The Wanton Cynic in The Merchant's Tale
The Merchant's Prologue and Tale presents the darkest side of Chaucer's discussion on marriage. Playing off both the satire of the moral philosopher, the Clerk, and the marital stage set by the Wyf of Bathe, the Merchant comes forth with his angry disgust about his own marital fate. Disillusioned and depraved, the Merchant crafts a tale with a main character who parallels his own prevarication and blind reductionism while he simultaneously tries to validate his own wanton life by selling his belief to the other pilgrims. As both pervert reality through pecuniary evaluations on different levels, however, both are exposed to be blind fools, subject to the very forces that they exert on others. As this reversal happens and the Merchant satirizes Januarie blindness, Chaucer reveals the Merchant's blindness, giving him the very significance that he had spent his whole tale trying to deny.
Januarie falsifies and destroys import as he loses himself in his "fantasye", reducing reality to objects that he believes he can mold to his own lustful imagination. Thus, he simplifies and subsumes all else under currency or property. Indeed, he exhibits the very traits of his narrator, a merchant-someone who purchases merchandise only to turn around and sell it at a profit. Januarie, therefore, concerns himself with the worth of an object rather than the object itself and, as he tries to find a bride, quite literally tries to shop for the girl who will become his wife:
"Heigh fantasye and curious bisynesse
Fro day to day gan in the soule impresse
Of Januarie aboute his marriage.
Many fair shap and many a fair visage
Ther passeth thrugh his herte...
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... tale it preveth weel'" (2424-25). He quickly returns to his own good sense, though, as he jokes, "'eek my wit suffiseth nat therto,/ to tellen al, wherefore my tale is do'" (2439-2440). Ultimately, the Merchant's desperation to sell discloses his own stunted emotional capacity.
The Merchant's revealed nature, however, combats the very destruction of creation and individual that he tried to attain. As the Merchant tries to subsume the reality of marriage, love, and relationship under his own enviously blind view, Chaucer shows us another individual, significant and important in his own way. Instead of acting as a totalizing discourse, Chaucer uses the Merchant's tale to reveal his depraved envy and to reveal him as no more than a wanton cynic. Thus, Chaucer provides the very perspective that the Merchant tries to steal from his audience.
During the early 1800s, two parties were developed having different perspectives on government and the Constitution. The Democratic Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, were always characterized by following the strict construction of the constitution. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, were characterized by following the broad construction of the constitution. The presidencies of Jefferson and Madison proved this characterization to be somewhat accurate. Although the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists did support their own ideas and views, they also did many things that contradicted them.
As the philosophical beliefs of the Democrat- Republican and the Federalist Party evolved, many changes sprung in U.S. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison became loose interpreters because of the different obstacles and opportunities they faced along their way. On the other hand, Federalists somewhat became strict constructionist because that is what benefited them at that time. The characterization of the two parties from the early 1800s was not any longer accurate and a new society evolved.
The references that Januarie makes to images of being bound are as menacing as his private determination that on their wedding night he "wolde hire streyne". His plan to be such a physical power in the marriage is suffocating. Not only does he want to dominate physically, but his spiritual dominance in the relationship is unfair as May's views are not considered and she speaks very little.
The Chesapeake region and New England colonies greatly differed in their development of their two distinct societies. The Chesapeake region was a loosely fitted society with little connection with each plantation while the New England colonies had tightly knitted communities with a sort of town pride. The difference in unity and the reason for this difference best explain the significant disparity between the dissimilar societies.
In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” Geoffrey Chaucer masterfully frames an informal homily. Through the use of verbal and situational irony, Chaucer is able to accentuate the moral characteristics of the Pardoner. The essence of the story is exemplified by the blatant discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the message of his story. By analyzing this contrast, the reader can place himself in the mind of the Pardoner in order to account for his psychology.
The United States, as a young nation, had the desire to expand westward and become a true continental United States that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Various factors, strategic and economic, contributed to the desire to expand westward. According to John O’Sullivan, as cited by Hestedt in Manifest Destiny 2004; "the U.S. had manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence to the free development of our yearly multiplying millions" (¶2). As Americans ventured westward to settle the frontier, their inherent superior beliefs, culture and the principles of democracy accompanied them. America’s ruthless ambition to fulfill its manifest destiny had a profound impact on the nation’s economy, social systems and foreign and domestic policies; westward expansion was a tumultuous period in American History that included periods of conflict with the Native Americans and Hispanics and increased in sectionalism that created the backdrop for the Civil War.
However, after hearing his tale it is quite shocking about his frankness about his own hypocrisy. We know that he bluntly accuses himself of fraud, avarice, and gluttony, all things that he preaches against throughout this tale. It is in lines, 432-433 that the Pardoner states, “But that is not my principal intent; I preach nothing but for convenience.” It is here that we truly begin to learn that The Pardoner’s Tale is merely an example of a story that is often used by preachers to emphasize a moral point to their audience. That is why, this tale in particular helps to comprehend Chaucer’s own opinions, and how he used satire to display them.
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in the East Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City, New York. He was named after Túpac Amaru II, an Incan revolutionary who led an indigenous uprising against Spain and received capital punishment. His mother, Afeni Shakur, was an active member of the Black Panther Party in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Shakur was born just one month after her acquittal on more than 100 charges of "conspiracy against the United States government and New York landmarks" in the New York Panther 21 court case. Although officially unconfirmed by the Shakur family, several sources list his birth name as either "Parish Lesane Crooks" or "Lesane Parish Crooks". Afeni feared her enemies would attack her son, and disguised their relation using a different last name, only to change it three months or a year later, following her marriage to Mutulu Shakur.
In The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the stereotypes and roles in society are reexamined and made new through the characters in the book. Chaucer discusses different stereotypes and separates his characters from the social norm by giving them highly ironic and/or unusual characteristics. Specifically, in the stories of The Wife of Bath and The Miller’s Tale, Chaucer examines stereotypes of women and men and attempts to define their basic wants and needs.
Pablo Picasso was fostered for creation, his love for the work he did and for the people he shared it with led him to be the most dominant artist of the 20th century. The foundation for Picasso’s successful life was set early on. He was brought into this world by mother, Maria Picasso Lopez (Bernadac and Bouchet 18), and father, Don Jose Ruiz Blasco (Cabanne 1), on October 25th in 1881, at 11:15 p.m. (Bernadac and Bouchet 17). It was a difficult birth and Pablo was a weak baby, so weak the midwife believed he was a stillborn (Pablo Picasso Biography 8). It was his uncle who realized he was alive, he blew cigar smoke in Pablo’s face to see if the baby would react; when he scowled they all knew Pablo was alive (Pablo Picasso Biography 8). Pablo
“The Miller’s Tale” perfectly incorporates all of the necessary components that make up a winning tale. In Chaucer’s, The Canterbury Tales, “The Miller’s Tale” fully satisfies every rule required by the Host, in a humorous and intriguing way. He uses the misfortune of the characters to grasp the reader’s attention, and keep him or her interested throughout the story. In the tale, Chaucer includes the idea of religious corruption happening in England during the fourteenth-century. He takes this negative idea and manipulates it into comedic relief by making both Nicholas and Absalom clerks. The actions of those characters, who were supposed to be revered due to their religious position, proves Chaucer’s negative view of the Catholic Church in England at that time. Through Chaucer’s incorporation of fourteenth-century religious corruption,
In the Middle Ages, when The Canterbury Tales was written, society became captivated by love and the thought of courtly and debonair love was the governing part of all relationships and commanded how love should be conducted. These principles changed literature completely and created a new genre dedicated to brave, valorous knights embarking on noble quests with the intention of some reward, whether that be their life, lover, or any other want. The Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, accurately portrays and depicts this type of genre. Containing a collection of stories within the main novel, only one of those stories, entitled “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, truly outlines the 14th century community beliefs on courtly love.
Chaucer, in his female pilgrimage thought of women as having an evil-like quality that they always tempt and take from men. They were depicted as untrustworthy, selfish and vain and often like caricatures not like real people at all. Through the faults of both men and women, Chaucer showed what is right and wrong and how one should live. Under the surface, however, lies a jaded look of women in the form that in his writings he seems to crate them as caricatures and show how they cause the downfall of men by sometimes appealing to their desires and other times their fears. Chaucer obviously had very opinionated views of the manners and behaviours of women and expressed it strongly in The Canterbury Tales. In his collection of tales, he portrayed two extremes in his prospect of women. The Wife of Bath represented the extravagant and lusty woman where as the Prioress represented the admirable and devoted followers of church. Chaucer delineated the two characters contrastingly in their appearances, general manners, education and most evidently in their behaviour towards men. Yet, in the midst of disparities, both tales left its readers with an unsolved enigma.
Picasso Changed the Way We Look at Art "There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterwards you can remove all traces of reality." -Pablo Picasso Picasso had not always been so enlightened with the fact that there was more to art than the eye could see. During the course of his ninety-one year life, Picasso encountered many ideas and people that helped form the wonderfully talented and brilliant artist in history. Picasso was born Pablo Ruiz on October 25th 1881, in Malaga, Spain. His father was a inspiring artist while his mother took care of the house. Picasso had shown a great artistic talent in his early childhood years. At 14 years old, Picasso adopted his mother's less common name. Changing Ruiz to Picasso. Shortly after this event, Picasso had finished his one month qualification exam into the Acadamy of the Arts in Barcelona. The only exceptional thing about this was that Picasso had done this in one day. Picasso stayed with the acadamy for three years, before deciding to move to San Fernando where he would then attend the Acadamy of San Fernando until the turn of the century. Picasso then joined up with the group of aspiring artists. Pablo Picasso was probably the most famous artist of the twentieth century. During his artistic career, which lasted more than 75 years, he created thousands of works, not only paintings but also sculptures, prints, and ceramics, using all kinds of materials. He almost single-handedly created modern art.
Pablo Picasso was a very famous artist in his time. I have always found his work very interesting and unique. He has a style all his own and, I believe that this was what made him so famous and at the same time controversial. The painting I have chosen is called “Gertrude”.