Summary and Analysis of The Monk's Tale (The Canterbury Tales)
Prologue to the Monk's Tale:
When the tale of Melibee ended, the Host said that he'd give up a barrel of ale to have his wife hear the tale of Prudence and her patience, for she is an ill-tempered woman. The Host asks the narrator his name, and attempts to guess his profession perhaps a sexton or other such officer, or a wily governor. The Monk will tell the next tale, a series of tragedies.
Analysis
Chaucer uses the prologue to the Monk's Tale as one more opportunity for satiric, self-referential comedy. Within the story he is a necessarily opaque character. Significantly, the Host assumes that Chaucer is, at best, a mid-ranking government official and not an artist capable of constructing a landmark piece of literature such as the Canterbury Tales.
The Monk's Tale:
The Monk's Tale is not a strict narrative tale as are most of the other Canterbury Tales. Instead, it chronicles various historical characters who experience a fall from grace. The first of these is Lucifer, the fair angel who fell from heaven to hell. Next is Adam, the one man who was not born of original sin, but lost Paradise for all humanity. Samson fell from grace when he admitted his secret to his wife, who betrayed it to his enemies and then took another lover. Samson slew one thousand men with an ass's jawbone, then prayed for God to quench his thirst. From the jawbone's tooth sprung a well. He would have conquered the world if he had not told Delilah that his strength came from his refusal to cut his hair. Without this strength his enemies cut out Samson's eyes and imprisoned him. In the temple where Samson was kept he knocked down two of the pillars, killing himself and everyone else in the temple. The next tale is of Hercules, whose strength was unparalleled. He was finally defeated when Deianera sent Hercules a poisoned shirt made by Nessus. The Monk then tells the tale of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon who had twice defeated Israel. The proud king constructed a large gold statue to which all must pray, or else be cast into a pit of flames. Yet when Daniel disobeyed the king, Nebuchadnezzar lost all dignity, acting like a great beast until God relieved him of his insanity. The next, Balthasar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, also worshipped false idols, but fortune cast him down.
The black women’s interaction with her oppressive environment during Revolutionary period or the antebellum America was the only way of her survival. Playing her role, and being part of her community that is not always pleasant takes a lot of courage, and optimism for better tomorrow. The autonomy of a slave women still existed even if most of her natural rights were taken. As opposed to her counterparts
While it may appear to be a simple story on the surface, as with the novel, the latest film adaptation of ‘Moby-Dick’ as a two-part miniseries is more complex than what appears at face value to be just a simple whaling narrative. Although they may not be glaringly obvious, just as they were in the novel, included in the miniseries are a number of themes made relevant for an audience of the twenty-first century, which in turn give the miniseries a considerable level of complexity. These themes, including ideas of the conflict between vengeance and rationality, fate and the use of free will, the supernatural, the humane sides of people, and the place of man in nature all arise from the creative decisions made within the film, especially in areas of dialogue, acting, editing, and the use of special effects.
Ever since knowledge of fracking has entered the common domains, people have been bombarded with arguments for or against the process. Fracking is a process in which a drill is used to drill into the earth and extremely high-pressure water, combined with sand and chemicals, is used to force natural gas out of the ground to be used in any number of ways. The article being analyzed in this instance is firmly within the anti-fracking camp. Unfortunately, the article is also very much unreasonable mostly for the lack of evidence for its claims.
Black women's experiences and those of other women of color have never fit the private -public model. Rather than trying to explain why Black women's work and family patterns deviate from the alleged norm, a more fruitful approach lies in challenging the very constructs of work and families themselves. ("Native")
The monk receives some scathing sarcasm in Chaucer’s judgment of his new world ways and the garments he wears “With fur of grey, the finest in the land; Also, to fasten hood beneath his chin, He had of good wrought gold a curious pin: A love-knot in the larger end there was.” (194-197, Chaucer). The Friar is described as being full of gossip and willing to accept money to absolve sins, quite the opposite of what a servant of God should be like. Chaucer further describes the friar as being a frequenter of bars and intimate in his knowledge of bar maids and nobles alike. The friar seems to be the character that Chaucer dislikes the most, he describes him as everything he should not be based on his profession. The Pardoner as well seems to draw special attention from Chaucer who describes him as a man selling falsities in the hopes of turning a profit “But with these relics, when he came upon Some simple parson, then this paragon In that one day more money stood to gain Than the poor dupe in two months could attain.” (703-706, Chaucer). Chaucer’s description of the pardoner paints the image of a somewhat “sleazy” individual “This pardoner had hair as yellow as wax, But lank it hung as does a strike of flax; In wisps hung down such locks as he 'd on head, And with them he his shoulders overspread; But thin they dropped, and stringy, one by one.” (677-681,
In this paper, I will try to describe and compare the lives of African American women around the time of World War II, a period of great change in the U.S., with their lives today. Due to the enormity of this subject, I am limiting my scope to the discrimination and the resulting economic hardships African American women in particular have endured.
as brown as is a berry." (P 120 line 211) This shows that the Monk spends
The purpose of writing this paper is to inform one of the struggles African American women had to endure not only from the Europeans, but from their own people. The lifestyle of African American women in the Black community will be described in detail. Not only will this paper examine the struggle for equality, it will show how gender roles played a...
The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales is a masterpiece of satire due to the frequent use of verbal irony and insults towards the characters and their roles in society. A major source of Irony is Chaucer’s representation of the Church. He uses the Prioress, the Monk and the Friar, who are all supposed to be holy virtuous people to represent the Church. In his writing he suggests that they are actually corrupt, break their vows and in no way model the “holiness” of Christianity.
In General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales the character of Chaucer as the narrator serves as our guide to the action. Chaucer narrates as if he is in the moment himself, just meeting these pilgrims for the first time, and he makes the audience as though they are right there with him. At other times, though, Chaucer is a narrator who seems to know more than he ought to. For example, he tells us that, when the Shipman wins a fight, he murders the loser by throwing him overboard, or that the Reeve is stealing from his master. Are these really stories people would tell Chaucer when first meeting him? Chaucer also seems to know a suspiciously large amount about each pilgrim everyday lives. At these moments, Chaucer acts much more like an omniscient, or all-knowing, narrator, rather than one who's truly in the heat of the action. The reason for this choice could be that verisimilitude, or making things seem like real life, was not as important to a medieval author as it is to authors today. Instead, the narrator might choose to tell whatever he wants in order to better serve the purposes of characterization. The narrator makes it quite clear that he is also a character in his book. Chaucer creates an ‘alter ego’, a pilgrim called ‘Geoffrey’, who is the naïve narrator of the pilgrimage story, commenting on his fellow-pilgrims, and providing the links which join many of the Tales. This further extends Chaucer’s narrative possibilities, enabling him to open up another layer of opinion other than his own. In the General Prologue, the narrator presents himself as a gregarious and naïve character. Later on, the Host accuses him of being silent and sullen. Because the narrator writes down...
Summary and Analysis of The Nun's Priest's Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Prologue to the Nun's Priest's Tale: The Knight interrupts the Monk's Tale, for as a man who has reached a certain estate, he does not like to hear tales of a man's fall from grace. He would rather hear of men who rise in esteem and status. The Host refuses to allow the Monk to continue, instead telling the Nun's Priest to tell his tale. The Nun's Priest's Tale: The Nun's Priest tells a tale of an old woman who had a small farm in which she kept animals, including a rooster named Chanticleer who was peerless in his crowing. Chanticleer had seven hens as his companions, the most honored of which was Pertelote.
Abstract: There are many Analyst who would agree that the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, the whale is just half of what the novel is really talking about. They would also agree that Melville employs some sort of spiritual read by simply by providing scriptures and rephrasing verses from the Bible into the text. But what is it really about? What made Melville come up with this idea style of writing Moby-Dick? Other analyst who also asked themselves this questions, probably looked deeper into the novel doing tons of research figured out a possible solution. The solution that Melville was influenced by Shakespeare novel ‘Hamlet’ this has been established because of the allusions Melville makes to Hamlet are countless. Moby-Dick may be a contemporary version of Hamlet. This paper will illustrate how the characters of Moby-Dick counterparts with the characters in Hamlet, expanding the reason why the character in one works with the other.
Chaucer's Irony - The Canterbury Tales Chaucer's Irony Irony is a vitally important part of The Canterbury Tales, and Chaucer's ingenious use of this literary device does a lot to provide this book with the classic status it enjoys even today. Chaucer has mastered the techniques required to skilfully put his points across and subtle irony and satire is particularly effective in making a point. The Canterbury Tales are well-known as an attack on the Church and its rôle in fourteenth century society. With the ambiguity introduced by the naïve and ignorant "Chaucer the pilgrim", the writer is able to make ironic attacks on characters and what they represent from a whole new angle. The differences in opinion of Chaucer the pilgrim and Chaucer the writer are much more than nuances - the two personas are very often diametrically opposed so as to cause effectual irony.
Now to conclude the discussion one can say that the the texts by black American women became the grounds where these women fought oppression by challenging the ideas of the mainstream society.Thus the movement launched by black women did not only hold political and literary significance.The movement also had the potential to bring about a social change for the better.
The Canterbury Tales is a great contemplation of stories, that display humorous and ironic examples of medieval life, which imitate moral and ethical problems in history and even those presented today. Chaucer owed a great deal to the authors who produced these works before his time. Chaucer tweaked their materials, gave them new meanings and revealed unscathed truths, thus providing fresh ideas to his readers. Chaucer's main goal for these tales was to create settings in which people can relate, to portray lessons and the irony of human existence.