A striking theme in the Canterbury Tales is the detailing of man’s perversions. Through vivid examples and intriguing parables, one sees how both sexuality and love can and will drive men to a perverted behavior. Indeed, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales reflect the interdependency of sex and love.
One of the fundamental ideas brought forward by Chaucer is the idea that men utilize God’s gifts in a disordered fashion. Love is intended to be a beautiful recognition of one’s purposeful attraction for another’s masculinity or femininity. Sex is meant to be the ultimate act of martial love; man and woman becoming one body to bring about new life and recognize each other’s great beauty. Of course, few things in this world actually follow God’s plan. …show more content…
In this fable, a young sultan becomes enraptured with a beautiful Roman princess. He longs to her to be his. Yet, he isn’t drawn to her because of hearing of the princess’s wonderful heart or some other potentially exemplary trait. Instead, all the sultan knows is that the princess is “peerless in beauty yet untouched by pride. Young, but untainted by frivolity” (126). He has no connection with the princess other than physical attraction. And whilst physical attraction is a component of true love, it cannot be a sole reason for love. Physical attraction alone leads to lust and temptations. When one does not have other reasons for an attraction, one is lead to act both selfishly and carelessly. In the sultan’s case, he ends of leaving his faith for hers in the hope that he can attract the princess to live with him.
The potential and horrible depravity of sexuality can be also found in another of Chaucer’s tales. In the Reeve’s tale, one sees the horrible abuse of sexuality that the two young men exhibit. The two men use sex as a method of revenge. Yes, the men sleep with the wife and daughter of the miller as a means of revenge. What these two men do is remove sex from its partner, love. Sex and Love are not supplements, instead they complement each other. The two form a union in which ordered intimacy is intended to take
One of the fundamental ideas brought forward by Chaucer is the idea that men utilize God’s gifts in a disordered fashion. Love is intended to be a beautiful recognition of one’s purposeful attraction for another’s masculinity or femininity. Sex is meant to be the ultimate act of martial love; man and woman becoming one body to bring about new life and recognize each other’s great beauty. Of course, few things in this world actually follow God’s plan. …show more content…
In this fable, a young sultan becomes enraptured with a beautiful Roman princess. He longs to her to be his. Yet, he isn’t drawn to her because of hearing of the princess’s wonderful heart or some other potentially exemplary trait. Instead, all the sultan knows is that the princess is “peerless in beauty yet untouched by pride. Young, but untainted by frivolity” (126). He has no connection with the princess other than physical attraction. And whilst physical attraction is a component of true love, it cannot be a sole reason for love. Physical attraction alone leads to lust and temptations. When one does not have other reasons for an attraction, one is lead to act both selfishly and carelessly. In the sultan’s case, he ends of leaving his faith for hers in the hope that he can attract the princess to live with him.
The potential and horrible depravity of sexuality can be also found in another of Chaucer’s tales. In the Reeve’s tale, one sees the horrible abuse of sexuality that the two young men exhibit. The two men use sex as a method of revenge. Yes, the men sleep with the wife and daughter of the miller as a means of revenge. What these two men do is remove sex from its partner, love. Sex and Love are not supplements, instead they complement each other. The two form a union in which ordered intimacy is intended to take