The Tree of Tales: The Canterbury Tales and its Analogues
Geoffrey Chaucer is considered "the first great English poet" (Robert McNeil, The Story of Language), and his Canterbury Tales is acknowledged to be one of the great works of English literature. To understand it, however, readers need to be aware of several things. First, they must be aware of the historical context of fourteenth-century England (for example, the obsolescence of the knightly class, the rise of the parliamentary system, and the growing importance of commercial civilization). Second, they must be aware that the Tales is a written work composed for a milieu in which literate ways of thinking were of growing importance but descended from the oral genre of the "frame story," a narrative told by one narrator but encapsulating other narratives. The Tales has analogues both of the frame and of the contained narratives in the literature of many different societies. The course will consider how each author varies the genre because of the historical context in which he or she is writing. The course will then deal with some selected sources and analogues of the tales themselves considering how each version reflects the historical milieu in which it was composed.
There will be three papers of varying lengths, the third of which will be due on the day of the final, one in-class writing assignment, and an in-class midterm and final. University regulations state that the final must be taken at the scheduled time. Papers must be submitted as hard copy, not e-mail attachments. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, and the honor code must be obeyed at all times. Plagiarism will be severely penalized: possible penalties are failure of the paper, failure ot the course, or suspension from school.
Attendance is mandatory, and more than two unexcused absences will reduce the final grade by one letter grade.
Schedule of Assignments
Tuesday, January 4 INTRODUCTION
Thursday, January 6 Chaucer, "General Prologue," 1-22; selections from The Medieval Reader and C. Warren Hollister, "Town, Countryside, and Economic Takeoff" (reader)
Tuesday, January 11 Prologues to Gower, Confessio Amantis, and Boccaccio, Decameron; Christine de Pisan, City of Ladies, Part I, chapters 1-6 and Part 3, chapter 19; C. Warren Hollister, "Death, Disorder, and Renaissance" (reader)
Thursday January 13 Hinduism (video);
Introduction
to Panchatantra (reader)
Tuesday, January 18 Video; in-class writing
assignment
Thursday, January 20 Islam (video); Prologue to Arabian Nights (reader)
Tuesday, January 25
"Sergeant at Law's
Introduction,
Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue," 113-147; Gower's "Tale of Constance" and
Beowulf
lines 1931-62 (reader)
Thursday, January 27 "Miller's Prologue and Tale," "Reeve's Prologue and Tale," "Cook's Prologue," 79-110; "Viola and her Lovers" (Benson) (reader)
Tuesday, February 1 "Wife of Bath's
Prologue
and Tale," 219-50
Paper #1 Due
Thursday, February 3 Gower's "Tale of Florent" and "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell" (reader)
Tuesday, February 8 MIDTERM
Thursday, February 10 "Friar's Prologue and Tale" and "Prologue of the Summoner's Tale," 251-262; "Of an Administrator" (Benson) and "The Rypon Analogue" (reader)
Tuesday, February 15 "The Doctor of Medicine's Tale" and "The Pardoner's Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue," 386-410; "Treasure Finders Murder One Another" (http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0763.html); Livy's "Verginia," Gower's "Tale of Virginia," and Panchatantra's "The Four Treasure Seekers" (reader)
Thursday, February 17 "Merchant's Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue," pp. 313-43; "The Enchanted Pear Tree" (http://www. pitt.edu/~dash/type1423.html); Arabian Nights' "Tale of the Husband and the Parrot," Panchatantra's "The Old Man with the Young Wife," and "A Rich Man and His Wife" (Benson) (reader)
Tuesday, February 22 "Franklin's
Prologue
and
Tale," 361-385; Decameron, Tale 5 of Day IX and "Dame Siriz"
(reader)
Paper #2 Due
Thursday, February 24 "Nun's Priest's Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue," 201-18
Tuesday, March 1 Arabian Night's "Tale of the Ox and the Donkey" and beast fables from World Folktales (reader)
Thursday, March 3 "The Oxford Scholar's Tale," 278-312; Christine de Pisan Part 2, chapters 11-2 and 50, Decameron Tale X of Day X, and Marie de France Le Fresne (reader)
Tuesday, March 8 "Sea Captain's Tale," 148-159 and "Manciple's Prologue and Tale" 451-460, Decameron Tale I of Day VIII; Arabian Nights' "The Pepper Mill" and "Of Avarice and Lust" and "The Merchant and his Magpie" (Benson) (reader)
Thursday, March 10, 9:00-10:50 F I N A
L
E X A M I N A T I O N
Paper #3 due
