• Home Page
  • Geoffrey Chaucer's Fortune: Balades De Visage Sanz Peinture

Geoffrey Chaucer's Fortune: Balades De Visage Sanz Peinture

Improved Essays
Show More
Geoffrey Chaucer’s short poem, Fortune: Balades de Visage sanz Peinture, was written in the 14th century. The poem takes place in a court room setting, with a plaintiff and a goddess-like character named Fortune, as a defendant. The plaintiff blames Fortune of his failures, however, Fortune does not take the responsibility. In this paper, I will analyze Fortune’s defense against the plaintiff’s accusation, she questions his entitlement while he still follows a Christian God. She intimidates him with her power and judges him. His expectations parallels the expectations people have in their Christian religion. During the time this poem was written, there was political unrest in England, between the Church and State, in addition, Christianity …show more content…
The word he uses: “tormentour,” “dreddest hir oppressioun,” and “thou no savour,” have religious connotations to them. Only God would have power to control people’s fortune. He uses words to describe possibly the anti-savour, or even the devil, and these are harsh accusations. She replies in a powerful, unapologetic way, and appears offended that a mortal man could speak to her in this manner. She finds him ungrateful and wretched, asks if he has gone hungry, or has his friend passed away yet, she has boasts how she has been merciful to him: “Sey thus: 'Graunt mercy of thyn haboundaunce/That thou hast lent or this. 'Why wolt thou stryve?/What wostow yit how I thee wol avaunce?/And eek thou hast thy beste frend alyve.”(29-32) I find her language to be mocking the monotheistic God, because the plaintiff has been raised to thank Him, and be grateful for the little mercy God can give, while Fortune is extra luxury, no person is entitled to her bestowing luck onto men. There is a

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Of George Bernard's Play 'The Inquisitor'
    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis Of George Bernard's Play 'The Inquisitor'

    George Bernard’s presented character, “The Inquisitor” in his play “Saint Joan” aims to defend his depiction of Joan of Arc : heresy. Through his speech, he is able to justify his reasons as to why the court should blame Joan of Arc for heresy. The presence of ethos, pathos and logos in his speech allows him to better argue his point and reveals a strongly enough claim that attracts the church court. The underlying effects of these rhetorical strategies serve as a vital tool in helping “the inquisitor” argue his point through deductive reasoning. Moreover, through his use of rhetorical devices, he is intended to appeal his beliefs to the audience on Joan of Arc.…

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Mary Rowlandson's Mistress Analysis
    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mary Rowlandson's Mistress Analysis

    She quotes the Psalm, “Be still and know that I am God,” which consoled her spirit (Rowlandson 19). Many times when she gets punished by her mistress she prays to God and opens her bible to a passage which reassures and gives her…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Struggle Between Good And Evil In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown
    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Struggle Between Good And Evil In Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

    He’s saying she can’t feel sad or be anything but happy because she is so pure. If he acknowledged the sinful side of Faith he wouldn’t be able to use her in order to convince himself to not go with the devil. Throughout his walk in the forest with the traveller he often cites Faith as a reason to not go further or join the devils…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Fabliau In The Merchant's Tale
    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Fabliau In The Merchant's Tale

    The Merchant’s Tale follows a genre of the narrative common to the medieval French literature known as a “fabliau.” According to Christina von Nolcken “these types of stories are often short, comic, and involve a person stealing another person’s wife.” The key plot of The Merchant’s Tale fits this, especially with the stock features of the lustful old man cuckolded by a young woman. Von Nolcken continues, “part of the comedy of a fabliau of this kind is the folly of the old man who thinks he can sexually please his young, good-looking wife, and have her truthful to him”. The tale focuses on January as he appears the victim of the unfaithful wife, but his inappropriate lust and foolishness would have caused no sympathy from Chaucer's medieval audience.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    What Does Greed Symbolize In The Pardoner's Tale
    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages

    What Does Greed Symbolize In The Pardoner's Tale

    In the story, “The Pardoner’s Tale’’ By Geoffrey Chaucer, wrote symbolic meanings in it. This symbolic meaning mocks the Medieval British Society. He criticizes hypocrisy, the treatment of women, and people can be so greedy when it comes to money. The Pardoner’s tale shows all these characteristics that happened commonly in the medieval times.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Wife Of Bath's Tale And The Men We Carry In Our Minds
    • 1047 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Wife Of Bath's Tale And The Men We Carry In Our Minds

    Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” explores some of the generalizations that have been seen throughout history about women as well…

    • 1047 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Friendship By Katherine Phillips Summary
    • 1055 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Friendship By Katherine Phillips Summary

    She goes on to say how to say how humans use symbolism for God, and women’s symbolism of God is their husbands, whether they are a beast or a bird (line 5-8). So “God”, or men, give out their laws, and the laws are those that are not even suitable to a man, but in a standard much bellows that. As a sacrifice, men make their women disguise their true self, and imprison the women to not even have an opinion (line 8-11). Men have the complete control to build a woman up, or to completely destroy…

    • 1055 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Sir Gawain And The Green Knight And Gender Analysis
    • 1277 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Sir Gawain And The Green Knight And Gender Analysis

    “Most winsome in ways of all women alive, She seemed to Sir Gawain, excelling Guinevere. To squire that splendid dame, he strode through the chance” (944-46). This is an underlying warning that although women are tempting and beautiful, that beauty is deceptive; women can lead to death. Moreover, this has a religious context to the temptress. It was Eve who offered Adam the forbidden fruit.…

    • 1277 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Stereotypes In Geoffrey Chaucer´s The Prioress's Tale
    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Stereotypes In Geoffrey Chaucer´s The Prioress's Tale

    During this time, there was a grown form of religious rivalries between the two. Chaucer utilizes The Prioress’s Tale as a commentary on the anti-Semitic culture of the churches through an allusion to a story about a Christian cleric. Through close…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Pardoner's Tale In The Canterbury Tales
    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Pardoner's Tale In The Canterbury Tales

    On the basis of entertainment and lesson-teaching, it is not difficult to see which tale in The Canterbury Tales is the best. Each pilgrim journeying to Canterbury tells their own story with a lesson and a bit of entertainment, and their stories reflect their actions and personalities. “The Pardoner’s Tale,” “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” and “The Miller’s Tale” represent their storytellers while capturing the attention of the reader. However, only one of the tales has the strongest lesson and the most balanced amount of entertainment. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” rises above the other stories in terms of lesson-teaching and entertainment because it demonstrates a revolutionary lesson while resisting the urge of being too obscene or too hypocritical like the other two tales.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Theme Of Gender Inequality In The Odyssey
    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Theme Of Gender Inequality In The Odyssey

    She is telling Hermes that the gods openly discriminate against the goddesses when they interfere with their relationships. She also seems to mock the gods by calling them peevish or touchy at one point. " So radiant Dawn once took to bed Orion until you easeful gods grew peevish at it" (127-28). To say that someone is peevish is to say they are easily irritated by unimportant things. The word peevish is usually used to describe someone, particularly a woman, who allows minor incidents to bother them.…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Rise Of The Middle Class In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales
    • 2356 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The Rise Of The Middle Class In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

    England was a difficult place to live in the medieval times if one was not born into a noble family. If one was not considered to be a noble from birth, then that person would likely have little to nothing for their entire life. The only real way that a person could improve their position would be to become a part of the church or perform a great feat that would cause a king to crown them as a noble. This was because there were only three real classes in England in the medieval times: the nobility, the clergy, and the peasants. The nobility consisted of kings and other people that were rich, had a lot of land, or held important positions in the government.…

    • 2356 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Indulgences In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales
    • 1437 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Indulgences In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

    Before Martin Luther posted his 95th thesis on a church door in Worms, Germany so as to publicly air his grievances against the Church, another prominent figure also criticized the abuses of the Church. This man was no clergyman or ruler; he was a prominent literary figure of his time. This man was Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, in part, deals greatly with the abuses and scandalous behaviors of authority figures in the Catholic Church. Before Luther and before changes were made, Chaucer’s novel sheds light on some of the more questionable behaviors of those in the Catholic Church.…

    • 1437 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Freneau On The Religion Of Nature Analysis
    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Freneau On The Religion Of Nature Analysis

    Freneau was against religions that bound an individual to a deity and a single belief. The style of this poem gives it a scripture feel, though it is clear that Freneau wants readers to see it in a different way. Perspective is everything in a poem like this one. In lines one and two he states that a deity is not what gives out blessings and reveals the future, but instead that is natures job.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Contradiction In The Pardoner's Tale
    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Contradiction In The Pardoner's Tale

    Geoffrey Chaucer, during his time and even today, is considered one of the greatest English poets of the Middle Ages. Through his diverse characters and confounding morals, he is able to capture and relate to a broad audience. One of his more memorable characters is The Pardoner. The Pardoner is an interesting character as he seems to meet the exact opposite of what is expected of him, purposely by Chaucer, to voice a statement. The Pardoner’s introduction and tale encompasses several themes, being it betrayal, hypocrisy, and contradiction in general, all relating back to the deeper meaning and criticism Chaucer makes about humanity.…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings