"AND GLADLY TECHE
THE TALES OF CAUNTERBURY"
[Reprinted courtesy of the Modern Language Association, from Approaches to Teaching Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, ed. Joseph Gibaldi. New York: MLA, 1980, 45-56.]
Thomas J Garbáty
[emeritus, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor]
The inaugural conference of the New Chaucer Society in Washington, D.C. in 1979 was a great success, I thought. Although in sharing the crowded Hyatt Regency with another convention of some sort of staid professionals we had neither world enough nor time, we did achieve much. Groups of us had heard reports on the Variorum Chaucer and other projects, discussions of Ricardian aspects and Chancery script. A few had watched a colleague intently explain his model of the astrolabe, and most had listened raptly to a Donaldsonian luncheon address. Some of the best Chaucerian minds in the world had gathered and fed one another. As I hurried, somewhat euphoric, through the lobby to catch my plane, I overheard behind me three delegates of the other convention remark with unfeigned astonishment at "all these people belonging to a Chaucer Society."
"I didn't know the man wrote that much," said the first. "Just a few dirty stories," replied the second; and the third added, "In The Canterbury Tales, wasn't it?" Thoroughly deflated, I fled the hotel and flew away.
But I had been given food for serious thought. For us, as teachers and scholars, it is a truth not universally acknowledged that there are people in this world who neither know nor care about Chaucer. To be sure, we cannot teach those who never come to us, and I suppose these delegates, successful achievers in their field, had never heard about Chaucer from a teacher. At least I hope not. But once students come to us, whether willingly, in an elective course, or unwillingly, in a required one, it is our job- and one that must be fulfilled intently, lovingly, and wisely-to teach them the whole Chaucer, the work and the man. And here we dare not fail, for the poet's sake and ours. A dull Chaucer course unquestionably defines a dull instructor.
Depending upon the scope of their High School curriculum, students come with a varied preparation to our courses. Most have read the General Prologue, the Pardoner's Tale, and Wife of Bath's Tale. Occasionally, a fabliau has been thrown in for spice. More often than not, the Nun's Priest's Tale, a sophisticated, complicated masterpiece, has been lauded by an enthusiastic teacher to an uncomprehending class. Generally, students come with an anticipation of finding in Chaucer "realism", bawdiness, and quaintness. The anticipation is ground to plant on, albeit perhaps none too fertile.
Ideally, my objective in a Chaucer course is to involve the students in a revelation of the life's work of an unusually brilliant and humane man, a revelation that leads always to an enjoyment, often, I hope, to a deeper understanding, and occasionally even to a kind of love. The most important step for the teacher to take first is to distill method out of emotion: to recognize Chaucer's method of attaining his results, and to choose the most fitting method of explaining them. A vital gift of Chaucer's is his ability to characterize deftly, sharply and in depth. Another is his transfiguration of medieval stereotypes into "round" characters of life, with all their frustrating ambiguities and inconsistencies. These methods achieve Chaucer's view of the human comedy. Instructors must engage themselves totally, take their work seriously, but never so themselves. All teachers, I am sure, have some preconceived views of Chaucer to which they fit their own personalities and approaches. Thus an effective symbiosis ought to be reached between Chaucer, instructor and the student. And if gentle, benign irony is Chaucer's trademark, it would be helpful if this trait were not neglected in the teaching.
With an advanced class in The Canterbury Tales, I sometimes preview the main work with a reading of The Book of the Duchess or The Parliament of Fowls. In both works one can notice the early Chaucer's close ties to the Dream Vision Tradition, and the relatively stiff allegorical conventions of the French school from which the young Chaucer learned. You can already see the seeds for lively colloquial dialogue, for the shorthand descriptions of the foibles of animal and man that came to fruition on the pilgrimage to Canterbury. At the same time, attention to Chaucer's personae reveals the development from the earlier, prosaically logical mask to the later naïve pilgrim Chaucer, the evolution of the intensification of Chaucer's self-directed humor.
In general, however I start at the beginning. Let us be relaxed at the start, have fun reading Middle English, attempting to understand and translate everything that goes on. I don't like to spend too much time in pronouncing Middle English. For one reason, there is no one around anymore who can tell us if we are really right; for another, it slows us down and we find out that the student doesn't often remember what has been read- if he or she knew it in the first place. After a while we leave the Middle English pronunciation to recordings heard after class. But we still proceed slowly, explaining all terms, from April (spring, renewal) to Zephyr (small rains, Western Wind, Christ, fertility, pilgrimage). We cannot afford to forget the "whit wal" or tabular rasa that the students may be afraid to display.
The General Prologue is of course crucially important, both in itself and for an understanding of the Canterbury Tales. For Chaucer's descriptive method it is the tip of the iceberg. The surface pictures, explicit and at times deceptively objective, that we get of the Pardoner, for instance, or the Wife, the Clerk, the Franklin, and so many others are enhanced implicitly in the links and the tales pilgrims tell. Chaucer's manner of fitting teller to tale is a very complex phenomenon that includes not only the fact that the Prioress must tell a religious tale (and that the Miller must not) but also the style and manner in which she tells it. Her tale is as poetically beautiful as she is: what a lovely way to describe an auto-da-fé! The Prioress is good grist for the teaching mill. Students, with a little nudging, see her plain and are ready (or at least less unprepared) later for her tale. At the same time they have seen the pilgrim Geoffrey and can follow his amiable and unwavering approbation among a series of scoundrels. In our reading and discussions, the students are shown dynamics of general Prologue; the secular gradation of Knight, Squire and Yeoman with the contrasting aspects of chivalry and service represented; Chaucer's serious regard for the older man and his approval of all three, tempered with humor at the son. Again, although line counting is a bore, it does not take much to see that the presentations of the portraits of Prioress and Monk are nearly equal in length- two sides of the same coin- and to follow the parallels from then on. Among the church-attached figures there is increasing sharpness, ending in an unhealthy duet of Pardoner and Summoner, and saved only by the grace of the Parson. Much goes on between the lines.
An examination of the process of characterization leads to an understanding of how flat types are transfigured, how an archetypical spinning white witch may evolve into an old bawd, to be suddenly called Alisoun, and how the polemic against generally corrupt friars, as in Langland's Piers Plowman for instance, is changed to a not unappealing picture of knavery in Hubert. I like to use the results of my own research wherever possible. Students seem to listen suddenly more intently (or do I only think so?), and I am sure that I am personally more engaged. Thus, while explaining on Chaucer's stylistic trick in the General Prologue of building up a punch line effect in the last three to four lines of a description (the Cook's "mormal," the Friar's name, and in ignorance of the Merchant's), I can discuss the importance of the Reeve's hometown of Baldeswelle as a source of rustic immigrants to London in Chaucer's time, an association that would have called up a knowing smile or chuckle in the poet's listeners. Or, in reading about the Summoner's disease I can point out that Chaucer does not waste ink merely on a realistic description of ugliness but rather highlights the irony of a venereal disease in a member of the church's vice-squad. Although I often must give information such as the results of the Manly-Rickert school of historical identification, I attempt to move to the broader questions of why- why Harry Bailly and Thomas Pynchbke, for instance, as role models for the host and man of law - and what results these personal pictures produced among Chaucer's contemporary audience. Nor is physiognomy neglected, but I cannot use it as an incentive for discussion. Basically, I want the class to recognize, through my interest, that Chaucerian research is neither a dry nor a useless task.
Yet, I never finish discussing the General Prologue- although of course, the students must finish reading it. Important pilgrims like the Merchant, Clerk, Franklin, Wife of Bath, Miller and several others I leave for a later discussion of the tales so that the student can see how the iceberg technique of the General Prologue works, how in fact we probe and see more and more deeply into the pilgrim as we move from the general prologue to the link, to the prologue of the tale, and finally to the tale itself (as with the Franklin or Wife of Bath, for instance), always within a wider circle of characterization.
It is very early on that I start my system of alternating lecture with discussion, usually one lecture per week, in preparation for the larger issues that will face us in the tales. Generally, the lectures are scheduled so as to preview themes that appear in the reading. The lectures provide the theory, background, and raw material; later students recognize how the theory is put into practice, the background highlighted, and the raw source material refined and developed in the works themselves. In this way my students first receive information passively, then recognize it in discussion, and actively produce it again. In fact I start the course with a lecture. If The Canterbury Tales is only part of a general early survey, the lecture is on Chaucer's life, a kind of intense and far-ranging life-and-works one-hour flash that I often give in High Schools as guest lecturer. But in the regular Canterbury Tales semester I take the bull by the horns. Since it is Chaucer's language that scares most students, I start with a background on language, the historical reasons for a shift from Anglo-Norman to English, the social and cultural aspects of the various languages. Here, too, I mention the verse forms Chaucer uses, the earlier and later, the French and native traditions. Basically, it is pleasant when students no longer talk of reading Chaucer in "Old English." After the lecture, the lines make more sense, and the Prioress' linguistic affectation is self-explanatory.
Very early in the course, in conjunction with information on Chaucer criticism and essay collections, I even venture a bibliographic background lecture. Admittedly, there is a bit of self-indulgence here because the lecture gives me a chance to talk widely of Frederick J. Furnivall, his achievements in the British Museum Reading Room with scholars and on the Thames with assorted working girls; of Kittredge's accomplishments and terror; of Manly and Rickert, the "Chicago Gang," as Public Record Office employees called them in the 1930's, when, rumor has it, they even shared a first-class cabin on the Queen-Mary. My purpose, of course, is to introduce students to a whole tradition and lineage of Chaucerians, a background of intimacy and congeniality that so many scholars have shared under the aegis of this great man.
A vital lecture, which is still scheduled during the reading of the General Prologue, is the one on courtly love. All my colleagues will realize how important this lecture is and how difficult the topic. Needless to say, I try to cover everything- C.S.Lewis, Cappelanus and the Courts of Love, Albigensians, Cathari, Catalan poetry, Dolce Stil Nuovo- and every second word of mine is cave! For what we are all the time interested in, and have information about, is only a literary tradition, which by Chaucer's time was evoking skepticism and satire. For better or worse, however, after this lecture nothing that Chaucer does regarding "Honest Love" in The Canterbury Tales ought to slip by the student awareness.
After a concentrated discussion of Boethius, the medieval sympathy for the renunciation of false felicities, and Chaucer's ever recurrent interest in the subject, we are ready to start with the Knight's Tale. After this, I can afford to relax since most of the spade work has been done, and I can schedule the lectures without being passed over by the reading before the class is prepared. One of my great pleasures starts after we begin the tales, and that is the group of lectures I call the Life Series. These five lectures travel leisurely, like a red thread, through the whole course. In the process, I can touch on anything that connects Chaucer's life with our own reading and the poet's other works. The theory of National Origin (French, Italian, English) is mentioned and examined, and so are the personal literary influences on Chaucer, his adventures in France, Spain and Italy, and his friends, wife and children (and I am careful to mention that Skeat's conjecture concerning precocious "Litel Lewis" Chaucer and Cecily Chaumpaigne is rumor not to be passed on). In spite of the rather timeworn New Criticism, this historical kaleidoscope has proved invaluable in providing life to the times. Sometimes, with luck, we can end the Life series, per schedule and as appropriate, on the day Chaucer died, 25 October.
At this point it does not matter when the "Genre-Anthology" lecture occurs, because the students are ready to take an active part in recognizing the various forms of medieval narrative. As A.C.Baugh pointed out long ago, The Canterbury Tales is an anthology of almost every type of literary entertainment and instruction. We start with the romance, the origin of the world, the classification into Matters (France, Britain, Rome the great, and England), examples of these, and a discussion of what types of romance have been found in Chaucer so far. Then, we proceed to the parody of romance and by natural sequence to the Breton lay and the fabliau. If by this time we have read the Miller's Tale and discussed the parodic features in "quiting" the Knight, then the class knows a bit about some aspects of this genre, the differences between "high" and "low" style, the necessity for fast pacing, quick action, and lower-class milieu. Whenever the works have appeared on the syllabus before the lecture, the students will contribute information here. Where the reading is still ahead of them, they will recognize the genre (beast fable, saint's legend, exemplum, miracle of the Virgin, tragedy, sermon, classical legend) when they come to it. This lecture, like the one on courtly love, may extend beyond the one hour assigned to it since I never like to pass questions by; I encourage all of them- no matter how bizarre.
By this time, I should have a fair idea of the intellectual capacity of the class, their interest, and their willingness and ability to digest material whose importance they may not immediately grasp. Depending on my evaluation of their capacity and interest, I mention problems of revision and sequence of the tales, pointing out that the Ellesmere order, which I follow in teaching, is only one of the several possible lines. I might even, with solemn preparation, initiate them into the mystic rite of the Bradshaw Shift-because some of them, indeed, might ask why, at the top of the pages of Robinson's edition, we have Roman numerals and alphabetical letters. To put it bluntly, I grab at the opportunity to teach. If the students give me only a little finger of interest, I will return them a handful of information.
All other matter is brought in during the class discussion of the tales themselves. Here I base myself on the collected efforts of my fellow Chaucerians, providing the class with examples of all the major schools of criticism. In the Knight's Tale I follow Muscatine in pointing out how style (slow, ritualistic pacing, tapestrylike descriptions) represents theme - rigid order covering a potential chaos of despair. Boethian ideas are again thoroughly explored, the interchange of "high" and "low" styles (the latter in Theseus' speech, "The God of love, a benedicite" and especially in part 4) should be recognized, and alliteration (and the reasons for it) noted. To counter an atavistic feeling towards Chaucer as a kind of medieval Polyanna, the Knight's Tale is an especially effective antidote. The description of the temple of Mars can shock some students, especially a line like "The sowe freten the child right in the cradle!" (A 2019). This is an image that Chaucer could not have possibly got in any reading of romance, or chronicle, or book of arms. Undoubtedly, it was something he saw in France as a young man - a farm burned, the parents killed, and the baby left unattended, a prey to pigs who would eat anything when starved - one of the rare flashes of experience in the poet's works. I do not neglect to point out to my students that this is a true picture and some years ago the University of Michigan hospital admitted for plastic surgery a young man from Greece whose face had been chewed away by pigs when he was an infant. I stress these facts because I agree with Talbot Donaldson in wanting to emphasize to students that Chaucer's geniality, humor, and wise humanity may have been dearly bought.
In contrast to the Knight's Tale, the following fabliaux do not broach serious problems, and the students can readily see the differences as well as the satiric mirroring in which all three completed tales of group A are connected. The "low" fabliau style is that of the general Prologue, and the description of Nicholas-"This clerk was named hende Nicholas"-could easily be inserted among those of the other pilgrims. I think there is no need here to explain all the points that go into the discussion of the tales: the aubade in the Reeve's Tale, the anti-intellectualism of the of the Carpenter and the Miller, the use of occupatio, and so on. Most of these aspects can be read in Chaucerian criticism and notes. Suffice it to say that antifeminism, its virulence and Church sanction, needs to be carefully explored in any discussion of the Wife of Bath or "Marriage Group"; gentilesse, appearance and reality in the Franklin's tale; bitter irony and sarcasm in the Merchant's encomium on marriage and general smudging of the refined aspects of fin amour in his tale.
All the while, the drama of the pilgrimage must not be forgotten, and although I cannot cover all the links in depth, I point out to the students that the portrait of one pilgrim, the Host, is psychologically developed only in the links, especially in terms of his approach to the women on the trip and in the tales. In fact, the dynamics of the Wife, Host, and Pardoner trio, because of the tensions produced by their interaction, can provoke some of the most interesting discussions in class.
The tales should give no troubles as long as the
instructor has made it clear from the start that Chaucer never wholly shows
his cards and that there is no one correct interpretation but several,
at times even conflicting, interpretations. Life is relative after all,
and Chaucer holds the mirror up to life. But possibly the Clerk's tale
may be a tough nut for some. Here the late Francis Utley helped me greatly,
in showing that the Clerk's tale is puzzling in part because it shifts
in genre from folk tale, to fabliau, to symbolic literature, to exemplum,
and certainly to drama in taking up the wife's gauntlet. In addition, the
range of the story makes it possible to introduce the students to the four
levels of scriptural exegesis here, for the tale lends itself willingly
to this kind of intellectual gymnastics. In sum, the complexity of the
Clerk's Tale can cause grief only to those instructors who teach Chaucer
as a simple and straightforward writer. And I suspect there are a few of
us who do this. Chaucer is a slippery fish, not easily hooked or pinned
down. I am sure he kept his mouth closed at many a diplomatic function.
Finally, I use the Nun's Priest's Tale as a kind of Ph.D. orals in which the whole class participates. By the end of the semester, this tour de force ought to be understood completely by anyone who has stayed the course. As Muscatine has pointed out, all Chaucer's favorite themes come together here: Boethian discussion of fate, dreams, herb lore, courtly love, tragedy, comedy, antifeminism, high and low styles, mock heroic, and the deflation of a cocky human ego. I like to end the course on a note that does not jar. We have passed our Prioresses, Summoners, Pardoners, and Merchants, their tales, and those of the Knight. We have seen glimpses of what Donaldson calls Chaucer's dark night of the soul. The Nun's Priest's Tale confirms, yet again, that for Chaucer the sun always rises.
And so we were to the last day but one. The lights are turned out and the Ellesmere slides appear on the screen. The Huntington Library's copies of these are inexpensive but extraordinarily rewarding. The first slide is a photo of the first MS page. Students can practice a bit of reading and admire the luxury of the illumination. Then the identifying of the pilgrims starts, and I proceed with a mock examination. The student puts down the pilgrim on paper, and then we all work out the answer together. There is no cheating because there is no grading, just end-of-the-semester relaxation. I am constantly amazed, however, how these small miniature illustrations bear up under unusually high magnification. Everything is seen clearly: the Cook's mormal and ladle, the starry eyes of Hubert, the flask of the Manciple, the accoutrements of the Pardoner, and the summoner's "whelks". All the horses are different, taking on the character of their riders. Of great interest is Alisoun, with her spurs and little whip, and she herself riding astride. The other ladies are side-saddle, a fashion evidently started under Queen Ann of Bohemia. I arrange the slides so that the easier ones come early, but, by process of elimination, all the pilgrims can be identified. Last is the picture of Geoffrey Chaucer himself, and with the Ellesmere MS dated 1400-10 this is the earliest portrait we have, probably the closest to life. For the class I can sense that there is a moment of truth here, some kind of epiphany. The face surprises many; it was not quite what they expected, that shrewd, knowing look. This is good. We must all be aware (and constantly!) that Chaucer is the master of the unexpected.
By now it is hard to accept the inevitable, the final day of the course, and the last hour is always a sad one. My attempt to sum up is not closely planned; it stems less from method now than from emotion, from a conviction of the merit of what we have learned during the semester. The Chaucerian character has come through so intensely during the past weeks that it is almost superfluous to point out to the class the poet's relativist view of mankind, ironic, at times wry, but almost unwaveringly charitable, which makes Chaucer so appealing and immediately modern. His great power is that he elicits not only an intellectual response from students but an intensely emotional one as well, a response that the instructor must foster by attempting to achieve a close rapport with the class. If there is occasionally anguish at the final leave-taking, I comfort my friends with the thought that Chaucer's Troilus will provide them hours of future pleasure.
By the looks in their eyes I am certain of one thing at the end of the course: at another conference, under similar circumstances, there would be several students in that class who would not deny Chaucer. They would break a spear for him, stand their ground at the risk of missing their flight, and give three staid professionals a lecture- certainly unprofessional, probably even un-Chaucerian, but to the point.
Appendix:
COURSE SYLLABUS for Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales
Course description: The course consists of background lectures, reading and discussion in class, records, and slides. The text is the standard scholarly edition of Chaucer's works by F.N.Robinson, 2nd ed., 1957. Always bring this book to class.
Scheduled written work required for the course will be one outside paper on topics to be assigned or chosen after discussion with the instructor, of a minimum of twelve pages, and a final examination.
Except for the General Prologue, which will be read in class, all other tales should be read ahead of the day assigned. Possible brief quizzes may occur on such days. All tales, prologues, and "links" must be read, with the exception of the Parson's Tale and the Melibee (the pilgrim Chaucer's second tale), which are optional. Only a grasp of their content is required. The student is therefore responsible for all tales, including those not on this list.
As clerks you should use "translations" only in the privacy
or secrecy of your cloistered cells. Use of such officially forbidden works,
however, since they are heretical, damned, perhaps even of Lollard origin
(forbidden because of perversion and unorthodoxy of text), must be accepted
with grace and joy. We are mild in chastising the body: the hair shirt
is welcome, but self-flagellation is interdicted.
Assignments and Lecture Schedule
1 Lecture: introduction and Language
2 -3 Readings in General Prologue
4 Lecture: Philology and Meter
5-6 Readings in General Prologue
7 Bibliography
8-9 Readings in General Prologue
10 Lecture: Courtly Love
11 Readings in General Prologue
12-13 Lectures: Life Series I
14-16 Discussion of Knight's Tale
17 Lectures: Life Series II
18-19 Discussion of Miller's Tale and Reeve's Tale
20-21 Lectures: Life Series III
22 Discussion of Man of Law's Prologue and Tale
23 Lecture: Canterbury Tales as anthology
24-25 Discussion of Wife of Bath's Prologue and tale
26 Lecture: Plan of The Canterbury Tales
27 Discussion of Friar's Tale and Summoner's Tale
28 Discussion of Clerk's tale
29 Discussion of Merchant's tale
30 Discussion of Franklin's tale
31-32 Lectures: Grouping of the Tales
33 Pre-Thanksgiving Celebration: The Canterbury Tales Musical
34-35 Discussion of Pardoner's Prologue and Tale
36 Lecture: Problems in the Tales
37 Discussion of Sir Thopas
38 Discussion of Nun's Priest's Tale
39 The Ellesmere Slides: Illustrations of the Pilgrims
40 Summing Up