Isumbras His Wife And Absolon Essay

Medieval texts portray a tension between chivalric ideals and Christianity. One way of examining how the intersection of these values occurs is by focusing on how characters with religious affiliation are described, and whether these attributes reflect on their ability to embody heroic behavior. Specifically, one can examine how Sir Isumbras, his wife, and Chaucer’s Absolon illustrate how dependence on God’s grace only renders a character heroic insofar as he or she has the ability to conflate chivalric behavior with Christian proselytization on a material plane. The hero exhibits characteristics in both the material and spiritual realms – “a feyre man and strong” (Item 5 13); the physical build of the person, aligned with Christian virtues, is necessary in order for the text to acknowledge the character as a hero. After explaining how persons fail to meet heroic criteria, examining the particular characteristics of the abovementioned characters can show why Sir …show more content…
Chaucer overtly feminizes him by primarily identifying his hair and complexion in describing his look: “Crul was his heer, and as the gold it shoon/ … / His rode was reed, his eyen greye as a goos” (3314, 3317). Unlike the ideal masculine character, these attributes provide no physical strength through which he can impose God’s will. Moreover, while, as the parish clerk, Absolon is an agent of the Church, his description does not point towards spiritual concerns. Calling him a “mery child” (3325), Chaucer tells the reader of Absolon’s ability to –“trippe and daunce/…and pleyen songes on a small rubible” (3328-3331). Whereas his job requires him to act on behalf of God, any innate ability to do so is not referred to, and the talent he does have only enables him to indulge in courtly