This one's going out to Erin Riley tonite.

The Franklin's Tale.

"A ship al steerelees:" religion & identity in the Man of Law's Tale

At a recent conference on medieval studies at Catholic University, a presenter addressed the relationships between daughters and fathers in The Canterbury Tales; in treating the Man of Law's Tale, she talked about the "dangerous space" that a daughter inhabits in transit from her father's house to her husband's house. Another paper at the conference, delivered by our own Usha Vishnuvajjala, addressed the life of Margery Kempe, who was able to construct a new identity-- outside of the one prescribed to her as a woman-- through religiosity. These two presentations together got me thinking about the way in which Custance is able to consolidate a self-determined identity as a "doghter of hooly chirche (675), a "doghter of [Christ's] chirche (567), only by inhabiting this watery middle space between daughter (of her earthly father) and wife. Even as a mother, Custance has the freedom to communicate or keep secret her paternally- or matrimonially-defined identity: "But what she was she wolde no man seye, / For foul ne fair, thogh that she sholde deye" (524-25).

I'm interested in the element of self-determination in the Man of Law's Tale primarily because Custance-- "born to thraldom and penance" (286)-- actually seems like the least self-determining person ever, except for maybe Griselda. What do other people think? If Custance's religiosity can be seen as an expression of agency (even subversion?) in the social structure that assigns her roles based on her relationships with men-- how do we understand Alla's mother's religiously-motivated grab for power?

This amazing spam-fest is winding down.

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Here is a beautiful illustration of the "ship al steerelees"-- Constance by Albert Pinkham Ryder:

The Canterbury Tales & Rap

So, a rap remix of the Canterbury Tales would already be pretty sweet, but I especially wanted to present for your meditation what rapper Baba Brinkman sees as pronounced continuity between hip-hop and the CT:

The most remarkable analogies I found between Chaucer and hip-hop were not only historical, however; they were also reflected explicitly in the organizational structure of The Canterbury Tales. The text consists of a collection of stories that Chaucer wrote over the course of about fifteen years towards the end of his life. Some of the Tales were apparently composed before he began the compilation, while others were obviously tailor-made for the project. To bring all of these different stories together into one, Chaucer creates a fictional company of pilgrims riding on horseback from London to Canterbury, who all decide to play a game to help pass the time along the way: a storytelling contest. Each tale represents an entry in the contest by one of the pilgrims, and Chaucer ascribes certain personality traits to each of them, which are then reflected in the tale. What begins on the surface as a religious pilgrimage soon takes a profane turn when the stories become a vehicle for challenges and insults aimed at the other pilgrims. Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle, and also as a device to expose social tensions among the pilgrims, while showcasing their different storytelling techniques and levels of ability.

The clearest analogy for this storytelling contest model in hip-hop culture is the phenomenon of the freestyle battle, a live performance event that underlies the majority of recorded rap lyrics either in style or content. By definition, a freestyle is a rap that is unwritten and unrehearsed, composed by the rapper in the moment of performance, with rhymes that are improvised on beat and, when required, on topic. A freestyle battle is when two or more rappers compete in this way head to head, using punch lines, boasts, and insults to out-rhyme and outwit their opponents. The two terms aren’t interchangeable though, since written rhymes are sometimes used in battles, and freestyles are often simple demonstrations of ability rather than direct competitions. Freestyle and battling perform the same function in hip-hop culture as Chaucer’s storytelling competition does in The Canterbury Tales, dramatizing social tensions among rappers and showcasing different techniques and levels of ability. These systems were developed in response to the particular conditions of hip-hop’s genesis.

The frame for Brinkman's rewrite is a rap fan stumbling onto a tour bus that takes off unexpectedly toward the next venue; the rappers on the bus agree to pass the time by battling with the MC assuming the role of the Host. You can read the rest of the introduction for Brinkman's The Rap Canterbury Tales here; I def. recommend listening to the provided song samples, and you can see part of Brinkman's adaptation of the Pardoner's Tale here.

In a burst of ill-advised pride, the first
Of the three rioters replied, "This guy
Is a spy, or worse! I guess Death is his master,
And gives him everlasting life forever after,
A benevolent benefactor, perhaps, to have protecting you,
But nothing gets a confession faster than weapons do!"

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On a related note:

Religious recasting in the Clerk's Tale

The day our class read the Clerk's Tale, there was some discussion about how the story could possibly work as a religious fable, and I have reflected upon that for a (long, distracted) moment. I don't think it is possible to understand the story of Griselda and Walter as a prescription for Christians to react with patience, humility and long-suffering (Griselda) to the tests of an inscrutable God (Walter)-- Griselda is too superhuman, Walter is too much of a douche, and the Clerk disclaims that "For greet skile is [God] that he wroghte, / But he ne tempteth no man that he boghte" (1152-53).

I do think, however, that the text suggests in several places a recasting of fable in which Griselda can be understood as a loving, enduring Christ figure and Walter as the faltering but forgiven Christian.

We know that Griselda was a shepherdess, "meke and stille" as "a lamb" (538) and committed to her "fadres reverence (231). Furthermore:

So wise and rype wordes hadde she,
And juggementz of so greet equitee,
That she from hevene sent was, as men wende,
Peple to save and every wrong t'amende (438-441).

Though depicting Griselda's first encounter with Walter, the following lines resonate with images of Jesus in Gethsemane:

And doun upon hir knes she gan to falle,
And with sad contenance kneleth stille,
Til she had herd what was the lordes wille (292-294).

as these lines do with images of the Trinity:

This thoghtful markys spak unto this mayde
Ful sobrely, and seyde in this manere:
"Where is youre fader, O Grisildis?" he sayde.
And she with reverence, in humble cheere,
Answerde, "Lord, he is al redy heere" (295-299).

Compared with Walter, who "in somme thynges... was to blame" (76) and "on his lust present was al his thoght" (80), Griselda makes a far more compelling vessel for divinity and beatitude. The Clerk's Tale then becomes the story of the faulty, perverse and petulant inclinations of mankind and Christ's patient love for the transgressor. In any event, I think such a recasting would make the whole story kind of-- less horrible.

What do you guys think? HOT OR NOT