Friday, September 6, 2013

The Canterbury Tales: Symbolism

Please discuss the following three symbols from "The Prologue": springtime, clothing, and physiognomy.

Questions to consider for springtime:
     1. What does Spring represent?
     2. What does Spring have in common with a pilgrimage?
     3. Why is this time of year particularly suited to a journey?

Questions to consider for clothing:
     1. Why did Chaucer spend time describing what each pilgrim was wearing?
     2. What do our clothes symbolize?

Information you need to know for physiognomy:
     1. In Chaucer's day people believed that members of a particular social class
         shared the same physical features.

This should be three separate paragraphs.


       

7 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Springtime is an important symbol in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer uses this symbol to help set the purpose for the entire narrative. Springtime represents birth and renewal, mirroring the opportunity for rebirth that is presented by a pilgrimage. It also provides the perfect setting and climate for a traveling journey. This pleasantry adds a social and recreational element to the environment of the pilgrims. This dualistic symbol of renewal shares communality with both the opportunity of a pilgrimage, which is spiritual rebirth, and the opportune recreation of a journey.

    Clothing, as a symbol, plays a vital role in the direct characterization of each individual pilgrim. The narrator spends a copious amount of time recalling and describing in detail the clothing of almost every single pilgrim. More than just a symbol, clothing becomes a vital tool for analyzing the characters and correctly interpreting the ethics and morals of each personality. For example, the squire’s apparel is described as, “He was embroidered like a meadow bright/ And full of freshest flowers, red and white”. The squire’s clothes are young and fresh, revealing his youthful attitude and vital spirit. While this technique of characterization is both efficient and sufficient in literature, it is not as practical in real life. Observing a person’s dress provides a source of easily accessible insight to their character and personality. However, it is not the only determinant to their value. The simplified, one-dimensional characters in Canterbury Tales are not a completely accurate representation of everyday human beings. For literary purposes, the symbol of clothing provides an excellent opportunity to quickly establish the role of each character within the narrative.

    Webster’s dictionary defines physiognomy as,” the art of discovering temperament and character from outward appearance, and facial features held to show qualities of mind or character by their configuration or expression”. Chaucer uses this form of characterization to reveal which pilgrims belonged to a certain class. In his day, it was common belief that members of the same social class would share similar facial features. Chaucer describes in detail the facial features of the low class Miller, “His beard like any sow or fox was red/ And, at its very tip, his nose displayed/ A wart on which there stood a tuft of hair…”. The Miller’s rough and undignified appearance alludes to his position as a member of lower society.

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    1. Excellent! This is exactly what the AP graders want to see.

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  3. “When April with his showers sweet with fruit /The drought of March has pierced unto the root /And bathed each vein with liquor that has power /To generate therein and sire the flower.” A description of spring opens Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and that symbol reappears throughout the book. Every time it is mentioned, especially in the beginning, spring represents renewal and new beginnings for the whole earth. New plants, baby animals, and blossoming love all begin to appear, in addition to an increase of wanderlust in people’s hearts. Appropriately, individuals with an itch to travel scratch it by partaking in a pilgrimage. At the same time, the people travelling can also renew themselves spiritually and satisfy their need for a vacation. Like spring renews the earth, the journey renews its participant spiritually, mentally, and physically. During spring, the world is just waking up after a winter’s nap. In the same way, pilgrims do not yet have to go back to work after winter. They have a short time to themselves before their various jobs catch up with them, and the time of year suits itself to their needs perfectly. The weather generally favors them, the temperature does not overwhelm them, and the snow has mostly melted away. All these things contribute to the ease of travel and the enjoyment of that trip.
    After the basic introduction and setting, Chaucer, through the narrator, introduces and describes each character and pays strict attention to their clothing. He does this in part to help readers picture each pilgrim and so paint a more complete overall picture in their minds, but he also included the specific details to describe an individual’s station in life, characteristics, and personality. Chaucer did not, however, infer what was not there. Clothes do reflect on the way a person thinks about himself and influence how others perceive him. Take the Merchant for example: he wears a motley gown, a Flemish beaver hat, and elegantly fastened boots. He probably thinks of himself as very rich and wishes for everyone else to notice that as well. Further including his forked beard and horse, it is obvious, even before Chaucer describes his speaking as pompous, that the Merchant arrogantly sees himself as far more important and of a higher station than the people around him. Because every character is similarly described, the reader can gain an accurate representation of each one before the actual journal begins.
    Finally, in addition to describing people’s clothing, Chaucer also follows the popular habit of describing certain social classes as having similar physical appearances. That further description clued readers in about certain characteristics and qualities inherent in each person in the same way that their clothes did. The wealthier class members often received a more positive description as far as their physical appearance went, but Chaucer described different characters sarcastically several times. These individuals obviously did not live up to their wholesome or favorable appearance: the Merchant, though wealthy, possessed an artificially superior attitude, and the Prioress contradicted her devote, religious appearance by devoting more time to looking elegant and refined in order to gain social favor to God’s work. The poorer, working class was illustrated with rougher physical appearances, which was not necessarily a bad thing. They were not delicate, but they had no need to be. For example, the miller needed a strong body to do his work, not a pleasant visage. The very fact that he was described as “Hardy and big of brawn and big of bone” interprets as a compliment to him and his class or workers: they were completely devoted to their tasks and worked to complete them with excellence, and their bodies reflected that hard work.

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    1. Good essay. Try not to infer too much information. For example, we do not know for sure if the pilgrims went to work right away or not.
      Excellent job picking up on Chaucer's use of irony.

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  4. Canterbury Tales is set in mid-April, which is fitting for the pilgrimage the characters in the story are about to partake in. Fresh flowers and beautiful weather often signify that spring is in the midst. Therefore, it is fitting to state that springtime symbolizes both new beginnings and renewal. By taking a pilgrimage, the characters are able to start a new chapter in their life and renew themselves. Springtime is not only fitting time to take a journey because of the spiritual aspect, but also because of the fine weather conditions. The temperature during springtime is usually cool, therefore it is appropriate weather to venture out and go on a journey. The winter forces people to stay cooped up inside of their homes and hide from the outside world. When springtime arrives, many are eager to enjoy the outdoors and get out of the house.

    In the general prologue, the narrator spends quite a bit of time thoroughly describing what each character is wearing. To the narrator, the clothing each character wears reveals their personality and life style. Chaucer, through the narrator, wanted to give the reader a vivid image of the characters and an insight into their moral values and overall personality. Contrary to the narrator, clothes do not clearly reflect one's personality. It is important to look beyond the materialistic things in order to truly know one's character and personality.

    The narrator not only classifies people by their clothing, but by their facial features. He believed that physical features could determine which class one belonged to, since they were similar within social classes. The people belonging to the wealthier social class were described with much more attractive physical features than those who belonged to a lower class. For example, the narrator describes the miller with a wide mouth, deep gaping nostrils, and a wart on the tip of his nose that bristled with red hairs that looked like they grew out of pig's ears. The physical description of the miller is the epitome of unattractive, which, in the narrator's opinion, suits him because of the poor social class he belongs to.



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    1. Very well written. I would like to have seen an example of Chaucer's use of clothing as a way to reveal his characters.

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