Attitudes of Marriage in Chaucers the Canterbury Tales :: essays papers

Attitudes of art object and wife in Chaucers the Canterbury Tales Chaucers The Canterbury Tales, demonstrate many unalike attitudes and perceptions towards sexual union. Some of these ideas are very traditional, such as that illustrated in the Franklins Tale. On the other hand, other tales present a liberal view, such as the marriages portrayed in the milling machines and The Wife of Baths tales. While several of these tales are rather comical, they do indeed depict the attitudes towards marriage at that time in history. D.W. Robertson, Jr. calls marriage the solution to the problem of love, the force which directs the will which is in turn the source of moral action (Robertson, 88). Marriage in Chaucers time meant a union between spirit and flesh and was thus part of the marriage between Christ and the Church (Bennett, 113). The Canterbury Tales extract many abuses of this sacred bond, as will be discussed below.One example of corruption in marriage is The Millers Tale. This tale includes a sexy clerk, a vain clerk, and an elderly man entangled in a web of deceit and adultery construed by a married women. It is obvious in this story that almost each of these characters show complete disregard to the institution of marriage. The two men, Nicholas and Absalon, both try to engage in adulterous affairs with Alison, the old mans wife. Both of the men are guilty of trying to seduce Alison, which shows their indifference towards the sanctions and laws of marriage. Still Alison, who should be the wiser, also breaks the laws of marriage. She takes Nicholas because she wants to, just as she ignores Absalon because she wants to. Lines 104-109 of the Millers Tale show Alisons blatant disrespect for her marriage to Old John and her planned deceit That she hir love hym graunted atte laste, And swoor hir ooth, by seint Thomas of Kent That she wol been at his commandment, Whan that she may hir leyser wel espie. Myn housbonde is so ful of jalousie That but ye way te wel and been privee On the contrary, Alisons husband loved her more than his own life, although he felt foolish for marrying her since she was so childly and skittish. This, in turn, led him to keep a close watch on her whenever possible. The Millers main point in his story is that if a man obtains what he wants from God or from his wife, he wont ask questions or become jealous.