Friday, September 12, 2008
Youth and Age and Chaucer
The topics of the tales in The Canterbury Tales we have read in this class are various--marriage, chivalry, the church, to name a few. Let's think, however, for this week about Chaucer's depiction of youth and age. Using several tales to support your response, explain whether or not you think Chaucer presents a reverent view of age (or the elderly). What about youth? What could you say is the dominant attitude toward youth and age in these select tales?
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I’ll begin my assessment of youth with The Wife of Bath’s tale. King Arthur’s knight was brash and pompous, doing to ladies things that although were wrong, he continued doing. Here, Chaucer depicts the immaturity in youth that we all have at times. But, as he shows in the same story, even when we reach old age, there is nothing more that we long for than a little youth (beauty). When the knight is redeemed, the old hag turns into a beautiful young lady and pleases both of them. Here, Chaucer reminds us how indeed beautiful the youth years are and that we should cherish them.
And then we have The Merchant’s Tale. January, an old man of intense sexual desires, wants nothing more than a prized lady by his side. His bride comes in the form of a beautiful and young May. As is shown in other tales as well, May exemplifies how the youth will settle for things for security purposes. Although she probably isn’t happiest with January, she realizes that it’s her best option for stability. Thus, characters like her are full of temptation and infidelity towards their loved ones.
So I would probably agree that there is a more respectful view of old age; however, I think that Chaucer strongly urges to hold on to the beauty of youth, for it’s something that won’t last forever. And as old age goes, Chaucer certainly makes the elders out to be the wiser ones, but on the same note, they are more susceptible to the conniving youth.
As far as I can tell, Chaucer appears to give a very stereotypical response towards age and youth. With age comes wisdom. Youth is full of beauty and life, but it is taken for granted. However, I think that he actually does not hold true to this standard. It appears more reasonable to think that he portrays each character, young or old, individually. In The Wife of Bath's Tale, the old hag comments "that men should not despise old age, but rather grant an old man respect, and call him 'father.'" Yet, since she is ugly and old, she gains no respect as a woman. Her husband, as well as herself, would rather see her as young and beautiful.
King Theseus in The Knight's Tale is older, and he comes off as a wise ruler. But Chaucer uses much sarcasm in this tale, somewhat mocking Theseus for his decisions.
In The Miller's Tale, the old carpenter is tricked by his wife and her lover and becomes the scorn of the town.
In The Reeve's Tale, the old miller is tricked by the young students.
These do not appear to be very wise elderly characters. In fact, the only truly wise characters are found in The Franklin's Tale.
Chaucer depicts his younger characters as beautiful but stupid. They have not yet gained the wisdom that supposedly comes with old age (but is not displayed in Chaucer's characters). They continually show their immaturity. In fact, most of Chaucer's characters are immature, young and old alike.
Chaucer portrays youth in most of his stories as irresponsible, selfish, untrustworthy and beautiful people. in the miller's tale, he has allison described as a beautiful young lady but that cant be trusted around other younger men. Nicholas is portrayed as a handsome young man who uses trickery in attempts to get the woman he loves.
In the Merchant's tale, January would rather have a younger woman under the age of 30 because she is more likely to be able to give him children. He marries May and then he shows May as untrustworthy as she cheats on January and then lies about it.
Erin, I like your observation that most characters--young AND old--suffer from a little immaturity and idiocracy. It's apparent that many of the males are slow; they can't even catch on to the sleeping games going on around them! And I highly doubt that they are willingly turning a blind eye. I think you're also right in saying that Chaucer turns to this comedic element as a sort of satirical viewpoint of his thoughts of his society...unofficially of course. (He wouldn't want to be beheaded).
I have to admit, I don't really have much more to add to this blog. So far, we have all basically come to the same conclusions, just with varying examples. Martin, I like your example from the Merchant's Tale. I also agree with your point that Chaucer seems to tell his readers to cherish their youth because it won't last forever, and eventually we will all get older and have to deal with the joys of old age.
I think the overall attitude toward the aged is that they are morally superior to young, but extremely vulnerable to being deceived by youth. For instance, in the Reeve's Tale, Simkin's daughter knows exactly what she's doing when she sleeps with Alan. Her mother, though, is tricked into getting in John's bed and doesn't realize he's not her husband until it's too late. Similarly, the older husbands in both the Miller's Tale and the Merchant's Tale seem to be extremely devoted to their young wives, but ultimately fall victim to their wives' deception in sleeping with younger men. As with the his comments on class, however, Chaucer recognizes that there are exceptions to the rule. Dorigen and Arveragus of the Franklin's Tale both seem to be relatively young, but also appear to be the wisest, and perhaps most noble, characters we have seen.
i think that chaucer veiw on age is something that is still true today, when you are young you don't appreciate that youthfulness, and when you older u wish you had that youthfulness. his tales dealt with age in away that show us the immaturity of the characters both old and young. in the miller's tale alison the young beautiful wife was as chaucer put it watched by her older husband as if he had her in a cage, because he was afraid of her been unfaithful. nicholas immaturity cost him dearly in the end. in other tales such as the pardoner's their youthfulness cost them thier lives, and in the merchant's tale his old age and love of his young wife causes him to foolishly not belive his on eyes whne he catches her with his squire. his attitude is that poeple act immature all throughout life there ism't any age discrimination.
Martin,
I think you bring up a great point when you mention how Chaucer's older characters "long for" the youth they've lost. We see this longing not only in the old hag, but also in January as he boasts, "I feel nowhere white but on my head" and that his "limbs are stout enough to undertake whatever it's proper that a man should do." I think most of the May-December marriages we see in Chaucer (and real life, for that matter) could be at least partially explained in these terms...attempts by the older partner to regain a sense of the youth they've lost.
I'm not sure I can say that Chaucer presents a reverent view of age. He seems to ridicule both young and old; the young are wild, carefree, and lustful, whereas the elderly are foolish and too strict when they are dealing with the young.
This is especially obvious in the Miller's Tale. The carpenter is old and he marries a young woman; this results in him being jealous and trying to "keep her close as in a cage" (126). Chaucer, or his narrator rather, seems to warn against marriage between young and old, saying that "man should wed his like...for youth and age are often out of joint" (127). To prove his point, the carpenter's young wife cheats on him with a young student who lives with them. In this tale, the poor old carpenter falls for a dumb trick, therefore suggesting that age is often outwitted by youth.
The Reeve's Tale portrays youth and age much the same way. In this story, the miller is a sly old man who gets outwitted and shamed by two young students in the end. The two youth are lustful and cunning, much like the two young lovers in the Miller's Tale.
Another obvious tale that focuses on differences in age is the Wife of Bath's Tale. This tale in particular suggests that old age is not as desirable as youth. Some people would agree with this, but old age is a part of life and this tale tries to undo that very element of life when the old woman transforms into a young bride for her knight. The only thing that seems to be advantageous about old age in this story is that the elderly are more likely to remain loyal to their partners because they are ugly.
Such a negative view on old age!
Lashawnda,
I agree with your assessment of how Chaucer portrays youth and the elderly. I said much the same thing but I forgot to point out that the young were often good-looking in his tales.
jamie
that was good he sees older characters as wise but easly duped by their younger counterparts. the tales we have read thus for all deal with that situation as in the miller's tale young nicholas and alison pull a fast one the older carpenter.
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