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Summary:

The story told by the knight happens in ancient Greece

The main characters are: Duke Theseus, Queen Hippolyta, Emely (the queen’s sister), Arcite and Palamon.

“It’s a story about love and war, between men and women, two friends, and different countries.”

The story starts with Duke Theseus from Athens fighting, and winning, two wars. From the first he brings home Hippolyta, to be his wife, and Emely, her sister; from the second fight he brings two strong knights as prisoners, Palamon and Arcite.

Palamon and Arcite were cousins and good friends, this friendship ends because of love and envy, once both cousins wish to marry the same woman.

Arcite gets freed from prison, and leaves Athens, only to come back a year later under another name and appearance in order to become the king’s friend and attempt to seduce Emely.

Arcite’s identity is discovered after a fight with Palamon, Theseus then orders them to leave Athens and come back in a year’s time with an army of a hundred men under the agreement that whoever wins this fight will be given Emely’s hand in marriage.

Each character prays to a different god, stating their desires:

Palamon prays to Venus – Goddess of Love – to marry Emely;

Emely prays to Diana – Goddess of women without husbands – to stop the fight, or to marry the one who loves her the most;

Arcite prays to Mars – God of War – to win the fight.

The gods decide that Palamon can have Emely,while Arcite can win the war. This causes Palamon to be wounded in combat and Arcite to die right after winning.

Criticism: The story talks about the reality of the people in that time, while making a good use of metaphors to talk about simple concepts, utilizing gods and wars to express everyday situations.

Stars: 4 stars

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Chapter Four - The Clerk of Oxford's Tale

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Chapter Four - The Clerk of Oxford's Tale

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⭐️⭐️⭐️

Summary:

It tells a story about a king that is sad because he wants an obedient wife. This king meets Griselda and decides that she is gonna be his wife. He tells her to promise him that she will always be obedient, even if it hurts. And she promises. When they have their first child, he resolves to test her, saying that their daughter can't stay with them and take the child to a good family. Griselda remembers her promise and just agrees with him. The same thing happens when their next son is 2 years old. So twenty years later, he tests her one more time by writing a false letter by the Pope saying that he can leave his wife and marry a rich woman. And one more time, Griselda accepts that, without question. He presents her his new wife, a young girl, and tells her to help the younger one into her wedding dress. When she goes to her father's house, the king says "What a perfect wife!" and goes to her house to tell that all was just a test, the letter was false and there's no wedding, the young girl is their daughter, and they take their son home too. Griselda doesn't believe that and cries happily!

Critics:

This is a really nice tale, but we think that the end would be better if the wife didn't have just accepted everything. The King had taken her children away from her and she just acted happy when he gave it back, like he wasn’t the one responsible for it.

Rafa and Ju

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A Pardoner recounts the tale of a trio of drunkards living in a time marked by broken promises and lies. One day, they decide to hunt down Death itself, as it had claimed the lives of many of their friends. Along their journey, they encounter an old man and treat him with disdain. Despite their rudeness, the old man reveals to them the location of Death. When they reach the place he described, they discover a massive pile of gold. Greed consumes them, and they plot to steal the treasure under the cover of darkness so no one would know of their theft. However, their greed leads to their demise, as they betray one another, and in the end, Death claims them all. The gold, it turns out, was Death in disguise.

We loved the tale because it shows a lot of their society at the time, drowning in alcohol fearful of death and practicing a little bit of every sin.

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Júlia Bracht and Marina Souza

Rate: ⭐⭐⭐.5

It is time for a woman to tell her tale. Before she starts, she says she has been married five times. She mentions her best husbands were the rich ones who did everything for her. After wrapping up, she starts her tale. The tale is about a knight named Tarquin, who kidnaps a young girl, Lucretia. After putting her in a dark room, he is hunted by the knights of King Arthur to be punished for his crimes. Queen Guinevere asks Arthur if she can give Tarquin a different punishment other than death, and the king agrees. Guinevere proceeds to tell him that if he can answer a question, he is free to go. “What do women want most of all?”, however, Tarquin doesn’t know the answer. Guinevere gives him a year to answer it under the condition that if he can’t, he will die. For a year, he searches for his answer but never succeeds in finding it. One day, riding his horse through a forest, he saw twenty-four women who disappeared once he got closer. Only one remained, a woman described as old and ugly. Once Tarquin told her about his situation, the woman told him she knew the answer. She was willing to tell it to him as long as he paid her back later. Back to the castle, Tarquin gives the queen his answer - women want to rule their husbands. Since all women present agree to his answer, Tarquin is now saved from death. The old woman then walks in, demanding her payment. It was not money she was after, she wanted to marry him. They marry and head to their room for their first night together. Tarquin does not like how his wife looks and is honest about it. The wife, then, asks him: “What do you want - a quiet, faithful but ugly wife, or a beautiful but not faithful wife?”. Tarquin asks his wife to choose for him. Happy that now she can rule his husband, she decides he will get both a pretty and faithful wife, becoming young and pretty instantly. They lived happily for many years.

Criticism: When considering who is telling the tale, the story’s idea seems to make itself a little more clear. The woman who created the tale seems to want to manipulate men to believe that they will have a perfect wife if they obey them, making her female characters be the spotlight. The story assumes what all women want, however, it comes from just one out of many.

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Consists in a sermon of proper preporation on how to confess and what to confess, since it explains all the “Seven Deadly Sins” that there are and its respective remedy, in a sense of what to do to be blessed by the heavens.

The Parson’s Tale has an unique perspective in how to live and which rules to follow. We undestand that it not only reflects the believes but also a common behavior among Middle Age Society, but in our time, for many people it seems almost absurd to live in such conditions. Although, it explains a complex time of humanity and shows the power of the church and religion on people.

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RATE ⭐⭐⭐

A BRIEF SUMMARY

Arveragus and Dorigen get married, but he suddenly went away to a different country. Dorigen, felt lonely and waited for Arveragus watching the sea and playing with rocks. Her neighbor, Aurelius, watched her and fell in love with her. He tried to get her heart, but she never accepted his invitations. One day she decides to accept his request to a picnic and made a foolish promise: to visit Aurelius after he takes away all the rocks form the beach. Aurelius meets a magician that helps him in exchange of money. Arveragus is back and Dorigen tells him about the promise but feels bad about it. Aurelius tells Dorigen to go back to her husband, and the magician doesn’t want Aurelius’ money anymore.

CRITICISM

The end is shallow, its a silly situation with an incomplete ending, since they just go back to their lives and nothing happens.

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-> A lesson on lust

-> Old Man decides to marry a young woman. After the wedding, she falls for a servant.

-> Out of place, the greek gods get involved. Lust was the intended lesson, but we end up understanding how foolish the old man was.