Theme: Social Significance of The Canterbury Tales contents

3.Story and Storyteller

The connection between story and storyteller is a crucial part of what makes The Canterbury Tales unique. The layer upon layer of storytelling involved is staggering and often hilarious. Geoffrey Chaucer is the author, yet Chaucer the pilgrim is the narrator, and while Geoffrey Chaucer's tales are excellent examples of narrative and poetry, Chaucer the pilgrim's poetry fails to satisfy, and his narrative is long and tedious. Most of the storytellers tell tales that match their personality or social status in some way. For example, the Second Nun tells a story about a virgin martyr; the Knight tells a romantic tale of love and battle; and the Wife of Bath, who has been married five times, tells a story about what women want.
The connection between storyteller and audience are also important in the Tales, as the occasional angry eruptions or approving responses indicate. These responses between pilgrims stand in for the real audience that Chaucer lacked but may have imagined. Although he wrote his tales in the common tongue of his fellow citizens, the day when the printing press would let his stories be widely distributed had not yet dawned¹¹. The pilgrims' responses also allow Chaucer to provide a running commentary—a sort of Greek chorus—about each tale as it is told. Not all tales have a response, however. Chaucer's intended order of the tales is uncertain, and interpretations of the interactions between tellers and tales have differed over the years.
Rivalry
The theme of rivalry is introduced by the storytelling competition, but this game is just one example of many rivalries in The Canterbury Tales. There are rivals in love, fighting for the same woman; storytellers who try to get back at or outdo one another in insults; and rivals in trickery who try to outsmart one another with their tricks. Although Harry Bailey intends the storytelling game to be friendly, many of the rivalries seem to bring out the worst in people. In the Knight's Tale, Palamon and Arcita, in competition for Emily, give up their bond of brotherhood and engage in violence as a result of their rivalry. Similarly, the rivalry between young and old men that is a feature of several tales comes to no good, and the rivalry between some members of the company—such as the Miller and the Reeve—threatens the jolly mood of the pilgrims

The miller's tale is one of the bawdiest in the collection but is among those most often anthologized due to the brilliance of the plot & its seamless execution.

Among the best-known tales are the Miller's, the Nun's Priest's, and the Wife of Bath's although many of the others are of equal quality. The Miller's Tale is a fabliau, a form of French literature usually bawdy, satiric, and misogynistic in that wives especially, and women in general, are depicted as lusty, unfaithful, and devious. The French fabliau is among the genres the writer Christine de Pizan (l. 1364-c. 1430 CE) objected to in her work, and she would have no doubt extended this criticism to The Miller's Tale if she had known of it. This story is one of the bawdiest in the collection but is among those most often anthologized due to the brilliance of the plot and its seamless execution
The Miller tells his tale in response to the knight's tale of romance, love, chivalry, and the ways of fortune. The Miller's Tale features the dim-witted John the Carpenter, his young wife Alisoun, the scholar Nicholas who rents a room from them, and the parish clerk Absolon. Nicholas and Alisoun are frustrated because they have no opportunity to consummate their affair since John is always around so Nicholas convinces John that a second Great Flood is coming soon and the only way to prepare for it is to suspend three wooden tubs by ropes from the ceiling of the house which they will each sleep in every night; when the Flood comes, they will float easily to safety¹². John installs the tubs and, when it is time for bed, all three climb into their respective tubs, John goes to sleep, and Nicholas and Alisoun go back downstairs and to bed.
At this same time, Absolon has been pining for Alisoun and has gotten her to agree to giving him a kiss, but when he raises his face to the bedroom window, Alisoun sticks her behind out and he kisses that. Nicholas and Alisoun laugh at Absolon who runs off to get a hot poker for revenge. He returns and asks for another kiss, and this time Nicholas puts his behind out the window, farts in Absolon's face, and Absolon jabs him with the poker. Nicholas screams for water as he races through the house, and this wakes John who thinks the Flood is upon him, cuts the ropes, and plunges to the floor, shattering his tub and breaking his arm. The neighbors hear all the commotion and come running to help but, after hearing the story, they dismiss John as crazy.
The Nun's Priest's Tale is a fable on the dangers of pride and flattery set in a farmyard. The proud rooster Chauntecleer has a dream that his life will be threatened by the fox, Daun Russel. He tells the dream to his wife, Pertelote, who dismisses it and tells him to go about his business as he always has or else he will lose the respect of the hens in the yard who so admire him. One day, Chauntecleer is out for a walk and Daun Russel comes by and flatters him, asking if he will sing him a song in his beautiful voice. Chauntecleer closes his eyes, stretches out his neck, and opens his beak to crow when the fox snatches him up in his jaws and runs into the woods. The whole barnyard follows in pursuit and Chauntecleer suggests to Daun Russel that perhaps he would like to pause to tell them their hope is lost and they should go back. When the fox follows this suggestion and opens his mouth, the rooster flies up onto a tree branch and escapes.
The Wife of Bath is the best-known character from The Canterbury Tales and her prologue is better known and most often cited than her tale. She has traveled all over the world, has had five husbands, and recognizes that God has given everyone something they are best at and, for her, it is sex. She talks about each of her husbands and about her travels, ignoring or dismissing the complaints of some of the pilgrims who want her to get on with her tale, and makes it a point to highlight how she was the master in each of her marriages.
Her tale then picks up on his theme as she relates the story of a knight of King Arthur's court who rapes a maiden and is sentenced to death. Queen Guinevere intervenes and tells the knight he will be pardoned if, in a year, he can return and tell her and her ladies what it is that women want most of all. The knight accepts these terms and leaves, spending the next year asking women what they want the most, but all the answers are subjective (money, honor, nice dresses, freedom). He is on his way back to court when he meets an old woman who says she knows the answer to his quest and will tell him if he promises to grant her a favor, which he does. Back at court, the knight tells the queen and her ladies the answer: what women want most is mastery over their husbands. Guinevere and her court agree and the knight is freed.
The pilgrims take their turn telling stories, argue, & interrupt until the parson tells the last tale just as the sun is setting.
The old woman then requests her favor: she and the knight are to be married instantly. The service is performed, and the couple goes to their new home. That night, the woman asks the knight which he would prefer, that she remain old and ugly but be faithful or become young and beautiful but cause him always to doubt her loyalty. The knight answers that whichever choice pleases her most is fine with him, and the lady, satisfied that she has mastered her husband, becomes the young and beautiful bride but promises to also be faithful.¹³
The pilgrims take their turn telling stories, argue, and interrupt, some so drunk they cannot speak or fall off their horse, until the Parson tells the last tale just as the sun is setting. His speech is not a tale but a dissertation on the Seven Deadly Sins and the value of a penitent heart. He points out that human beings the world over are all pilgrims, traveling between birth and death and going on to the afterlife. While he speaks, the sun goes down, and the party approaches a town for the night. The work then ends with The Retraction in which Chaucer repents for all his major works, including The Canterbury Tales, and hopes God will forgive him.