As Chaucer’s clerk begins his tale, the implication that marriage will be the main theme of the story is quite apparent. However, as the reader continues, the matter of obedience and loyalty seem to take form. There is no doubt that The Clerk’s Tale is a direct response to the Wife of Bath whose tale portrayed that women desire complete control over their husbands. The Clerk tells a story from the opposite view and illustrates a totally submissive wife. In this paper, I will propose that in the Clerk’s Tale, Chaucer uses the characters of Walter and Griselda to invite us to ask questions about wifely obedience.
The characters in the Clerk’s Tale seem to describe obedience as, not just being respectful to your lord’s orders, but it also involves a total …show more content…
(354-6)
Throughout the entire tale, Griselda keeps her word, which is a very important attribute in this day and age. Griselda never defies him despite his cruel treatment to her. After he tells his wife that her daughter is going to be taken away all Griselda says is "my child and I, with true obedience,/ Are yours wholly, and you can save or kill/ Your own things" (502-4). He is the ruler of his wife and does not let her to show her inner feelings and she must stay forever loyal. Griselda is utterly dedicated to her husband and would voluntarily give her life for him if she thought it would help. She does not negate any of his actions because she believes that he knows best.
I would now like to turn to the question of civil limits to obedience. The tale takes a turn when Walter tests Griselda’s obedience by taking her children away to be killed. When she allows this to happen, many readers have a hard time seeing Griselda as an admirable woman. She is now facing the dilemma between being a mother and obeying her husband. Despite Walter’s attempts to prove her unfaithful, Griselda remained:
As busy in service, as humble, as glad,
As busy in love as she was wont to
The characters in the Clerk’s Tale seem to describe obedience as, not just being respectful to your lord’s orders, but it also involves a total …show more content…
(354-6)
Throughout the entire tale, Griselda keeps her word, which is a very important attribute in this day and age. Griselda never defies him despite his cruel treatment to her. After he tells his wife that her daughter is going to be taken away all Griselda says is "my child and I, with true obedience,/ Are yours wholly, and you can save or kill/ Your own things" (502-4). He is the ruler of his wife and does not let her to show her inner feelings and she must stay forever loyal. Griselda is utterly dedicated to her husband and would voluntarily give her life for him if she thought it would help. She does not negate any of his actions because she believes that he knows best.
I would now like to turn to the question of civil limits to obedience. The tale takes a turn when Walter tests Griselda’s obedience by taking her children away to be killed. When she allows this to happen, many readers have a hard time seeing Griselda as an admirable woman. She is now facing the dilemma between being a mother and obeying her husband. Despite Walter’s attempts to prove her unfaithful, Griselda remained:
As busy in service, as humble, as glad,
As busy in love as she was wont to