his concern with Virginia's future by speculating on whether she will continue to be "a thousand foold moore vertuous" than she is beautiful -- as she is at the beginning of the tale -- when she "woxen is a wyf" (VI.40; VI.71). Virginius shows his concern for his daughter's virtue by killing her rather than allowing her chastity to be compromised; the physician shows that he believes it necessary for a father to guard his daughter's virtue in a long comment (VI.71-104) describing a father's duty to have his daughter watched over by governesses, or "maistresses" (VI.71).
The most important way in which Virginius differs from the physician -- and the physician clearly does not see this -- is in the moral application of the tale. The physician clearly intends for the ta...
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...uthority or to skim beneath the surface of the tale, as is shown by the hostility of the host. Harry Bailly does not respond to the pardoner's accusation that he is "moost envoluped in synne," but merely appeals to force in threatening the pardoner.
Neither achieves the result that he wants, and the reason for this failure in each case is his general failure to be honest, either with others (in the case of the pardoner) or with himself (in the case of the physician). For this reason, Chaucer pokes fun at both of them in subtle ways throughout their tales.
References
Benson, C. David. Explanatory Notes to "The Physician's Tale" in The Riverside Chaucer. General Ed. Benson, Larry D. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales in The Riverside Chaucer. General Ed. Benson, Larry D. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
This first quote that is featured from the pardoner's tales ending is, “He took a bottle full of poison up And drank; and his companion, nothing loth, Drank from it also, and they perished both.” (Chaucer 179). Another quote that features and displays this tales amazing ending, “They fell on him and slew him, two to one. The said the first of them when this was done. ”(Chaucer 179).
Toswell, M.J. "Chaucer's Pardoner, Chaucer's World, Chaucer's Style: Three Approaches to Medieval Literature." College Literature 28.3 (2001): 155. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Feb. 2011.
Boardman, Phillip C. "Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400)." Enduring Legacies: Ancient and Medieval Cultures. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson Custom Pub., 2000. 430-54. Print.
In "The Pardoner's Tale", three drunkards portrayed as obtuse simpletons, ultimately decline penance through their lack of contrition, and thus receive a deathly consequence. Inebriated, "they started in their drunken rage/ Many and grisly were the oaths they swore,/ Tearing Christ's blessed body to a shred;/ 'If we can only catch him, Death is dead!'" (Chaucer 251). Their blasphemy towards Christ further diminishes the characters while their sense of logic is mocked - for the slaying of Death is impossible. Evident in their actions and declarations, the drunkards lack the mental acuity required to prevent them from retribution. Additionally, in their search for Death, they fail to recognize gold as the surrogate, and thus bypasses the offer of penance. Choosing to continue with their immoral subterfuges instead of apportioning the gold, they proceed closer towards retribution. Furthermore, when the yo...
From The Riverside Chaucer, Third Edition. Ed. Larry D. Benson, Ph.D. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. Chaucer, Geoffrey. A. The Canterbury Tales.
In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Jane uses the novel to show the common day romance of the time period. In the novel, Elizabeth Bennet, a sophisticated, lively girl manages to change Mr. Darcy, a cocky, stubborn man into a person who is head over heels in love. Although it takes her some time, Elizabeth is able to change the way Mr. Darcy feels about love in general and causes him to act differently then he has ever done before. Mr. Darcy’s self- discovery in response to Elizabeth Bennet’s blunt honestly allows him to re-evaluate his approach to love.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Knight’s Tale.” The Canterbury Tales. Trans. R.M. Lumiansky. NY. Bantam, 2006. 19-63.Print
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. In the Riverside Chaucer. Larry D. Benson, ed. Boston: Houghton, 1987.
other from Mr Darcy. Mr Darcy is a wealthy man who is a friend of Mr
The first of these devices, his straightforwardness and matter-of-factness regarding the Pardoner’s hypocrisy, is used first to appall his readers, and then to cause them to take a second look at the church in their own society. Chaucer knew that most of his audience lacked the ability to fully understand his views, but he hoped that by using this device he could plant seeds of reason in them that would lead to reform of corruption he saw among church officials like the pardoners.
The text is Pride and Prejudice which is about the ups and downs of the connection/relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. The person who changes the most throughout the novel is Mr. Darcy who changes for the affection of Elizabeth. The first copy of Pride and Prejudice was published in 1993 by Wordsworth Editions Limited. Jane Austen is the author and the genre of the novel is Historical/Romance. The book looks at Mr. Darcy and changing his personality, which characters remain static through the book, what Jane Austen is trying to say about the period of time the novel is set in and why Jane Austen has so many characters that stay the same all through the book.
(2) Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales edited by M.H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2001). All future references will come from this text.
Rights of Man. She was a true believer that education for women would not only allow women to
Mitchell, J. Allan. (2005). Chaucer's Clerk's Tale and the Question of Ethical Monstrosity. Studies in Philology. Chapel Hill: Winter 2005. Vol.102, Iss. 1; pg. 1, 26 pgs
As we read on, we see a change in Darcy, and feel that his heart of