Week 11 Flashcards
How does The Pardoner’s Take exemplify the theme Radix Malorum est Cupiditas stated at the beginning of The Pardoner’s Prologue?
The three gamblers die because of their greed (cupiditas) = they embody greed.
Allegory in The Pardoner’s Tale
- Personification
- The old man
- Shared Christian doctrine
- The beatific vision of God
- Blasphemous murder scene
• consumption of bread and wine (= last supper, Eucharist)
• Stabbing of youngest rascal (= Christ on cross)
By means of allegory, what does the consumption of bread and wine represent in The Pardoner’s Tale?
Last supper, Eucharist
By means of allegory, what does the stabbing of the youngest rascal represent?
Stabbing of Christ on cross.
Exemplum
Concrete example that illustrates abstract point made before, and needs to be generalised (e.g. Stilboun).
Or a little story that illustrates a general truth. However, it is not a genre.
Allegory
Signifies something else, needs to be translated (e.g. heap of gold), and relies on doctrine shared by author and audience.
On which two levels does allegory exist?
- Literal = what figure does in narrative, e.g. crooked path
- Symbolic = what figure stands for, outside narrative, e.g. sin
What is allegory a technique for?
- Training lawyers (saying one thing and meaning another)
- Reading and interpreting Bible (different levels of meaning in Holy Spirit)
- Reading and interpreting literary texts
In medieval literature, what are external references needed to understand sentence?
- Letter: linguistic construction
- Sense: literal, surface meaning
- Sentence: deeper, ‘spiritual’ meaning
In medieval literature, external references can be…
- Imagery, figurative language (fabliau)
- Symbolism (romances)
- Allegory (stock allegorical symbols)
How does the medieval world think of allegorical interpretation?
Everything must make sense as it expresses God’s plan
Four levels of scriptural interrogation of Holy Scripture
- Literal level: teaches what happened
- Allegorical level: teaches what to believe
- Moral (tropological) level: teaches how to act and live (present)
- Analogical level: teaches what to hope for (future)
How is ‘greed’ implemented in Chaucer’s work?
- Theme for Pardoner’s exemplum
- Sin committed by Pardoner
What does Chaucer criticise in The Pardoner’s Tale?
Clergy
How is allegory used as a literary tool in the Pardoner and his Tale?
Textual interpretation and instruction.
Use of ‘lo’
- To attract/direct audience attention (same as behold!)
- To mark a rhetorical statement with a general truth with relevance beyond context of the story
- Marks beginning and end of a text.
- Whenspeaker cites an authority/introduces them.
Use of ‘well’ and what is it not in ME?
- Beginning new topic
- Mitigate face-threatening act by reducing force of confrontation
Not in ME:
1. Pause filler
2. Qualifier, speakers fails to supply complete answer
Addressing women informal
- First name only
- Often softened with endearing terms > o my criseyde
- Courtly use > indicates shift in relationship
Addressing women formal
- “Dame” (+ first name), respectful and socially desirable
- “Lady” + professional name (e.g. my lady prioresse)
Most formal:
Madame, gives greatest social distance, viewed as index of social status.
What did the formality of the form of address depend on?
- Age
- Social position
- Degree of formality/politeness
Formal ways to address a man
Formal
Professional name without sir (Frankelyn)
Used in confrontational instance, smaller social distance.
Very formal
Title + surname
Sir + professional name
What is cupiditas?
Anti-cresative love = greed
Allegory vs. Exemplum
Exemplum teaches the point, needs to be generalised, and allegory needs to be ‘translated’ by the reader.
Exampla in the Pardoner’s Tale
Three men: greed, betrayal
Death as a thief: inevitability of death
Old man: unchangeable nature of aging
