The Contemporary Nature of the Canterbury Tales

A woodcut from William Caxton's second edition of the Canterbury Tales printed in 1483.

 

Written roughly eight centuries ago, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales have continued to delight its readers with its often clever and amusing accounts. Yet while the setting and ways of the characters in the tales are antiquated, the nature of the stories itself remains essentially the same and can be applied even in modern times. In this paper, we will look at three tales and how they apply to the lives of modern people.

The first story is that of the Man of Law’s Tale. It tells the story of Constance, who is a steadfast Christian princess twice fooled by her mother-in-law. While this story is often noted for the virtue of remaining Christian despite great odds, a theme that applies to contemporary society is the feud between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law. The conflict between these two influential women in a man’s life has been the subject of study, parody, and speculation since ancient history. Today, it is not uncommon for women to see their mothers-in-law as domineering figures in the married life of couples.

The second tale, which is told by the Shipman, tells the story of a monk fooling a wealthy merchant and his wife. Perhaps the contemporary theme that can be identified in this story is the deviousness of the clergy. A common characteristic shared by the tales in Chaucer’s collection is the attack on the clergy. The Shipman’s Tale is but one of these. The attacks directed at the clergy by the tale are not unfounded, even in modern standards. Today, the clergy is still perceived as deceitful, which may be attributed to the abundance of gossip and real news about clergymen committing acts that go against the morals and virtues that have sworn into.

Lastly, the Miller’s Tale is about a young lodger named Nicholas who fools an old carpenter so as to have sex with his young wife. The story ends with Nicholas, John, and Absalon (another character) each suffering an unpleasant experience. The contemporary theme in this story is the dilemma of relationships between old men and young women. The unhappiness young women often feel in being married to men who are not their age and cannot provide the qualities of men they seek is still present today. While this may not be practiced in western societies, other cultures that observe arranged marriages between old men and young women often results in an unhappy union, especially for females.

As seen in these stories, the themes and situations presented by Chaucer in his work still apply to modern society. The contemporaneous nature of the Canterbury Tales can be attributed to the fact that while modernity cause changes in society, some aspects such as human nature, moral issues, and relationships continue to linger as time goes by.