The “Clerk's Tale” of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales can be seen as a mirror of society, where social classes have tensions very evident from each other. This essay will analyze the “Clerk's Tale” by placing it in a socio-political context and focusing on the interactions between Griselda and Walter, who belong to different social classes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Introduction and Method of Analysis "Clerk's Tale" is one of the stories that form the "group of marriage tales" of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Although the stories of that group were told by people (the pilgrims) with such different personalities, it is certain that marriage is an important topic that Chaucer chose to explore. It is also important to note that the group of marriage tales is also one of the best-known groups of Chaucer's magnum opus, if not the most criticized. Furthermore, marriage is still a serious topic to talk about, just like in Chaucer's time; this makes the employee's story still relevant. Chaucer's character, the clerk, is a philosophy student at Oxford. He is considered one of the ideal pilgrims due to his diligence and humility. Already in the prologue his meekness is noted, as the Host comments. This meekness of the employee also transcends into the story he tells: Griselda is also meek and reserved compared to Walter. It is satisfying to know that the clerk, as an educated man, is at odds with the established and predominantly discriminating power structure that was present in his time; he demonstrates this when he comments that it is “evil” for Walter to test Griselda without basis. Because the “Clerk's Tale” is still relevant in today's world, there are elements and questions it raises that still manifest themselves in today's society: things like morality, power relations between ruler and subject and between the sexes, issues relating to marriage and child rearing, freedom of speech, etc. As noted, all of these themes are almost, if not completely, universal in human experience. Furthermore, these problems transcend eras, as they are still concerns of the postmodern world. Of all these, the theme of power relations is the one observed most prominently in “Clerk's Tale”. The tale itself is a mirror of the social strata of the Middle Ages: the royal elite and nobility, the small layer of merchants and the large section of laypeople. In fact, the unique quality of “Clerk's Tale” is its juxtaposition of the nobility and the peasants who “go well together.” To effectively emphasize the "crossing of worlds" to the audience or readers, the opposites were placed next to each other, bypassing (i.e. without paying attention to) the other classes "between them" – thus a peasant and a nobleman. With the knowledge that power relations are still a problem today and that the “Employee's Tale” consciously talks about power relations, it is necessary to frame the story in a socio-political perspective. Therefore, this essay will analyze the "Clerk's Tale" by looking at how characters of a specific social class interact with other characters of another class. A small note: the story itself, without the prologue and the envoy, might make the reader think that it is essentially anti-feminist. In reality, without wanting to be prescriptive, the story without a prologue and an envoy is obviously anti-feminist. However, the prologue and the envoy must be taken into consideration, because Chaucer does not seem to agree with the anti-feminist tale. On GriseldaGriselda is obviously the "weaker" character compared to Walter, considering that she belongs to the lowest social class.and a female – therefore, she is doubly “weak” by the standards of the power structure of the Middle Ages: she is the character most prone to abuse. In any case, she is the protagonist of her fairy tale; she is the one who “needed” to be saved, but by what kind of salvation? Will the restoration of her wealth and stature be enough to save her? Unfortunately, this is not the case. It is not always enough for material wealth to compensate for damage caused to a person's soul and dignity. In reality, by studying the character of Griselda, the political experience of medieval peasants is also localized. Most likely, his peasant life is a bittersweet experience. On the one hand, peasants were generally discriminated against with impunity; and discrimination against them is a very form of denial of the equality of human beings. On the other hand, Griselda's poverty almost certainly developed her virtues. But first, let's look at his state before meeting Walter. He appears for the first time in the second section of the story, whose setting (a poor village) contrasts with that of Walter's good life shown in the first section; his life was the opposite of the nobleman's carefree ways. Furthermore, the town is said to be not far from the Marquis's “palace of honor”, ​​which is also a manifestation of the juxtaposition between the poor and the rich. However, from the beginning, as cliché as it may seem, Griselda is presented as a “perfect” woman, although she is poor: she is virtuous, beautiful, loving and chaste. Even Walter didn't deny those qualities. However, it is not fair to say that lay people have the same characteristics as her, so by this count, Griselda cannot represent the poor in terms of personality. However, we cannot rule out the fact that she still comes from that social class. Likewise, when Walter asked her in marriage, the story still proclaims Griselda's humility. When he asked her if she could promise to do whatever he told her to do, she agreed, saying "And here I swear that never willingly / in word or thought will I disobey you..." (Chaucer, Gutenberg. net) Moving forward, the conflict itself was started by another person; and who was the problem made for? The conflict that is created is obviously directed towards Griselda. It is a shame that another person should create a problem for his neighbor, without any practical reason. But the most obvious thing is that it is her husband, the Marquis Saluzzo, who creates problems for Griselda. This single fact can easily spark an anti-feminist reaction to the story. Furthermore, the "weaker" person is the one tested by the more powerful, while for the virtues and actions that the story tells of her, Griselda is the more commendable of the two. However, despite the trumped-up evidence, she remained faithful to her husband; he did not even protest against the alleged murder of his children; she remained faithful to her promise. Rosemary Canfield Riesman of Salem Press also states in her feminist analysis of The Canterbury Tales: "Later, she continues to express her love for the man she believes is the murderer of her children." (Canfield Riesman, Salempress.com) After all, did Griselda “live happily ever after”? Luckily for her, yes. It was her virtuousness that saved her and not her restored wealth and social status, which are only temporary and earthly things for the virtuous. And notice her reaction when she finally sees her children towards the end of the story: it is enough for Griselda to see her family complete, her children alive and well after all her trials. About Walter Walter is usually seen as a tyrant, which is rather unfortunate because, as Canfield Riesman quotes Jill Mann, “There is not a shred of support for Walter's behavior in the narrative; on the contrary, Chaucer carefully adds to itexplicit condemnations of his obsessive desire to test Griselda. (Canfield Riesman, Salempress.com) Walter does not have to represent the general nobility in terms of personality; however it is still important to consider that he is a member of the upper class and recognizes the power he possesses, which is linked to his social status. For example, he indulges in leisurely hunting, which is a sport of the nobility of his time. Also the fact that he always seeks immediate pleasures (as told in the first section of the story) means that he has free time to enjoy himself and not work hard to live. The main question about Walter's character, however, is his "mysterious" nature. reason to test Griselda. Before revealing the identity of their children (in the sixth section), he tells Griselda: "Be no more horrified, nor badly paid, afraid, nor discontented /... /Now I know, dear wife, your steadfastness." (Chaucer, Gutenberg.net) However, the revelation of his motives does not explain why he had to test his resolve. Note also that Walter also knew of Griselda's virtuosity even before he married her; she observed him while he was hunting and sees her for the first time. Furthermore, her virtues are one of the reasons why he married her. Another interesting aspect of this story is the irony that Walter demonstrates. Just by looking at how he and Griselda were described in the first part of the story, two important inferences can be made: Griselda is ready to become a wife (mainly due to her industriousness and care for her father), while Walter is not ready. to be a husband (because he wasn't interested in getting married and was just forced to). So, given his attitude towards love and marriage, Walter should be the one tested if he is unwavering in his love for Griselda, but that wasn't the case: he was the one who tested his wife. other? The most likely answer is because he is the most powerful in their relationship. He is the male and the one who is of noble birth. He also took advantage of the fact that Griselda had vowed to follow all his orders. He has the freedom to force his wife to do anything. Another question is: if Walter's wife had been a noble, would he have tested her too? The answer here should not be prescriptive, because there is an almost fifty percent chance that it will. Walter would have less reason to test a wife from the nobility because he would have less reason to desire Walter's wealth. However, it is still entirely possible for it to happen due to the nature of Walter's character. So what does this say? Again, this suggests a bias against secularists because there is an apparent inclination for Walter to test someone from the lower class rather than someone from the upper class. Also, let's get back to the topic of listening to the concerns of your people. Note that when Walter turned to satisfying his personal motives, he also paid less or no attention to his people. The effect is that they have been silenced. The surprising thing, however, is that it was the people who first moved the plot of the story: they pushed Walter to get married to give him an heir. Furthermore, they don't seem to dislike Griselda at all for her poor origins, even though Walter has told Griselda that they do. This is supported by the fact that they accompanied her home and cried for her when she had to leave Walter's palace (as told in the fifth section). Despite all that has been said, Walter had a happy ending for himself. The best gift he received, and this also applies to Griselda, is the reconciliation of their family. But it is not true that it was he who "saved" Griselda, because she was already saved by her own virtues. So while Griselda can be. 2010.