Tuesday, November 16, 2010

An Old, Old Classic

I decided to head back into literary history to one of the earliest works we have on record - Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.  It's a wonderful collection of stories that can be daunting/baffling in its Middle English text but well worth the effort.  To summarize quickly, the book follows a group of pilgrims on their way to the shrine of the martyr St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury.  To pass the time on this long journey, each character takes a turn and tells the rest of the group some kind of tale.

First of all, I want to say that there is no shame in reading a modern translation of Canterbury Tales.  Yes, if you have a Middle English dictionary at hand and hours to pour over the text, you will discover the genius in the original language.  But very few of us can afford to do this, and I do not think Chaucer's tales should be neglected because they are difficult to understand.  So please don't hesitate to pick up an easier version of it if that is what is stopping you from reading this great collection.

One of my favorite aspects about Canterbury Tales is that it gives us a fascinating peek at society in the late 14th century.  Particularly as an American, I feel that my sense of history earlier than the 18th century is weak at best.  I can hardly wrap my mind around the kind of life that functioned before our detailed historical documentation and instruction.  Yet covering everything from friars to cooks, physicians to sailors, Chaucer portrays myriad social classes and backgrounds, which creates for readers a sense of medieval reality.  We get a taste of so many different kinds of people and manners of life in this one collection of tales.  Each narrator is unique, with a distinct story to match his or her personality.  It certainly doesn't get repetitive.


Another of my favorite things about this collection is the audacious and dynamic Wife of Bath.  She is one of my fictional heroes.  For a 14th century figure, she is absolutely remarkable.  She openly expresses her enjoyment of sex, she unabashedly proclaims her thoughts, and she offers equality as a solution for marital strife.  I feel that Chaucer made a bold and feminist move with this character that was light-years ahead of its time.


And, of course, I cannot talk about Canterbury Tales without talking about its humor.  Some of these tales are absolutely hilarious!  I read "The Miller's Tale" in a very quiet library and had to slap my hand over my mouth to keep from breaking the silence with a loud laugh.  The tales are full of sexual innuendos and crude jokes, which get me chuckling despite my resistance.  It's really quite shocking for the 14th century.  I think we tend to assume that it has only been within the last fifty years that this kind of humor has seeped into our literature, but Chaucer mastered it long ago.  Even the research on Canterbury Tales can't hide from the jokes.  One of the funniest things I've ever discovered was a scholarly analysis of Chaucer's use of "literary farts."  It's hysterical to read someone trying to approach the issue so seriously and academically.  Chaucer knew a cheap joke when he wrote one; let's just enjoy it.


When I first read Canterbury Tales, I was in high school and severely lacked appreciation for it.  But I read the tales again within the last year or so and fell in love with them.  So if you are in a similar situation, I urge you to try again.  If you don't want to read them all, just start with "The Miller's Tale" and "The Wife of Bath's Tale" and see how you feel.  Are there any other Chaucer lovers out there?  I look forward to hearing from you!

8 comments:

Eva said...

Did you read a translation? Any thoughts on the different options out there? :) Like you, I read parts of it in high school, but I'd love to revisit it and read the whole thing!

IngridLola said...

What a great review! I've always been scared of the middle english ...

Amy said...

In high school, I think we read the Middle English, or at least a translation that was difficult to comprehend. Then when I first picked it up recently, I used a modern translation, which made me get interested in it all over again. So I eventually did wade through just "The Miller's Tale" in Middle English, stopping to make sure I grasped every word, which was tedious but very rewarding. So as I said in the entry, there's nothing wrong with starting with the modern translation to spark your interest. The Middle English can be even trickier than we think because some of the words we think are cognates can mean entirely different things, but it's fascinating to study if you ever can. I hope this helps and encourages you to try it out!

Eva said...

I read it in Middle English in high school too: I think that was a weird decision on our teacher's part!

Melody said...

What a great review! I read it without any translation and felt like I needed to floss my eyeballs afterwards. The stories were great but the language was quite a chore. I wish I'd read a translation!

Ellen said...

nice post. i'm glad you encourage people to read it in a more modernized version; like you say, when it comes down to not reading the tales at all or reading a version that's easier to understand, the latter is best. i've only read about half the tales, those that were in my norton anthology, and like you say they can be pretty hilarious and upfront about bodily functions, sex, etc etc. looking forward to reading some more of your posts!

Brian Bither said...

Like the Canterbury Tales themselves, this really was an enjoyable post.

I have one question for you though. You mentioned that this was one of our "earliest literary works we have on record." Of course, having spent a semester reading literature from the period between 200 B.C.E. and 200 C.E., my mind immediately goes to other examples which counter that claim. However, even in that class I heard someone describe Chaucer as a key transition. Perhaps you can clarify what you mean by "literary works"?

Amy said...

I'm glad to hear others enjoy the Tales. I don't want them to be neglected!

Ok, ok, there are many pieces of literature before Chaucer. However, I still think this is ONE of the earliest, particularly on the many lists of "Classic Literature" that may be out there. Homer's epics and Beowulf are earlier, and there are many documents that trace back sooner than that, but when it comes to what I classify as Classic Lit, this is one of the earliest.