Characters from The Canterbury Tales

Oxford Cleric- The clearest element of this man's character we receive from Chaucer is his 'one goal' or perhaps 'singular-mindedness' "His only care was study, and indeed/ He never spoke a word more than was need." However to contrast this negative quality, Chaucer provides us with the character's sincerity. The cleric truly desires logic, he is genuine in his love for learning. For whenever he borrowed money for books from his friends he "prayed for them most earnestly, returning / Thanks to them for his learning." The key element of satire provided in Chaucer's characterization of the logician is juxtaposition. The cleric is so focused on the things of life that really matter; he studies logic, Aristotle, and learning. However he cannot take care of the things that matter on a smaller (yet more practical) scale. "his horse was thinner than a rake" "The thread on his over coat was bare" "he was too unworldly to make search/ for secular employment"

The Knight- The knight is a truly surprising character for Chaucer. It is one of the few characters that Chaucer awards and does not demean the Knight's character with any clear satire.

In which ways does Sir Gawain and the Green Knight complicate the idea of Chivalry?

The text complicates the ideal of chivalry through the character of Sir Gawain. Gawain is a "God-fearing knight"(ll. 381) The poet flatters him with the highest praise as a knight; he gives him the five touchstones of a knight. "So these five sets of five were fixed in this knight,"(ll. 656). Not to mention Gawain was a good as the purest gold .... A notable. A knight. (ll. 633,639). However the poem shows that even this perfect knight fails. The green knight states "You're by far the most faultless fellow on earth", yet a few lines late he says "But a little thing more- it was loyalty that you lacked" (ll. 2363, 2366) It is clear that the perfect knight is unattainable.

"The frailty of his flesh is man's biggest fault"
(ll. 2435)

Fitt 1, and observations of poem's setting, characters, language, and meter

Fitt 1 begins by establishing itself upon the literary rock of Troy. The poem is credible-ized. The poet recounts England's flowing history. A setting of wonder and dread is introduced. The majestical mist which tantalizes Britain's atmosphere brings with it a marvelous melody hinted with tunes of foreboding. The poet draws his reader in, through the gates to the castle with seductive language. The poetry is gripping. Our storyteller unsheathes the sword of alliteration; the protruding sounds pop out the page. Alongside, the words demands attention; each carries with it a deep dimension of meaning. As a result, the reader finds himself lost carousing with Arthur's knights. It is Chritmastime and the poetic pace changes. 'Pace' had begun by smoothly and gently grazing past years of history. Now she takes a dive into the joyous hall, and now the pace is quickening and lively. Suddenly the pace halts, and enters in the Green knight. A man of stature and commanding physique. This brute calls out to the knights tempting them with a quest. He declares whosoever should smite his neck is a brave knight, but that knight must receive a similar blow in a year's time. The hall is silent, until kingly Arthur rises up to take this challenge. But good Gawain instead takes the quest, claiming that the court would rather risk loosing humble Gawain than their Majestic Master. Gawain takes the Green man's axe and swings through the fairy's green neck. The Green knight's head flies across the floor, and the monster retrieves it. The Fitt 1 comes to frightening close.

Why do we find so much imagery of eating in Canto's 32-34?

                 And then the hunger had more
Power than even sorrow had over me. (ll. 71-72; Canto XXXIII)

In these final Hell-ish moments, the reader experiences various horrific scenes and depictions of cannibalism. What inspired the poet to focus so graphically on the gnawing of flesh. The reader finds so much imagery of eating in Cantos 32-34 because the sin cannibalism breaks all the categories of sin. Dante's first sincontinence. These sinners lack the will to break desires of sin. The cannibalistic are incontinent, they simply cannot help themselves, so they give into the glutinousness of cannibalism. The second sin category are the sins of violence, and to be a cannibal is definitely to be violent. The final category is betrayal. When the cannibals eat each over they are betraying humanity. They are literally eating flesh, which is man's defining quality. They have in a sense betrayed who they are, not to mention the friend or the human they are gnashing upon.     
in category (stolen from Aristotle) is

Why does Dante tell what appears to be the self-indulgent tale about smashing the baptismal font in Florence?

                                            They seemed to me

Not any wider or smaller than those designed

for the baptizings in my fair San Giovanni-

One of which many years ago I broke,
To save one drowning there:
(lines 14-18) 

Dante describes the 3rd ditch of circle 8 to contain multiple holes the same size of the holes which lie next to the baptismal tanks in the Florentine churches. It is important to note Dante's word choice as he describes these holes.  When Dante talks of these hellish holes, he does not use words such as 'similar to' or 'approximately'; rather he stresses their direct correlation to the Church's holes: "Not any wider or smaller than those designed". They are identical. He is highlighting the exactness of this comparison and saying 'watch reader, watch for this is specific and "not wider nor smaller', but it is exact. Through this line, Dante is saying in bold letters 'I am about to make a direct statement which contains exact significance. It is important to note that every line of Dante's Inferno has purpose. He is highlightind the fact that this line has purpose here by his word choice.

In this Canto, Dante makes some very bold and at worst blasphemous statements about the Church. He casts three popes in Hell, and he declares their very presence has produced fissures in the rocks. In Matthew 16, Jesus declares that "on this rock I shall build my church". With that scripture in mind, Dante is presenting the case that the popes have cracked and broken the rock of the original church. Dante is doing exactly what he did at San Giovanni, he is damaging the elements of the church. However since the reader has already been told by Dante that the above passage is exact and therefore purposeful, then we must take into serius consideration what happened in those above lines. He destroyed parts of the church to save someone. Dante is then also saying that he is breaking the church "to save" it from "drowning". Dante is exposing the dire faults of the church only to save it.

How Does the Geography of the Wood of Suicides contribute to the Meaning of the Text?

The 'total meaning' of the text in this wood of suicides is to show the consequences and dangers of selfishness. The meaning hints at the negation of things (specifically the negation of self). The 'total meaning' strives to represent the cost of things unnatural. Here in Canto XV, the poetry deals with the sin of Suicide.  Suicide is the sin, which is the very embodiment of negation (For you are literally negating the very thing which allows you to have the power of negation) but the root of this sin is selfishness. Also the act of this sin is to defy nature. The landscape of this canto is a barbaric wood with bare trees and thorny thickets. "The leaves not green, earth -hued;/ The boughs not smooth, knotted and crooked-forked;" This landscape is the very inverse of nature. Natural forests are lush and have green leaves. Also as Pinksy's notes so clearly explain the very poetry depicts the idea opf negation "the leaves not green... the boughs not smooth, knotted." The theme of selfishness is explored through the theme of contropasso. On earth above, the suicides were obsessed with self-pity and self-absorption, so as a consequence these suicides are forced to not have a recognizable being. Nobody else can see the 'self' or the identity of these suicides unless they harm these living bushes. This is the inversion of their act of sin. For in the suicide's act of sin, they attempted to exalt themselves and give identity to themselves
by harming themselves.

Close Encounter With Farinata

At the start of Canto X, the poets journey through the haunting sixth circle. In this Canto they reach the heretics, who lie in open graves. Farinata, calls out to Dante from his deep grave. He asks Dante to recount his ancestry, Farinta declares his separation from Dante, as Farinata has a more impressive family line. In this Canto, Dante the pilgrim, learns the punishment of the damned. They are clear about the history of the past and are able to prophecy the shifting future. However these heretics are unable to locate the events. Farinta attempts to once again show his supremacy over Dante by claiming the victory of his party over Dante's Guelf party. Yet Farinata's curse keeps him back from understanding the present, and Dante tells how the Guelfs have exiled Farinata's Ghibellines. The conversation is interrupted by another sinner, the father of Dnate's companion Guido. When their conversation renews, Farinata has had time to contemplate. He asks Dante why the Ghibellines have been outlawed. Dante tells him it was the carnage they brought upon Florence. Essentially the Ghibellines attack and division against their home city brought them exile. Farinata highlights the theme of division once again by declaring that he alone apposed the Ghibelline's plan to siege Florence. Then Farinata explains his curse to Dante, and he hints at Dante's gloomy future in exile. Farintata references some of the other sinners who lie with Him, and on this note... Dante departs.

The purpose of this conversation for Dante and the poem as a whole is twofold. Firstly, this passage highlights multiple divisions. Dante, the poet, stresses the divisions between Dante(the pilgrim) and Farinta in areas of ancestry, political standings, and knowledge of things past and future, Dante is able to showcase the problems with division in politics. Also he exposes the larger picture that heresy embodies and swears fidelity to division. In addition this passage's purpose is to dramatize Dante(the pilgim's) development. In his close encounters to this point Dante has responded incorrectly. He has either sided with the sinner in pity or he has enjoyed watching his enemies experiencing pain However he has not yet seen the righteousness of Divine Justice, he has failed to understand how each sinner experiencing ample punishment is the result of God's character and is therefore just. However after the conversation, the poem exposes Dante's thinking process. "My thoughts at work/ mulling over the words that bore such menace to me." Virgil explains to Dante "when you confront her radiance, whose eyes can see/ everything in their fair clarity, be assured  Then you shall learn what your life's journey will be" Though "the words" which Dante speaks of refer to the prophecy of his exile, still these lines tell that this close encounter deeply affected Dante and have lead to his development as a pilgrim.