Title: A Feminist Analysis of Chaucer’s –The Clerk’s Tale

Introduction

This paper attempts to put forth a feminist analysis of The Clerk's Tale. Chaucer used his pen
as a means to give voice to women and make the world aware of their subjugation by the
society.The Clerk’s Tale is a narrative poem from Geoffrey Chaucer’s masterpiece -The
Canterbury Tales. The tale revolves around Griselda, who is known for her resilience and
steadfastness.

The status of women during the medieval ages.

The medieval period was not an easy time for women. A woman was trapped in the rusty
chains of the religion and society which opined that she must ‘know her place’. The teachings
of the Bible held Eve responsible for the fall of the man from the grace, which in turn
doomed the mankind. Not just this even the greatest thinkers of the medieval period like St.
Thomas Aquinas stated that a woman is a “misgotten male” and that because of the inherent
imperfection Eve should not have been the part of the original creation.

The church too was involved in the oppression of women.Being a king, Walter was able to
use his power to get a forged papal bull from the ‘Court of Rome’ asking for a divorce. The
church could have opposed to this . The very church that preaches about righteousness
instead decided to aid Walter in carrying out his unreasonable trials against Griselda .

With all the odds against her, a woman had a little to no chance of escaping the inferior
treatment and subjugation forced upon her and since Chaucer was familiar with the status of
women in his society he was able to write a tale to make the world aware of women’s unfair
oppression thus inviting us to critically analyze the situation.

Influence of Renaissance on Chaucer.

The Renaissance Movement first rose in Italy in the fourteenth century .It focused on
humanism and opposed blind faith in divinity and laid emphasis on the secular life .During
this period, Chaucer, the foreign ambassador of England, was designated to Europe
frequently. His visits to Italy familiarized him with the works of humanistic writers like
Petrarch. His shift from the theocentric poetry of the medieval period to the realistic poetry of
the Renaissance helped him helped him to explore different themes. Even though Italy saw
the revival in various domains like art, literature, science, technology, there was no much
change in the status of women. Women’s subjugation and miserable life became one of his
concerns.

PATRIARCHAL SYSTEM

The society of late medieval period was a male dominated society. A girl had to submit to all
their fathers’ decisions when she was young and once she got married her life was dictated by
her husband. Griselda represents the ideal daughter of the middles ages who,

“in great reverence and charity

Her old poor father she cared for”

MARRIAGE

The sacrament of marriage was seen a social contract that would in some way benefit the
parties involved economically, socially or politically. A woman did not get a say in choosing
her husband. Since it is was patriarchal society, the father or the husband expected full
obedience from the females. And because of this they had to endure much suffering. This can
be seen in the poem when Walter asks Griselda to take a vow to be an obedient wife to him.

"I say this: are you ready (to submit) with good heart
To all my desires, and that I freely may,
As seems best to me, make you laugh or feel pain,

And you never to grouch about it, at any time?

And also when I say `yes,' say not `nay,'

Neither by word nor frowning countenance?

Swear this, and here I swear our alliance."

As a husband he felt like he had the right to test Griselda’s steadfastness and obedience and
didn’t hesitate to do so with his unreasonable trials. The laws pertaining to divorce and
annulment of marriage were not in the favour of the women and hence gave the right to
husbands to divorce their wives on trivial grounds. And Walter says that he wants to remarry
because his folks are not happy with Griselda’s social position. Neither the law nor the
church could come to her rescue.

Carly Churchill the author of Top Girls identifies “her (Griselda) as a woman who
internalized the patriarchal abuses that men use to perpetuate their dominance over women.”
Chaucer through the voice of the Clerk attacks the patriarchal system and shows empathy
towards Griselda and holds reproach against Walter’s sadistic desires to test his wife.He
remarks,

“I say it ill fits one

To test a wife when there is no need

And put her in anguish and dread”

Hypocritical society.

The tale depicts a wavering society. They are initially disgusted by Griselda’s poor attire but
eventually accepts her because of her virtues and good nature. Although they initially
admired Griselda ,after the king’s decision to remarry, they waste no time to welcome their
new queen. This portrays a society that admires the virtues in a women but at the same time
chooses physical attributes and social position over the inert qualities.

Chaucer attacks the “ignorant people” and remarks that they are

“Ever undiscerning and changing like a weather vane”

Motherhood

The life of a woman in the medieval period revolved around the role of a caretaker of the
house and children. Daughters were not really desired since they were expensive to raise, due
to the need to provide a dowry, which could bankrupt lower class families.The girls
belonging to the elite class were married off early sometimes even as young as twelve years
old. The sole purpose of their life was to produce a male heir which would assure the
continuity of the lineage. This is evident in the following lines,
“Although she would rather have given birth to a male child.
Glad was this marquis and the folk for this.
For though a maid child came all before
She may unto a male child attain.
By likelihood since she is not barren”
Griselda’s unconditional love is always pitted against her loyalty towards her husband. She
constantly faces role conflict. Having given a word to her husband Griselda can neither
protest nor request. Her vow to her husband has in a way taken away her freedom of
speech.She becomes a mere puppet in the hands of her husband.
Griselda’s commendable resilience
Walter searches in vain for a change in Griselda's countenance during each of her tests. But
she remains steadfast and obedient to her vow. Her relentless passivity permits her to
undermine and subtly criticize patriarchal society which has imposed injustice upon women.

When Walter orders their daughter to be taken away Griselda doesn’t protest but remains
steadfast and proves her constancy by respecting her vow. Griselda is pained by the
separation but shows no change in her demeanour. This is evident when we come across the
following verses,

“For now he goes very intently considering

If by his wife's appearance he might see,

Or by her word perceive, if she

When Walter orders her two year old son to be slain, Griselda again remains steadfast. We
can only imagine the painful emotions she must be feeling at that time .Walter again fails to
detect a change in her demeanour,
“He watches to see if by word or countenance
that she to him was changed in heart
but never could he find variation.”

When Walter asks her for a divorce, the Clerk tells us that,

“I believe that her heart was very woeful.

But she, continuously steadfast for evermore”

Griselda continues to maintain her countenance even when Walter asks her to prepare the
wedding banquet for the new bride and when she must wait at the gate with the other people
as the new bride arrives at court.

Griselda is actually quite upset throughout all other tests, but she consciously chooses to fulfil
Walter's tests without expressing her emotions. She is not actively resisting his desire to test
her but she does passively resist them by refusing to give Walter the change in countenance
that he wants.
Walter's tests end when he asks Griselda for her opinion of his new bride, Griselda doesn’t
show any sign of reproach towards her husband nor a sign of jealousy and she responds by
praising her beauty:

“I never saw so fair a one as she.

Pleasure enough unto your lives' end.”

Jill Mann, in Geoffrey Chaucer, recognizes that ". . . it is not Griselda who gives way under
the pressure of her trial, but Walter" (Mann 152).

If we analyse this tale in the context of modern age we can infer that Walter and Griselda’s
relationship is a classic example of a toxic relationship. It isn’t worth staying in a relationship
of this kind where a woman has to constantly prove herself worthy of being with her partner.

The very foundation of a relationship is trust and if we read the tale minutely we realise that
Walter had trust issues and thus felt the need to test his wife’s steadfastness.

When Walter realises that Griselda is “ever steadfast and constant as a wall”,he pretends to be
a ‘knight in a shining armour’ and wishes to safeguard her from sorrow and provide her
comfort,unaware of the fact that it is her own resilience and steadfastness that has kept her
going.

Chaucer’s holistic view of Griselda.

Chaucer didn’t let Griselda’s roles define her.He presents her as an individual.Chaucer tells
us that in her husband’s absence Griselda took upon the role of a strong leader, negotiator,
counsellor, comforter. She is witty and smart and sarcastically criticises her husband when
she remarks,

“How gentle and how kind

You seemed by your speech and your visage.

The day that our marriage was made!”

Her sarcastic remark shows that she is subtly criticizing walter’s inconstancy .She is wise and
knows that over period of time a relationship goes through many ups and downs and hence
she doesn’t hesistate to drop some truth bombs occasionally . One such incident is when she
says,

“When love is old it is not the same as when it was new”

Chaucer’s foresight

Chaucer tries to point towards a better future for women by telling us about Walter’s
successor. He tells us about his marriage which didn’t require him to put his wife through
cruel tests. He warns the women to let humility nail down their tongue. He want the women
to be as fierce as a tiger and not be subjugated by their counterparts. He wants his tale to
resonate his ideas of feminism and urges the women to

“Follow Echo, who holds no silence.

But ever answers in reply’

Conclusion

On the superficial level Griselda might across as a weak female character since she doesn’t
overtly protest against or question her husband’s trials. It may seem like her life is dictated by
her husband, well to an extent it is. But Griselda’s actions tells us that she is the more
commendable one between the two. The beauty of her character lies in her steadfastness and
here qualities of resilience. In situation where any other person would have given up Griselda
stands tall and faces them gracefully.

Since we are reading the tale in the 21st century, Griselda’s passivity and her unwavering
obedience is not something that we should “admire”. We are capable of leading the world and
not be led by it. We have the strength to voice out our opinions and we have the right to make
choices and we have the will to resist. Our roles as mothers, daughters and wives do not
define us.

This tale tells us to not imitate Griselda blindly. We don’t have to be perfect. It’s alright to
err, fall, and falter. But we should not lead a life dictated by a “Walter”.

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