Musings of a Compulsive Thinker

A wee taste of Geoffrey Chaucer

In the General Prologue of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, some space is devoted to describing each of the travelers. We'll have a look at his take on the Monk. If you want to read along, the passage can be found here, with a modern translation given alongside the original Middle English. For the convenience of the more casual reader, I will offer translations as close to the original wording as I can get.

Chaucer’s description of the Monk is fraught with the kind of sarcasm that I enjoy so much in his writing. This becomes evident beginning in lines 177-178, where Chaucer writes of the Monk's disregard for a certain text condemning his favorite pastime:

" He thought of that text not a pulled hen,
That says that hunters are not holy men "

Clearly the Monk enjoys hunting and other things too much to let such old-fashioned religious notions get in his way. At first read Chaucer seems to agree with this philosophy (l. 183-192):

" And I said his opinion was good.
Why should he study, and make himself mad,
Upon a book in cloister always to pore,
Or work with his hands and labor,
As Austin bids? How shall the world be served?
Let Austin have his work to him reserved!
Therefore he was a rider aright:
Greyhounds he had, as swift as fowl in flight;
Of riding and of hunting for the hare
Was all his lust, for no cost would he spare. "

Why should the Monk study and labor? "How shall the world be served?" This seems justification enough; Chaucer writes, "Therefore he was a rider aright," as if this is the best thing on which the Monk could possibly spend his time and effort. The verses that follow give a description of the Monk's person, giving him the air of a rich man who has spared no expense in the pursuit of fashionable comforts: fur-trimmed cloak, gold pin, well-conditioned boots, and, from all indications, very fine dining.

Some might say that Chaucer genuinely agrees with the Monk's habits, being of a practical mind; the Monk can't change the world or really improve the quality of life for lesser people, so why should he waste his time?

However, especially in light of Chaucer's other works, such an observation would seem to be drastically out of character with his apparent set of moral values.

" Suffice unto your things, though they be small,
For avarice is hateful, ...
Savor no more than behooves you "

The above, translated from Chaucer's "Ballad of Good Counsel," praises the simple lifestyle and the virtue of being satisfied with no more than you need. Considering his verses about the Monk, I find myself responding with equal sarcasm to the Monk's own set of values. "How shall the world be served," indeed?

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Labels: literature, philosophy

posted by the alygator @ 1:38 PM