But, that terrifying fact aside, I kind of enjoyed the introduction of Chaucer's story (once I finally understood what exactly was going on) and I'm interested to see where it goes from here. It is slightly annoying that I have to continue looking from the footnotes to the explanations on the right side of the page to the actual writing itself, but honestly I'd be lost without all of the help in understanding Chaucer's language.
The prologue starts off like practically every other book I've read that was written in Middle English: there's a super cool knight with super cool (almost demigod) abilities and a spotless reputation. So far, so good. Chaucer has introduced us to such a character right off the bat.
However, I have to say, I'm much more interested in this squire guy; the knight's twenty year-old son. I honestly wonder why he was mentioned at all, but I'm hoping that he becomes the central character in this story because he does seem to have a more interesting personality than his dad, who seems to be the stereotypical chivalrous knight from back in the day. Cool and all, but I want some variation, yanno? Anyway, when Chaucer described the squire as a dude that sings and dances, for some reason I couldn't stop picturing Eddie Redmayne in Les Mis. Weird, I know, because this man was no knight and this is the wrong time period and setting, but hey, I'm gonna run with it.
Basically, I'm just stoked to see what comes out of this squire dude. I feel like he has some solid potential, and if he's as available as Chaucer makes him out to be, there's no doubt in my mind that a lady will be introduced sometime in the near future. Now I'm not a huge fan of sappy romances, especially when they're written in Middle English (sorry Dr. MB) but maybe I could get behind this one considering I've read about twenty lines that talked about the squire and I'm already in his corner. Well done, Chaucer. Well done.
I'm interested to know more about the squire too! Although he seems a bit like a party guy, he also seems to have a more serious and respectful side. I am interested to know how the two sides of his personality will come into play as the story progresses. I also wonder if his personality will ever come to clash with his father's.
ReplyDeleteHalf an hour to understand the general prologue? You're much faster than me. The audio didn't help me understand much because he spoke so quickly, so I looked up a summary of the first 100 lines; then, everything made perfect sense. The squire interests me too, but I'm really looking forward to get to know ALL of the pilgrims. This poem clearly emphasizes the differences between perception and reality when it comes to meeting people, and I'm a psych major, so this should be really interesting.
ReplyDelete-Amanda
I too was curious about the squire. More so than I was about the knight, that's for sure. I think my curiosity lies in the language Chaucer's uses to describe the two characters. The description of the squire as a "lusty bachelor" (80) was much more exciting than the knight's description as a "worthy man" who "loved chivalrye" (43-45). Describing the clothing of the two was also interesting, and once again I found myself more intrigued by the "embrouded...al ful of fresshe floures" (89-90) apparel of the squire than the homely clothing of the knight. It was definitely an interesting choice by Chaucer to include a description of their clothing.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I'm more excited to learn more about the knight and where he came from, like I want to see more on his background. I would like to know maybe how he became such this noble man. The squire doesn't really ring true to me.
ReplyDelete