Destiny Against Individual Choice in The Tales of Canterbury. Literary Essay Sample.

The individuals in the tales of Canterbury are on a pilgrimage, toward a destination. The main aim of the journey is to take them from London to Canterbury physically. Although, as an individual, one can view it is a spiritual progress that its main agenda is to bring people closer to the truth. However, the pilgrimage is used to idolize that something is changing.

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During the present days, in the reign of Chaucers, time could be marked by a lot of activities hence ended up evolving. The tales of Canterbury appear to be a representation of these changes. Individuals might get convinced that some of the powers control their lives and hence end up making decisions based on their beliefs which are made based on their privileges.

The prolog which Chaucer taught his people is that the pilgrimages came to be together due to destiny. Since ancient times, the concept of a fate of fate was delivered in the tales of Canterbury in the name of fortune. Fortune, as it is described in the stories, starts with a capital F and it is personified. It is a representation of force or a figure against the will of the people. They cannot control it.

Hence, it ended up being represented by a woman who was turning a wheel named the wheel of fortune and the cycle of the wheel was to predict a good or a bad outcome in someones life. The concepts which are in the Knights of tale represented a spiritual, a hierarchical and a united community. According to other tales, it symbolized that the medieval society was progressing from a destiny or fate ideology society to a much personified one.

The Spiritual Society

The power of gods and the Church in the early ages, the Catholic Church had a large mass power control. People who worshiped from the Catholic Church were termed as the people who would pray and also happened to be rich in the society. An individual could be tempted to declare that he or she was the mightier one. The Catholic Church holds the existence of all types of gods and the goddesses. Each event could be described in terms regarding the gods, to the Catholic or the blessed.

In the Knight of tales, the use of the word Fortune is used many times. People beloved that blessings had converted from Duke to Thesaurus that is thanks be to the blessed and had to hire a false wheel as stated by the Arrives ladies who had been challenged. All the activities which happened in the two cousins lives had occurred by Aventura or by fortune in response to their will.

Arcite and Palamon were found alive by aventure. It is also by aventure they had seen Emelye from the journey which they were being imprisoned and hence ended up falling in love with her at the same time. They happened to find themselves at the back of a grove of trees by chance and Duke Thesaurus found them and stopped them from killing each other.

The strength of the gods and the church, members of the church of God on earth which revealed to itself passed to the medieval society. The Knight tale provided an analysis of the gods which happened to be convincing to the people at that time. Mars, Jupiter, and Dyane were both represented in a certain way in the characters way of life. Palamon kept on stressing that he had been caged, and he did not put the blame on himself or anybody, but he ended up cursing the evil goddess that governed the world by controlling it. The love which was shown by the two

Knight Palermo and Arate was said to start by Venus, the god of love. Emelye decided to pray to goddess Dyana to intervene so that the knight who killed herself must win the battle. However, since Arcite was the one to win. Jupiter got himself trapped in a deadfall accident, and Palamo got married to Emelye. However, none of the activities were meant to be of ones free will and actions, but everything is governed by a high figure. According to Palamon speech, he questioned whether or not men have their choice.

However, the Monk had begun to share the Palamon stories when the pilgrims were being passed to the Rochester. They could see their images on the wheel of fortune and the tales illustrated how outstanding characters had fallen. The great men like the Sampson and Nabugodonosor did not do anything to stop their fall because they had broken some of the spiritual laws.

A Hierarchical Society

The strength of the nobles spirituality was not just the only easy to tell more about the medieval society. This group was ranked by certain level; class was also stated in the knights tale. Chaucer at the end of the prolog of the tales of Canterbury, he said Knight as the noble figure of the pilgrim who had been selected. The thoughts of adventure sort or case to add up in the reinforcement of the notion or fortune which saturate many other tales. People in the Knight stories had a strong trust in the strength of their gods.

They also humbled themselves before the authority of the nobles. The medieval society was organized into classes at the top were the rulers. They included the nobility, trailed by those who prayed. The clergy and at the bottom were those who work in the peasantry.

Nobody was able to choose the noble class; one's free will was not to interfere on to this field. For one to be, recognize as a noble he or she was to be born a noble or chosen by another noble. Nobility was the highest class and nobles had the power to rule. Some of the qualities included gentillesa, courtesy; sympathy was regarded to be the courtly principles and was associated with them because they belonged to the court.

Another section was the Kings, Queens and the Dukes who formed the aristocratic rule. In the tales of knights, Duke Theseus was a real aristocrat who was given the power to command peoples lives. He was one of them before the Argives widows who bent down to plead for mercy. In a court of Thesus, they fell down on his knees and would kiss hiss feet as he stood. This theory is related to the worship approach towards a god or a goddess.

Thesus used his authority to embrace, imprison and set free Palamon and Arcite. He declared that judgment on Palamon and Arcite was to be at the back of the grove trees. He also spoke of the differences between the two men Emelye. However, he is the one who gave powers for the marriage of Palamon and Emelye to happen.

Queens get involved in setting up his sentence. The purpose of the knight is to make sure that women get what they want. When a noble gives out the command, one is expected to obey since people do not have power over their lives. Ones destiny is given to the person who is in governance.

Of Gender Roles and Love: A Patriarchal Society

Gods and Nobles power can be described as domineering over the people even when they do not seem to agree with this notion out rightly. Considering the individual level, there was another level of domination that had been ruling over the medieval society. Men had power over women, and it was believed that women had no right to the power of free will. Men made all the decisions without any consultation with the women. Women were also expected to be submissive towards men. In both the Knights Tale and the Clerks tale, it is asserted that women cannot make some major decisions such as who they should marry and such. A particular scene unfolds in Knights tale involving Emelyne. She simply had to submit to Duke Theseus. This is regardless of the fact that she had already made up her mind regarding submission. She had no desire to love or be loved at all. Thus Emelyne had to get married to Palamon because it is implied that is her destiny. The pinnacle of this tale is Emilys case. After Jupiter makes a decision on the woman Palamon should marry, Theseus utters the words that bind Emily and Palamon together. Emelye played such a passive character during the later stages. It was clear that her decisions and opinions mattered little when it came to the making of major decisions. Considering clerks tale, Marquisa Walters and Griseldas relationship can be described as more of a patriarchal relationship, other than simply hierarchical. Walter always thought that he had every right to do whatever thing he wanted to his wife simply because he was the man. On a general perspective, women were expected to be submissive and passive. It is particularly intriguing to identify this notion with the example of this alluded constancy exhibited by Griselda.

However, men had some weaknesses were victims when it came. They seemed to lose it all whenever they fell in love regardless of the woman they fell in love with. They were victims of the laws of love. Womens love was regarded Godly. According to the Knights tale, looking at a woman who was in love with a certain person was considered taboo. However, this opinion is in stark contrast to the ideal perspective exhibited in the fabliaux where women are making their decisions and also cheating on their men. They are not as submissive neither are they passive.

A Changing Society: Emergence of a New Era.

The Canterbury tales reflect on the England society during the Middle Age. During that time, people believed there were some gods who had power over them, and they submitted to them. Thus people were being ruled by the power of gods, the Church, the Nobles and the women who were being dominated by males. In the late 14th century there were some changes to the overall image of the medieval society. During the 14th century, England and the many other European countries were in total crisis. It was described as the century of crisis. On spiritual grounds, people were expected to turn their backs on the Greek gods depicted in the Knights tale. There was an expected shift regarding the battle from old to new and ancient to modern. The Catholic Church would suffer negative criticism due to its corrupt leadership. There are also a few examples of monks who are said to go hunting for other mens wives. Some summoners solicited for money from innocent people under the guise of offering ablution for the sins committed. In the Friars tale, for instance, there was a summoner who ended up in hell because all along he had been working for the devil.

With time, the Church became an extremely wealthy institution. In the Parsons tale, there is an appeal for individual examination to find grace and salvation. It is also implied that there would be a century of war coupled with the reign of three Popes who would spark schism within the Catholic Church. This would make many people question the teachings and doctrine of the Catholic Church. The effect of this would be the emergence of Protestantism which would be shown through the considerable number of reform movements. Tales such as Man of Laws and Second Nuns served as indicators of the paganism, with Muslims converting to Christianity. It is this mixture and lack of religion boundaries that would spark a total shift in the ordinary nature of relations and life as shown in the Man of Laws tale.

On a hierarchical level, the peasants would revolt against the current system of leadership. This would lead to the development of a new class of people referred to as the middle class. This class was made up more wealthy people, and it was implied that they would become more powerful than the Nobles. The Wife of Bathes tale contradicts the general notion about noble people that people used to believe. The emergence of the middles class led to a total shift. This is due to the fact that they were more emancipated and they embraced a more direct approach to life. The Knights tale depicts the end of one reign and the emergence of another which is more powerful and employs a more direct and rational approach. This is shown in the part where Miller cuts the Knights short just to give a mocking story on sex violence involving the Knights. The courage to speak up agains...