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Allegory paper on The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Allegory is a connotative use of language used in literature that mystifies works of literature. Geoffrey Chaucer’s tales of medieval times encompass more than their literal meaning. The Canterbury tales each have an underlying meaning. The journey from Tavern to Canterbury is allegorized. The Tavern is in the Tabard’s inn, where the journey begins and is set to end at a shrine in Canterbury. The journey beginning from a sinful place and ending in a holy place shows the prospective journey to Heaven. The journey begins during springtime. Springtime is used to show renewal and change, which shows how spiritual the journey to Canterbury is.
The Wife of Bath tale is the story of her life. She claims to have experience in marriage matters, for she has been married since she was twelve to five husbands. She praises her promiscuity and even uses bible verses to support her theories. She uses an example of the story of the good samaritan to prove her point. Her character is satirical. She is used to mocking the morality of society. She gives the example of Abraham and several men in the old testament who had several wives. The Wife of Bath also shows how self-righteously men use scripture to justify their wrongdoings. The Wife of Bath is a true manifestation of how it is human nature to judge others for doing things. She is also a representation of moral decadence and trickery in the society. The manipulative nature of human beings. She uses her ‘gift’ to use men and get what she wants.
The Pardoner’s Tale is a story of young Flemish people who spend their time indulging in sin. Drinking and engaging in other immoralities. One day, the young men hear the funeral knell and learn that their friend had been killed by ‘death.’ Angry, they go looking for death to avenge their friend. Death is personified. On the way, they meet an older man and inquire from him where they can find death, and he directs them to an oak tree. On reaching the tree, they are dumbfounded when they find a treasure of gold. They decide to transport the gold under cover of darkness. They gamble and decide that one of them should go back and buy a friend and wine. When her returns from town, his friends pounce on him and kill him. They then drink the wine that their friend had brought, not knowing it was poisoned. The tale yet again speaks of the vices of deception and greed. The two betray their friend, not knowing he had thought of betraying them too. All of them disregarded their friendship because of greed. They all lost the gold when they would have chosen to share, and it would have benefited them all.
The tale of Lord Randal, Get up and Bar the Door, is a story of a man and his wife. The husband is lazy and lets the wife do all the work. One fateful day, a strong wind comes, and the husband makes his order as usual. He tells the wife to get up and bar the door. The wife is busy and refuses to do it. They make a pact that whoever speaks first has to do it. At night, two thieves walk in and eat the pudding the wife had prepared, but the owners of the hose stay mute. The thieves then decide to molest the wife. With this provocation, the man speaks up. This is a story about marriage. The wife and husband are both proud and stubborn, and they both end up losing in the long run. This story ridicules the concept of gender roles in society. The woman is overworked and spread too thin. The man only realizes his love for his wife when both their lives are at risk. This story shows how marriage as an institution loses its value after some time.
The Knight tells the first tale. The tale of Arcite and Palamon, the two knights, who both fall in love with Emelye, the sister-in-law of their captor, Theseus. They hold a contest, and the winner gets Emelye as the prize. Although Arcite wins, the chivalric love story plot twists, and Arcite falls off his horse and dies. Therefore, Palamon wins. This story depicts the uncertainties of life. Life can take unpredictable twists and turns. It also shows how people seek worldly pleasures that can be taken away by death, enhancing the need to keep spiritual treasures. The tale also shows how a man eats man society that, for one to achieve something, he/she must step on some toes to reach it. The pain and suffering of Arcite brought joy to Palamon.
The Nun Priest tale of a very humble old widow who owns a few livestock and chicken. Among her chicken, a cork named Chauntecleer. The cock is extremely proud; he has many hen-wives. He, however, has a disturbing nightmare and has the fearful premonition of death looming by. His wife calms him down and says it was just a dream. After a while, he notices a fox in the woods. The fox approaches the cock, and instead of fleeing, he crows proudly. The fox grabs the cock.The chicken, after learning of what just happened, is in chaos. The old widow notices this and sets the dogs in pursuit, and the cock cunningly suggests that the fox should boast to his pursues and, in the process, drops the cock who flies to the tree. This animal story ridicules pride in society as they end up losing everything. The cock and the fox both were manipulative creatures. The Nun aimed to show that to survive the wild world’s dangers, one has always to be alert and stay humble.