Canterbury Tales/Macbeth HD essay

The Nun's Priest's Tale

    Joslyn (1964, p.567) describes the style of Chaucer's 'nuns priests tale' as a syllogistic progression, a 'step by step from one thing to the next' often taking the form of an argument which leads toward a logical conclusion. The passage in question then forms the conclusion, albeit a conclusion undermined by the teller's apparent desire not to offend his companions.

    The story overall seems to be being openly antagonistic towards women and female advice. 'Women’s advice is fatal as a rule' he says and goes on to use the story of Adam's expulsion from Eden as an example (in classic syllogistic style). The teller then becomes concerned (or at least feigns concern) that he may have offended some of his companions. 'But as I don’t know whom it may displease/If I depreciate the advice of women,/ Forget it, it was only said in fun.' At this point he distances himself from his story, though the general overtone described as 'disingenuous' by Frese (1982 p.331) suggests strongly that he meant every word.

    In this way we can connect the syllogistic style referred to by Joslyn back to the Canterbury Tales as a whole. This argumentative or discussion based style with it's flow from fore to against is evident throughout the narrative as each story teller adds their point of view to the thesis of a females place in relation to men.

    Friedman (1973) points out that 'the Priest suggests that woman when subservient to man is a joy, but when woman assumes the dominant position in a household... the moral order of things is dislocated and only disaster can follow'(p.252). For the purposes of our readings, this particular story comes between Sir Topaz's tale and that of the Wife of Bath's, marking a turning point from pro-male narratives towards more pro-female or at least less positively male. Up to that point women were either the cause of the conflicts within the narrative (as in the Millers Tale) or adjuncts to the male protagonist's displays of virtue (as in the Knights Tale).

    The Nun's Priest tale 'only said in fun' marks a turning point from which the narratives become more pro-female (and with the Wife of Bath's Tale) or at least more antagonistic to the male protagonists (as with the Summoner's Tale and the Franklin's Tale). In this way the Canterbury Tales achieves a balance on the whole between the sexes, at least in terms of mistakes made and blame aportioned. Expanded outward this balance can be taken as an indication of the feelings of Chaucer on the subject of gender. At least for the purposes of the Canterbury Tales, he seems to be telling us that as far as good antagonists go, males make as decent a fodder as the classic evil or foolish female.

Bibliography

Frese, Dolores.W 'The "Nun's Priest's Tale:" Chaucer's Identified Master Piece?'
The Chaucer Review, Vol. 16, No. 4 (Spring, 1982), pp. 330-343

Friedman, John.B 'The "Nun's Priest's Tale": The Preacher and the Mermaid's Song'
The Chaucer Review, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Spring, 1973), pp. 250-266

Joselyn, M 'Aspects of Form in the Nun's Priest's Tale'
College English, Vol. 25, No. 8 (May, 1964), pp. 566-571

Question 2

    From the opening line of the passage in question ('Had I but died an hour before this chance'), Macbeth appears to be profoundly affected by the events of the night. Cain posits that 'Macbeth
recoils from the sickening nature of the act even as he commits himself to it' (Cain p.255). During the exchange Macbeth justifies his killing of Duncan's attendants (ostensibly for the crime of regicide). An act he committed to cover his own crime. This is Macbeth's first lie of many, hiding his murderous actions behind a mask of love; 'Who could refrain/ That had a heart to love, and in that heart / Courage to make’s love known?'

    The obvious question posed by this passage in regards to the work as a whole, is how genuine are Macbeth's professions of horror and sadness? Does Macbeth feign these inclinations, or as Cain suggests, is he in fact tormented by his own guilt?

    Shepherd (p.357) talks about Macbeth's 'naturally ambitious disposition', a precondition which left him wide open to the kind of manipulation that the weird sister's are peddling with their cryptic prophesying. This opening in Macbeth's psychology, while exploited from the outside, is still a fatal flaw. While Shepherd asserts that Macbeth's 'mind naturally recoils from the thought of perpetrating such and infamous act of treachery' (p.360), the truth remains that he does perpetrate them.

    Not only does Macbeth kill Duncan in order to be king (an action which might be justified in the light of the weird sister's prophecy), but he then goes on to murder Duncan's attendants to cover his crime. Any conflict Macbeth might express (even experience in truth) about what has happened must be coloured by the premeditated nature of his actions and the calculated way he took even more lives to further his agenda. While Shepherd states that there is 'a conflict in the mind of Macbeth between the powers of good and the powers of evil' (p.359) the fact remains that evil wins out.

    In light of this, is even a legitimate expression of horror or remorse relevant? In many way's the morality of the play circles back to this theme throughout, and the clinch point of that theme is this passage. Macbeth is our protagonist, that character with whom the reader (or viewer) is guided to identify. In the end, dying bravely, having the courage of his convictions (such as they are) can not absolve him of this morally indefensible act.  

Bibliography

Shepherd, J.Albert 'The Self-Revelations of Shakespeare's Villains'
The Sewanee Review, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Jul., 1902), pp. 341-363

Cain, William.E 'Murderous Thinking in "Macbeth." Literary Imagination; Autumn2008, Vol. 10 Issue 3, p255-263, 9p