The Power Struggle in The Clerk’s Tale Essay - 2548 Words

Through layers of narrators, The Canterbury Tales frequently critique meaningless conventions and abusive uses of authority. The Clerk’s Tale struggles with the subversive power inherent to passive submission, showing how it enables an inferior to exert control over those who cannot be dominated through direct means because of their complete and unquestioned authority. In the context of The Clerk’s Tale, Griselda and Walter have a very strange relationship in which a confusing power struggle develops out of Griselda’s complete submission. In her â€Å"goodness† she is able to force Walter into damaging his own honor and proving his own faults. Ultimately, her submission is able to strip Walter of his power and manhood just as he strips from†¦show more content†¦Each relationship is a development of the binary opposition between passive aggression and direct authority as a way to abuse power. Just as Griselda’s meekness is able to twist and distort Walter’s intentions, the clerk’s meekness is able to twist Petrarch’s intentions. Submission is a means to power that has nothing to do with virtue or goodness. It is deeply perverting of Christian virtues and reveals an inner sadism/masochism involving deep suffering of the self in order to control others and resist domination, which the submissive takes pleasure in their own suffering because of the power it grants them. This struggle becomes apparent only when the position of the narrator to the story is understood. The story of Griselda and Walter in the 14th century was a folktale. â€Å"Boccaccio’s version of the folktale†¦was translated by Petrarch into Latin,†(Dinshaw132). which in turn was translated into French several times. Chaucer based his retelling of the tale on Petrarch’s Latin version and an anonymous French prose translation of Petrarch. Petrarch was the poet laureate; his â€Å"sweet rhetoric† is highly stylized analogy. From a folktale, Petrarch adapted a story that, in his mind, would lead readers to â€Å"emulate the example of feminine constancy, and to submit themselves to god with the same courage as did this women to her husband.† (Dinshaw149) Petrarch’s story is allegorical of every human being’s relationship with god. When the Clerk explains Petrarch’sShow MoreRelated Canterbury Tales - Comparing Chaucers The Cler ks Tale and The Wife of Bath Tale1963 Words   |  8 Pages In The Clerks Tale and The Wife of Baths Tale from Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales, characters are demanding, powerful and manipulating in order to gain obedience from others. From all of The Canterbury Tales, The Clerks Tale and The Wife of Baths Tale are the two most similar tales. These tales relate to each other in the terms of obedience and the treatment of women. The Wife of Bath Tale consists of one woman who has complete controlRead More Powerful Satire in Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay3466 Words   |  14 PagesPowerful Satire in The Canterbury Tales If one theme can be considered overriding or defining throughout Medieval European society, it would most likely be the concept of social class structure. During this early historical period in Europe, most of society was divided into three classes or estates: the workers, the nobles, and the clerics. By Chaucers time, however, the powerful estate structure had begun to wear down. Weaknesses in the system became apparent, as many people, such as ChaucerRead MoreFigurative Language and the Canterbury Tales13472 Words   |  54 Pagesrelationship. The device was often used by the metaphysical poets, who fashioned conceits that were witty, complex, intellectual, and often startling, e.g., John Donnes comparison of two souls with two bullets in â€Å"The Dissolution.† 17. conflict: a struggle between two opposing forces in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem. 18. connotation: all the emotions and associations that a word or phrase may arouse; what a word suggests beyond its basic definitions; a word’s overtones of meaning. 19Read MoreSda Manual Essay101191 Words   |  405 Pagesthe children of sin. The members of Satan’s church have been constantly working to cast off the divine law, and confuse the distinction between good and evil. Satan is working with great power in and through the children of disobedience to exalt treason and apostasy as truth and loyalty. And at this time the power of his satanic inspiration is moving the living agencies to carry out the great rebellion against God that commenced in heaven.†Ã¢â‚¬â€ Testimonies to Ministers, p. 16. â€Å"At this time the church