The world in which the chivalric hero operates is also an "imaginative idealization" (Beer, p.22). Although the world is described in the context of contemporary paraphernalia, such as clothing, architecture, and feasts, there is "little attempt to authenticate the story in terms of actual political, geographical, or economic conditions" (Finlayson, p.5 8-9). Whereas the epic is particular to a nation and a people, the romance "is exotic, the product of a particular sophisticated group, rather than a whole culture" (Moorman, p.30). Although the world of romance was an offspring of feudalism, in romance "the feudal ethos serves no political function; it serves no practical reality at all; it has become absolute. It no longer has any purpose but that of self-realization" (Auerbach, p.134). According to Kelly, the main explanation for this is that romance "meets a need that is felt by those who want confirmation of their world as they believe and want it to exist" (Kelly, p.85). The field on which the chivalric knight performs is a dream reality; a perilous landscape affording chance encounters with unnatural foes. The miraculous surprises the chivalric knight very little—whether it be a castle appearing out of nowhere in response to a prayer, or a knight who survives beheading. The circumstances that lead to the exaltation of the chivalric hero, such as Sir Gawain, for example, differ drastically from those of the epic hero. The epic hero gets tested in physical combat against a monster or another warrior. In Sir Gawain the hero's task "is spiritual rather than physical" (Moorman, p.61). Gawain must pass all the requirements of the ideal chivalric knight in order to triumph. Yet even though Gawain fails—he lacks in loyalty, says the Green Knight—he does in a sense get exalted. Gawain's understanding and acceptance of his flawed nature, and his confession lead to "the Green Knight's absolution" (Wilson, p.206). Whether his epiphany and self-imposed penitence qualify for exaltation has been hotly debated. Charles Moorman, for example, thinks not only that Gawain is a failure, but: "What had been the tragedy of a single knight ... becomes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the failure of a whole social order" (Moorman, p.61). The differences in the conception and execution of the epic and chivalric heroes can be best explained by the change of an era. Heroic poetry was the poetry of a people on constant war-footing, fighting for survival. Taylor attributes the difference in spirit between epic and romance to a "deeply significant change in the national character," (Taylor, p.7) which moved "from national unity to feudalism, and from national warfare to civil strife and fantastic Crusades" (Taylor, p.12). Moorman attributes the knight errant to a time of peace when the knight can go questing (Moorman, p.64). There arose for the first time in western Europe a large 'leisure class' that wanted to be entertained. "The new feudalism with its leisure and highly stratified class structure demanded a new hero, a man attuned to the niceties of conduct and indoctrinated in the values of courtly life" (Moorman, p.29).
To say the least Beowulf would be considered an Epic hero of the Middle Ages if he werent a fictional character. He killed Grendel and saved the world from his rather, and also slayed the venomous dragon. In the literary text it states, "The epic hero gets tested in physical combat against a monster or another warrior." This quote would refer to the bravery and physical streght Beowulf exzuted during the battle with Grendel. And also when he managed to slay the dragon and some how brake through his gigantic fire-wall. All of this proves Beowulf as a epic hero. His fabulous adventure was leading the Geats to the Danes. And killing a monster and dragon most certainly counts as superhuman deeds. So in agreement with author Anniina Jokinen, Beowulf is a epic hero.
The author says that the Canterbury tales give a general description of medieval social life. I agree with the author because the wide array of characters allows the readers to gain a sense of the types of people.
I will agree that Canterbury Tales gives insight to the culture at the time. Chaucer encompases all the stories into one, while continuing with the overall story as well.
Yes i would have to agree with this article. He does combine elements of all classes, from nobles to workers, from priests and nuns to drunkards and thieves which shows the social life during the medieval time
Not only does Canterbury Tales include all social classes and a idea of social Life, it educates the reader on the values of Medevial times.Each character was some how described or correlated by their religon or the religon they portrayed to have, providing the reader with evidence that church was of major value to society.
I agree with Dylan on this one. When stories are written, they seem to usually include the attributes of society during that time period. This is most like what Chaucer did when writing Canterbury Tales.
I would agree with this criticism. One can see all the different lifestyles of the Medieval culture. The prologue serves as an introduction to the different lifestyles.
I agree with the author on this one. Chaucer does a great job incoorporting the time period into the novel especially in terms of the Church and hiarchy of members.
I agree with the critic when he says that Chaucer includes social classes as well as cultural evidence from the medieval period. It gives the reader a lot of insight to the culture that the book takes place in.
I would have to agree with this criticism. Mnay can see the different lifestyles of the culture within the story. The prolouge simply serves as an intro to the cultures.
I agree that Canterbury tales does a great job of giving examples of thesocial life and social classes of the Midevil times. Chaucer does indeed entertain the reader with his examples of the different social classes and how society was so long ago. The characters stories and who they were was told in a very interesting third person narrative.
I agree with the author when he states that Cantebury Tales gives insight to the culture of that time. Chaucer examines the irony of the Catholic Church through his satirical character sketches.
18 comments:
Heroes of the Middle Ages
The world in which the chivalric hero operates is also an "imaginative idealization" (Beer, p.22). Although the world is described in the context of contemporary paraphernalia, such as clothing, architecture, and feasts, there is "little attempt to authenticate the story in terms of actual political, geographical, or economic conditions" (Finlayson, p.5 8-9). Whereas the epic is particular to a nation and a people, the romance "is exotic, the product of a particular sophisticated group, rather than a whole culture" (Moorman, p.30). Although the world of romance was an offspring of feudalism, in romance "the feudal ethos serves no political function; it serves no practical reality at all; it has become absolute. It no longer has any purpose but that of self-realization" (Auerbach, p.134). According to Kelly, the main explanation for this is that romance "meets a need that is felt by those who want confirmation of their world as they believe and want it to exist" (Kelly, p.85). The field on which the chivalric knight performs is a dream reality; a perilous landscape affording chance encounters with unnatural foes. The miraculous surprises the chivalric knight very little—whether it be a castle appearing out of nowhere in response to a prayer, or a knight who survives beheading.
The circumstances that lead to the exaltation of the chivalric hero, such as Sir Gawain, for example, differ drastically from those of the epic hero. The epic hero gets tested in physical combat against a monster or another warrior. In Sir Gawain the hero's task "is spiritual rather than physical" (Moorman, p.61). Gawain must pass all the requirements of the ideal chivalric knight in order to triumph. Yet even though Gawain fails—he lacks in loyalty, says the Green Knight—he does in a sense get exalted. Gawain's understanding and acceptance of his flawed nature, and his confession lead to "the Green Knight's absolution" (Wilson, p.206). Whether his epiphany and self-imposed penitence qualify for exaltation has been hotly debated. Charles Moorman, for example, thinks not only that Gawain is a failure, but: "What had been the tragedy of a single knight ... becomes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the failure of a whole social order" (Moorman, p.61).
The differences in the conception and execution of the epic and chivalric heroes can be best explained by the change of an era. Heroic poetry was the poetry of a people on constant war-footing, fighting for survival. Taylor attributes the difference in spirit between epic and romance to a "deeply significant change in the national character," (Taylor, p.7) which moved "from national unity to feudalism, and from national warfare to civil strife and fantastic Crusades" (Taylor, p.12). Moorman attributes the knight errant to a time of peace when the knight can go questing (Moorman, p.64). There arose for the first time in western Europe a large 'leisure class' that wanted to be entertained. "The new feudalism with its leisure and highly stratified class structure demanded a new hero, a man attuned to the niceties of conduct and indoctrinated in the values of courtly life" (Moorman, p.29).
Anniina Jokinen
December 2, 1996.
To say the least Beowulf would be considered an Epic hero of the Middle Ages if he werent a fictional character. He killed Grendel and saved the world from his rather, and also slayed the venomous dragon. In the literary text it states, "The epic hero gets tested in physical combat against a monster or another warrior." This quote would refer to the bravery and physical streght Beowulf exzuted during the battle with Grendel. And also when he managed to slay the dragon and some how brake through his gigantic fire-wall. All of this proves Beowulf as a epic hero. His fabulous adventure was leading the Geats to the Danes. And killing a monster and dragon most certainly counts as superhuman deeds. So in agreement with author Anniina Jokinen, Beowulf is a epic hero.
In the same way that The Canterbury Tales gives modern readers a sense of the language at the time, the book also gives a rich, intricate tapestry of medieval social life, combining elements of all classes, from nobles to workers, from priests and nuns to drunkards and thieves. The General Prologue alone provides a panoramic view of society that is not like any found elsewhere in all of literature. Students who are not particularly interested in medieval England can appreciate the author’s technique in capturing the variations of human temperament and behavior. Collections of stories were common in Chaucer’s time, and some still exist today, but the genius of The Canterbury Tales is that the individual stories are presented in a continuing narrative, showing how all of the various pieces of life connect to one another. ©eNotes. This entry does not cover all the tales, only some of the most studied.
The author says that the Canterbury tales give a general description of medieval social life. I agree with the author because the wide array of characters allows the readers to gain a sense of the types of people.
I will agree that Canterbury Tales gives insight to the culture at the time. Chaucer encompases all the stories into one, while continuing with the overall story as well.
The types of people present in Canterbury Tales probably does give a relatively accurate image of society at Chaucer's time.
Yes i would have to agree with this article. He does combine elements of all classes, from nobles to workers, from priests and nuns to drunkards and thieves which shows the social life during the medieval time
Not only does Canterbury Tales include all social classes and a idea of social Life, it educates the reader on the values of Medevial times.Each character was some how described or correlated by their religon or the religon they portrayed to have, providing the reader with evidence that church was of major value to society.
I agree with Dylan on this one. When stories are written, they seem to usually include the attributes of society during that time period. This is most like what Chaucer did when writing Canterbury Tales.
I would agree with this criticism. One can see all the different lifestyles of the Medieval culture. The prologue serves as an introduction to the different lifestyles.
I agree with the author on this one. Chaucer does a great job incoorporting the time period into the novel especially in terms of the Church and hiarchy of members.
Canterbury Tales includes a wide variety of characters from the medieval time period, providing cultural insight to the current society when written.
I agree with the critic when he says that Chaucer includes social classes as well as cultural evidence from the medieval period. It gives the reader a lot of insight to the culture that the book takes place in.
I would have to agree with this criticism. Mnay can see the different lifestyles of the culture within the story. The prolouge simply serves as an intro to the cultures.
I agree that Canterbury tales does a great job of giving examples of thesocial life and social classes of the Midevil times. Chaucer does indeed entertain the reader with his examples of the different social classes and how society was so long ago. The characters stories and who they were was told in a very interesting third person narrative.
I agree with the point that this author has made in that, in the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer does present characters from the various levels of society.
The people in Canterbury Tales probably gives an accurate display of what society was like at Chaucer's time.
I agree with the author when he states that Cantebury Tales gives insight to the culture of that time. Chaucer examines the irony of the Catholic Church through his satirical character sketches.
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