Geoffrey Robertson

the half-sister of King Arthur. Morgan le Fay uses her lover, Accolon to steal King Arthur’s sword when this plan does not go as accordingly she throws the sword into the lake. Morgan le Fay is also considered a healer because in Vita Merlini by Geoffrey Monmouth she heals King Arthur’s wounds from the last battle of Calman but the only way that she can heal her brother is if he stays. Morgan le Fay’s character has changed in many literary works because it gives a different perspective of her…

To be honorable simply is to earn high respect. Honor was established as an admirable and precious gift long before Geoffrey Chaucer and his The Canterbury Tales, as Publilius Syrus of the 1st century B.C. once questioned “What is left when honor is lost?” (Stolinsky). This question, although pondered long before the mid 1300’s, was depicted within the chivalric code, with honor being one important attribute that knights were expected to retain. In our day and age, honor is typically displayed…

“The Wife of Bath's Tale” (Middle English: the Tale of the Wyf of Bathe) is among the best-known of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It provides insight into the role of women in the Late Middle Ages and was probably of interest to Chaucer himself, for the character is one of his most developed ones, with her Prologue twice as long as her Tale. He also goes so far as to describe two sets of clothing for her in his General Prologue. She holds her own among the bickering pilgrims, and evidence…

Geoffrey Chaucer was born 1342 into a middle-class family in London. As a child he attended school and soon after began his career as a page for Countess, which was considered quite a good position and furthered his education. At the age of 17 he was sent abroad to fight for the King of Britain in France where he was captured and held prisoner for one year until the King paid his ransom (Chaucer xi). By 1367, he worked for the King himself, and was held in high regard (xii). The King sent…

courtly tales of King Arthur, were eventually written down and made into a book form, becoming the first written compilation or embodiment of medieval literature (Alchin). According to Leah Shopkow, a History professor at the Indiana University, Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Welsh author and cleric, was the main source of information about the legends of King Arthur. He wrote “Historia Regum Britanniae”, also known as “The History of the Kings of Britain”, in 1136. This book detailed the old Kings and…

factor. At times when the male characters are rejected, it often leads to misogynistic actions, and there are multiple demonstrations in the tales which mirror the of the level of entitlement that men felt towards women at this time in history. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the role of women is to be objectified by men, whether it be for lust, infatuation, or to feed a male’s ego by being a prize. Firstly, it is demonstrated multiple times throughout the book that women are often…

The Catholic Church classifies pride, lust, gluttony, envy, greed, laziness, and wrath as the seven deadly sins. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, he analyzes each of these sins and their influence on the lives of pilgrims making their way to Canterbury. Among these pilgrims, the reader would stumble upon a nun and a pardoner. Although the nun and the pardoner share employment in conjunction with the Catholic Church, the sins of which they are guilty differ immensely, as do their…

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer tells the story of a diverse and peculiar group of pilgrims. In the prologue, Chaucer the Narrator provides a description of these pilgrims, and a contest is proposed to help pass time on this long journey; each of the pilgrims were to tell a few tales, and the pilgrim with the best tale would get a prize. Although Chaucer did not finish writing all of the pilgrims' tales or name a winner of the contest, the tales told by the Miller, the Pardoner, the…

A reoccurring theme in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a hunger for power, authority and respect. We are introduced to characters in The Crucible who will do anything for the sense of authority or power, one of them being Reverend Parris. Reverend Parris is one of, if not the most, power-hungry characters in The Crucible because prior to the plot of the play, the audience learns he was greedy in his church, during the play the audience witnessed many moves made out of his need for authority, and…

Life in fourteenth century England was vividly illustrated through the Canterbury Tales almost more accurately than any other history of that time period. Gregory Chaucer, the author of the Canterbury Tales, gives the reader a profound insight into the life of the fourteenth century people in England through direct and indirect characterization. Chaucer effectively reveals the character's thoughts, words, and action through the use of his "Prologue" to the Canterbury Tales. His work shows his…