10/23

BW Combine the following sentences using a participial phrase. 1a)The insects were shrouded in darkness. b)They nodded upon their perches. c)They crooned like old women. 2a)The man stood in the rain. b)He drew his coat around him. c)He clutched his wet hat. d)He said nothing.

BW 1) Shrouded in darkness, the insects nodded on their perches and crooned like old women. 2) Drawing his coat around him and clutching his wet hat, the man stood in the rain and said nothing.

Reminder Turn in Medieval Period Notes Homework: Write a sentence for the first 10 words on your new list. Make sure your sentences convey the words’ meaning.

The Monk’s Tale: General Comments “The Monk’s Tale” is usually considered too long, repetitive, and boring. The relationship between the way the Monk is described in the General Prologue and the tale he tells is also considered to be confusing and incoherent. Usually, the teller’s tale enhances his or her description from the General Prologue. However, the Monk breaks from that pattern. In the General Prologue, he is depicted as very worldly (“modern”). However, he ends up telling a “story” appropriate for his station in life.

The Monk’s Tale Literary Focus: Allusion A reference to a person, place, event, or literary work with which the writer thinks the audience would be familiar In the course of his argument, the Monk alludes to figures from the Bible, the Classics, and history.

The Monk’s Tale: Allusion Fortuna Fortuna was the Roman goddess of Fortune, which means “luck” or “chance.” She was luck personified. In Roman mythology, Fortuna was often depicted with a wheel, signifying that sometimes people have good luck, and sometimes people have bad luck. Just because a person is having good luck at one moment, it doesn’t necessarily follow that he or she will have it the next. Fortune is therefore understood to be fickle and capricious.

The Monk’s Tale: Allusion

In the modern day, Lady Justice is a derivative of Fortuna. Sometimes both are depicted as blind.

The Monk’s Tale: Allusion What are our culture’s pervading assumptions about the relationship between Luck/Chance and Justice? Given what you know about the 14 th century, how do you imagine the Medieval people would have understood the relationship between these two concepts?

The Monk’s Tale: Allusion Most of what the Monk has to say about Fortuna is derived from a Roman philosopher Boethius, who wrote a text called The Consolation of Philosophy. This is significant partly because it shows the Monk’s learning, and partly because his “story,” (as does Boethius’s Consolation) helps us (in the final analysis) understand how the people of the time understood morality. According to the Monk, getting too attached to good fortune is not a sin in itself, but it leads to overconfidence, and overconfidence leads to sin. In his tale he gives examples of people who have fallen into that trap. With that being said, Fortuna doesn’t always play the same role in every example. Sometimes she is indifferent (“allows” consequences to unfold naturally without intervening). At other times she plays an active role in a person’s downfall.

The Monk’s Tale: Morality Seven Deadly Sins Pride Envy Greed Anger Sloth Gluttony Lust Seven Virtues Humility Charity “Largess” Peace Patience Abstinence Chastity

The Monk’s Tale: Morality According to Medieval theology, even pre-Christian pagans (a few of whom the Monk uses as examples) could exercise morality. The main Christian virtues were Faith, Hope and Charity. Their pagan correlates were Prudence, Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude. Medieval Britons thought that failure to observe these virtues resulted in an upset to the natural(ized) order of things—the social order, that is. Upsetting the natural(ized) order of things was considered sinful. To summarize, the overall theme of “The Monk’s Tale” has to do with the dangers of getting attached to (good) Fortune/ becoming overconfident. However, the individual examples illustrate specific sins committed because of overconfidence and the disasters that result.

The Monk’s Tale, 1-8 In Tragic Manner I will not lament The griefs of those who stood in high degree And fell at last with no expedient To bring them out of their adversity. For sure it is, if Fortune wills to flee, No man may stay her course or keep his hold; Let no one trust blind prosperity. Be warned by these examples, true and old.