Med. Ren. Youth & OLD AGE - Grade: 2.1 PDF

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“Explore the presentation of the relation between youth and old age in any two or three of the following: the Miller’s Tale, the Merchant’s Tale, the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, the Pardoner’s Tale.”...

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EN121: MEDIEVAL TO RENAISSANCE LITERTURE SEMINAR TUTOR: JAMI ROGERS

MINA WHORMS STUDENT ID: 1606789

! 6. “Explore the presentation of the relation between youth and old age in any two or three of the following: the Miller’s Tale, the Merchant’s Tale, the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, the Pardoner’s Tale.” ________________________________________________________________________________________

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote ‘The Canterbury Tales’ in 1342, which is a collection of medieval poetry depicting a story-telling competition amongst pilgrims on an arduous journey to Canterbury. The tales told within his literary poetry largely concern the relationship between younger and older characters. In the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, the Miller’s Tale and the Merchant’s Tale, Chaucer presents the relationship between youth and old age to be strongly adjoined, yet contrarily derisive. The Wife of Bath implies the elderly’s motivation to have sexual relationships with the youth to be personal fulfillment and satisfaction. As a result, The Miller illustrates how older men then physically objectify their younger female partners, also depicted by The Merchant. However, this tale expresses the most significant dichotomy between the naivety of youth and the wisdom of old age. This essay will argue two perspectives: a) the old desiring the youth for sexual fulfillment and, b) the old are also capable of teaching valuable life lessons to the uncultivated. This conceptualization of age has been critically interpreted by William Anthony Davenport, who suggests that, “the figures in the Miller’s Tale were playing a generation game and that, beyond that… [the representation of] youth, middle age and old age, and further, that in the Merchant’s Tale… the contest is to recur.” (Davenport, 51). In these three momentous tales, Chaucer explores how the old can have a positive effect on younger generations, passing on knowledge of circumspection and morality that the young tend to be oblivious towards.

a) Chaucer uses prominent, elderly figures in his tales to depict that the old desire the youth for their sexual innocence and reproductive potential. This concept is largely directed at the relationship between older men and younger women, which is the most prevailing in the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale. Chaucer constructs this character as a social commentary on age discrimination, particularly towards women passed childbearing age. This is made explicit where The Wife has become accustomed to this sort of thinking, expressed in her belief that the purpose of a woman’s body is solely to repopulate the Earth: ‘But wel I woot, expres, withouten lie, God bad us for to wexe and multiplye.’ (Chaucer, 212) Yet, she has a contrasting opinion of her outer appearance than the young men have of her. Anne Laskaya comments on this particular approach to the female gender, arguing precisely, “For The Wife of Bath, the old hag can recapture her

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EN121: MEDIEVAL TO RENAISSANCE LITERTURE SEMINAR TUTOR: JAMI ROGERS

MINA WHORMS STUDENT ID: 1606789

maidenhood and her time…the Wife equates her body with new beginnings. And in her imagination, at least, there are no distinct borders between death and rebirth, old age and youth.” (Laskaya, 187). This explains how she has managed to obtain five husbands as expressed in The Prologue, where ‘He was, I trowe, a twenty winter oold, And I was fourty, if I shal seye sooth, But yet I hadde alwey a coltes tooth’ (Chaucer, 232) emphasizes that the vast difference in age is not a concern to her. The Wife does not associate her old age with a lowered ability to please a man and a negative view of her own exterior, evident as she confidently states, ‘And trewely, as mine housbondes tolde me, I hadde the best quoniam mighte be.’ (Chaucer, 232). Nevertheless, the Wife further insinuates that her age does not affect her breeding potential. Her old age is used to construct her feminine authority, as she does not believe that it lessens how aesthetically pleasing she is to other men. Contradicting contemporary beliefs of the youth that a woman’s sexual libido becomes decreased with age, she makes an open, rhetorical question to all of the youthful men in her tale of, ‘Is it ye wolde have my quiente allone?’ (Chaucer, 226) The Wife’s self-perception that her vagina is potentially the greatest allurement for a man displays the sexually objectifying nature of young males at the time, and her old age is constructs her feminine authority.

In addition, the idea that the elderly desire the youth for sexual purposes is also displayed within The Miller’s Tale. The Miller’s wit stimulates him to succumb to the cultural pressures of speaking of and to women in a sexist, inappropriate manner. Unlike the Wife of Bath, the Miller finds the young and old to be at odds with each other. The Wife believes that an older woman can give the same amount of sexual satisfaction as a younger woman. However, the Miller highlights that the young are the only women capable of providing this for an older husband. Although the Wife of Bath deems age to not affect one’s potential to provide pleasure, the Miller disagrees, using satirical language regarding older women and their bodies: ‘What eileth yow? Som gay gerl, God it woot, Hath broght yow upon the viritoot…’ (Chaucer, 138) ‘Gay gerl’ refers to the obscure description of a ‘loose woman’, a possible allusion to older women having many sexual partners over the course of their lives. Moreover, the Miller’s repetitive use of yonic symbols over-sexualize a woman’s reproductive potential, particularly evident in, ‘Ful smale ypulled were hir browes two, And tho were bent and blake as any slo. She was ful moore blissful on to see Than is the newe pere-jonette tree, and softer than the wolle is of a wether…’ (Chaucer, 119) Here, the Miller is comparing a youthful woman to an early-ripening pear, which suggests that she has just entered a period of gestation, as opposed to an elderly woman like The Wife of Bath. Yet, the Miller also describes younger women in a negative light, being sexually disloyal and chivalrous. The character of Nicholas is unquestionably terrified that Alisoun will be unfaithful towards him,

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EN121: MEDIEVAL TO RENAISSANCE LITERTURE SEMINAR TUTOR: JAMI ROGERS

MINA WHORMS STUDENT ID: 1606789

saying ‘For she was yong and wilde, and he was old, And demed himself been like a cokewold.’ (Chaucer, 118) This is due to the conventional belief that an older man would not be able to satisfy a younger woman, therefore she would resort to other men to fill the void.

Being one of the most noteworthy tales of the collection, the notion that older men desire a sexual relationship with younger women is also strongly illustrated in The Merchant’s Tale. Chaucer advocates younger females resort to an older man to provide them with financial and social security, but a lack of sexual satisfaction tempts them into infidelity (much like the Miller encourages). The Merchant tells the tale of January; an old man who feels an intense sexual plea towards a younger woman named May. The Merchant tells the tale of how January is around the age of sixty years old, but still finds May appropriate to have a sexual relationship with: ‘As doon thise fooles that been seculer. And whan that he was passed sixty yeer, Were it for holinesse or for dotage I kan nat seye, but swich a greet corage Hadde this knight to be a wedded man.’ (Chaucer, 341) Only after reaching a very old age does January now feel that he can be married, however, he only contemplates a younger woman due to the widespread misconception that they are the only one’s who can fulfill a man’s sexual needs. Additionally, the indication that elderly men desire a younger woman for their breeding purposes also becomes explicitly clear- the men see younger woman as a treasure, expressed by January in, ‘To take a wif it is a glorious thing, And namely whan a man is old and hoor; Thanne is a wif the fruit of his tresor.’ (Chaucer, 341) The Merchant expresses having a young wife when you are old and ‘white-haired’ is a great accomplishment, ergo, it is clear Chaucer’s male characters strongly care for a woman’s outer appearance and sexual ability, but not so much for intuition and knowledge.

Unlike The Wife of Bath, The Merchant begins to discuss the controversy surrounding the age gap between January and May. Although this would not be frowned upon by a contemporary audience, the tale defies this through, ‘Aviseth yow – ye been a man of age – How that ye entren into marriage, And namely with a yong wife and a feir.’ (Chaucer, 351) where the narrator himself ponders upon how a man so old could be involved with a woman so young. In addition, January ignores that May is of a low class as her physical appearance outweighs this- he is unperturbed by the fact that May is of a lowly rank. Leading further on into the tale there are multiple instances of women being sexually objectified for their appearances and breeding potential, such as when The Merchant tells how January pictured a young wife with a slim waist: ‘He purtreyde in his herte and in his thought Hir fresshe beautee and hir age tender, Hir middle small, hir armes longe and sklendre.’ (Chaucer, 353) Above all, in the light of these three stories, Chaucer shows how the old

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EN121: MEDIEVAL TO RENAISSANCE LITERTURE SEMINAR TUTOR: JAMI ROGERS

MINA WHORMS STUDENT ID: 1606789

find younger females to by the most attractive and highly associated with purity. January believes that May’s youth and beauty was enough to suffice, not being concerned for other facets of her personality: ‘Al were it so she were of small degree, Suffiseth him hir youthe and hir beautee.’ (Chaucer, 353) Overall, he only focuses on her outer appearance, leading to his subsequent ignorance towards the intangible, more beneficial characteristics of an older woman.

b) Despite the relation between youth and old age being presented as inexplicably intertwined, Chaucer also presents the young to be naïve and oblivious, whilst the old experienced and knowledgeable. This is the most evident in The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, where she says that she has had great experiences living life for a prolonged period of time and being involved in many marriages, ‘For, lordinges, sith I twelve yeer was of age, Thonked by God that is eterne on live, Housbondes at chirche-dore I have had five.’ (Chaucer, 211) The elderly can teach the youth of important, moral lessons as Chaucer depicts the them as ignorant and uneducated. The elderly having a transformational influence on the youth is interpreted by Vladislava Vaněčkovà, whom states that “[the Wife of Bath] has no need to win back her youth, rather her purpose in the story is to teach the young rapist a valuable lesson.” (Vaněčkovà, 40). The Wife of Bath is presented to the audience as a highly intelligent woman, and this is clearly what Chaucer intended. This is where he depicts the elderly in a more positive light, being people of great wisdom and a sense of morality. Also prevalent within The Miller’s Tale, the youth are described as unfaithful and naïve in order for a great contrast to be made between the two age gaps. Chaucer makes the implication that the young don’t understand the loyalty and embrace of being married. Courtly love was as ideal highly appreciated by medieval knights and citizens alike. This idea is argued by Walter Clyde Curry, whom also blames this aspect of the youth on their playfulness and wit: “The obvious parallel between the Reeve and the victim of the Miller’s Tale lies not in their common trade… but in their like cuckoldry, and the traditional fate of old mated with youth. The story… is eminently successful as a fabliaux of the futile jealousy of age.” (Curry, 194) Curry’s mention of the story being in a fabliaux form mimics the humorous attitudes of the youth in Chaucer’s time. The obscene nature of the tale also links to how young men can be rather cynical towards older women and their virtues.

The Merchant gives the most prominent implication that the elderly need to assist the youth with morality. Placebo, a younger character in the tale looks up to the elderly January in times of turmoil. He believes that he will provide him with wisdom, seen evidently in, ‘O Januarye, brother… Conseil to axe of any that is heere, But that ye been so ful of sapience.’ (Chaucer, 348) Placebo says that he will not ask anyone else for advice

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EN121: MEDIEVAL TO RENAISSANCE LITERTURE SEMINAR TUTOR: JAMI ROGERS

MINA WHORMS STUDENT ID: 1606789

because January has the most knowledge, which is clearly associated with his old age. Albrecht Classen argues that the names January and May are metaphors in itself, for January implies a greater amount of experience, and May, little to no proficiency: “The theme of old age is seen, of course, in the names given to the characters in the tale, where Januarie points to winter, and May is the month of high spring… associated with the qualities of hot and moist, and there is a mismatch between the heat of youth and the coldness of old age.” (Classen, 379). This is massively hinted at further through negative comments made towards younger men such as, ‘Ye, blessed ne alwey a lewed man, That noght but oonly his believe kan!”’ (Chaucer, 127). ‘Lewed’ implies that the younger are rather ignorant and uneducated in comparison to the old, therefore again implying that the elderly are much more capable of making decisions from a perspective of experience.

In the light of all the ideas discussed, it is evident that The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, the Miller’s Tale and the Merchant’s Tale all present the youth and the elderly in two clear but contrasting lights. The Wife of Bath presents the idea that age does not lower one’s ability to provide pleasure, nor does it or should it lower a woman’s confidence in her physical appearance. This greatly contrasts with The Miller’s Tale, which depicts that women are only attractive when they are young, and only at this point may they be considered beautiful. The Merchant’s Tale draws both of these ideas together to become a comparable scheme: that the elderly are wise and experienced whilst the young (whom are naïve) can benefit from the lessons taught by the old. Chaucer successfully depicts the relation between the young and the old within the three tales both to give a moral message and, cleverly, to provide comical relief.

WORD COUNT: 2, 506

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EN121: MEDIEVAL TO RENAISSANCE LITERTURE SEMINAR TUTOR: JAMI ROGERS

MINA WHORMS STUDENT ID: 1606789

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Ed. By Jill Mann. London: Penguin Books. 2005. Print. 2. Classen, Albrecht. Old Age in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture. Berlin: Hubert & Co. 2007. Print.

3. Curry, Walter Clyde. “Chaucer's Reeve and Miller.” PMLA, vol. 35, no. 2, 1920, pp. 189–209. www.jstor.org/stable/457324. 4. Davenport, William Anthony. Chaucer: Complaint and Narrative. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. 1988. Print

5. Laskaya, Anne. Chaucer’s Approach to Gender in the Canterbury Tales. New York: D.S. Brewer. 1995. Print.

6. Vaněčkovà, Vladislava. Women in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales: Woman as a Narrator, Woman in the Narrative. Masaryk University Faculty of Arts. 2007. 05 December 2016. http://is.muni.cz/th/74590/ff_m/chaucer.pdf

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