Geoffrey Chaucer, analisi testi, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Geoffrey Chaucer, analisi testi e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE PRIORESS traduzione C’era anche una suora, una badessa, Il suo modo di sorridere era molto semplice e timido, La sua più grande imprecazione era “per Sant’Egidio!” Ed era conosciuta come la Signora Eglantyne. E lei cantava bene la funzione, con una delicata E intonata voce che passava attraverso il suo naso, come era maggiormente decoroso, E parlava in modo estremamente raffinato in francese, Come si parlava alla scuola di Stratford Bow; Non conosceva il francese nello stile parigino. A tavola i suoi modi erano educati in tutto; Non lasciava cadere nessun boccone dalla bocca, E nemmeno intingeva troppo profondamente le mani nella salsa; Ma sapeva portare un boccone alla bocca e tenere La più piccola briciola senza farla cadere sul suo petto. Per la cortesia aveva uno speciale piacere, Ed era solita pulire il suo labbro superiore fino a farlo diventare così pulito Che non era possibile vedere nessuna traccia di grasso Sulla tazza dalla quale aveva bevuto; per mangiare, Lei allungava compostamente una mano per il pasto. Lei era sicuramente molto di compagnia, Piacevole e amichevole nei suoi atteggiamenti, e si sforzava Di simulare le maniere di corte, Un comportamento solenne appropriato al suo posto, E di sembrare dignitosa in tutti i suoi modi. Per la sua compassione e sentimenti teneri, Era così generosamente sollecita Che era solita piangere se vedeva un topo In trappola, se era morto o sanguinante. E aveva piccoli cani che nutriva Con carne arrostita, o latte, o pane sottile e bianco. E piangeva amaramente se qualcuno moriva O qualcuno prendeva un bastone e faceva del male; Era molto sentimentale e dal cuore tenero. Il suo velo era raccolto in modo opportuno, Il suo naso era elegante, i suoi occhi grigi come il vetro; La sua bocca era molto piccola, ma morbida e rossa, La sua fronte certamente era spaziosa, Quasi una spanna tra le sopracciglia, lo ammetto; E non era per niente bassa di statura. Il suo mantello notai che aveva un garbato fascino. Indossava un braccialetto di corallo sul suo braccio, Un rosario, i grani più grossi colorati di verde, Da cui pendeva una spilla d’oro di chiarissimo splendore Sulla quale era incisa una A coronata, E più sotto, Amor vincit omnia. Analisi del personaggio The prioress is the first woman to be introduced Chaucer, she is similar to “la monaca di monza”. It is so probably that the Prioress was an aristocratic daughter whose parents did not have enough money for her dowry, and in such a case in the 14th century, the convent was the only solution to leave the daughter secured. Da finire THE MERCHANT traduzione C’era un mercante con una barba biforcuta E un vestito variopinto; sedeva alto sul suo cavallo E sopra la sua testa un cappello fiammingo di castoro E ai suoi piedi con raffinatezza stivali ornati da fibbie. Lui parlava delle sue opinioni e attività In toni solenni, non faceva che parlare dei suoi aumenti Nella capitale; lì ci sarebbe dovuta essere alla polizia marina (diceva lui) sopra il tratto di mare di Harwich-Holland; era esperto a occuparsi di scambi. Questo stimabile mercante aveva messo In moto il suo ingegno, nessuno sapeva che lui era in debito, lui era abbastanza solenne nell’amministrazione, in prestiti e affari e negoziazioni. Era una persona eccellente in tutto allo stesso modo; a dir la verità io non so il suo nome. riassunto The portrait of the Merchant is the first example of the rising middle class and is one of the few in the ‘General Prologue’ in which Chaucer describes an entire outfit. The Merchant is fashionable because he is wearing a colorful cloak, a Flemish beaver hat, and has a forked beard, all of which were current fashions at that time. He trades in furs and other cloths, mostly from Flanders. He constantly speaks of his routes, he is concerned with making money and the military protection of trade profits. Although he seems wealthy, the Merchant is actually in debt. He borrows money, but he is careful enough to hide the fact that he is in debt. She is skilled at weaving. Chaucer presents the Wife of Bath as a ‘larger than life’ character of big emotions and appetites. She is not just proud, she is very proud, not just van, but very vain, she has not been just on a pilgrimage, but on many pilgrimages, she has not just had one husband, but five. She is fond of life. Exaggerates his humor is not bitter, sarcastic, but the author’s attitude is benevolent. He finds this character funny and interesting. The Wife of Bath is the expression of a new world that is appearing, the world of the middle classes (bourgeoisie). In the Middle Ages society was mainly composed by aristocracy, the clergy, and ordinary people. She is the prototype of the emerging middle classes with all their values. The wife of Bath is one of the two female storytellers. She had traveled all over the world on pilgrimages. She had also five husbands. She has seen the world and she has experience in the ways of is in heavy clothes, her stockings are a fine scarlet colour, and the leather on her shooes is soft, fresh and new; that demonstrate how rush she is. The fact that she from Bath is reflected in both her talent as a seamstress and her stylish garments. She also is argumentative and love talks, the wife is intelligent in commonsense way. She has learned how to provide for her in a world where women had less power and indipendence than a man. The wife uses her body to receive what she wants from her husbands. The woman of bath: female character in Canterbury Tales All of her features show a lot of her character. She wants people to know about her social status because she is very proud. She is deaf from a one ear and also a gap-toothed woman. That’s a sign of good fortune. In the fourteenth century, a gap-toothed person was believed to be luxurious by nature. She seems a strong, self-assertive, individuale woman. She gives a lot of drasty to Church. She is also show as a wide traveler and that shows her prosperity and her and her desiree to escape from constraints of domestic life. FEMALE CHARACTERS IN THE ‘GENERAL PROLOGUE’ OF THE CANTERBURY TALES Primarily, there are two women characters introduced in the General Prologue of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales: the Prioress and the Wife of Bath. Critics have often categorized both of them as “misfits” – women unfit for the role they represent. This is obvious, considering the fact that the General Prologue belongs to the genre of medieval estate satire, that essentially attempts to point out and satirize the follies and abuses of position that occur in the Three Estates. Chaucer’s satire, however, is tinged with irony and humour that portrays the women characters in a much broader and complex perspective, far beyond the scope of traditional estate satire. The first woman to be introduced is the Prioress. Despite occupying a social position within the clergy, she transcends her social boundaries by mimicking the social behavior of the aristocracy. Chaucer is deeply aware that Madam Eglantine is not a paragon of a nun. Her smile is coy, her French is refined and courtly, she has the most elegant table manners, she wears a golden brooch with the words “Amor vincit omnia” or “Love conquers all.” Even the spiritual qualities of the Prioress are shown in the courtly vein. Although “well she sang a service”, the focus is on her intonation, not on the spiritual aspect of the service. Being “charitably solicitous” is at last a proper quality for a nun, but definitely not when it shows in taking better care of small dogs than of poor children. Pet animals were forbidden in the Church, and thus again the Prioress is shown as the courtly ideal. It is highly probable that the Prioress was an aristocratic daughter whose parents did not have enough money for her dowry. In such a case in the 14th century, the convent was the only solution to leave the daughter secured. But many of the aristocratic women kept their courtly ideals even in a convent, and there was a wide gray area within the rules of the Church because of the cult of the Virgin Mary which was in many aspects similar to the courtly tradition, and used the same symbolism. Therefore, the Prioress is an ambiguous character, yet a perfectly acceptable one for her time. The General Prologue shows the Prioress as a human being, counterpart to the silent Second Nun. The Wife of Bath, Alice’s physical appearance matches the medieval stereotype of a lustful woman. She has had five husbands, not to mention other companions of her youth, and she is quite prepared for a sixth. This is not her first experience of a pilgrimage. She had been three times to Jerusalem and had ridden past many strange streams, had been to the shrine of St. James of Compostella, in Galicia, and to Tome, Bologna, and Cologne. Profiting from her marriages as well as her business as an unmatched cloth maker, she is financially successful and independent. With a red face matched with her red stocking, a large gap between her two front teeth, a heavy well-dyed Sunday kerchief, a big wimple, and a hat as broad as a shield, her new well-spurred shoes, and her straight-tied hose – the Wife is lust incarnate. A commentator has remarked that the Wife is not a character; she is a whole literature – the idea of a medieval femme fatale, whom the estate literature so scathingly satirizes. She embodies all the vices that a medieval ‘virtuous’ wife must not have. From the male angle, the Wife of Bath is a grotesque exemplar of most of the female vices: nagging, scolding, deceiving, grumbling, spending, gossiping, lying and betraying. She is vain, egotistic, hypocritical, possessive and licentious. However, Chaucer’s portrayal of the Wife of Bath is just not a sadomasochistic exercise to vilify Alice and to sanctify traditional male-chauvinistic attitude towards women. It rather delves deeper to subvert and question the authenticity of such an attitude. Despite her crudity and vulgarity, Alice is also a matriarchal figure who has declared war on mankind. She embodies the eternal female in revolt against a male-ordered and male-centered civilization. The point is that the Wife of Bath is in revolt against the medieval sexual ideals and attitudes. In the time of Chaucer, an absolute ban was placed on all forms of sexual activity other than intercourse between married persons, carried out with the object of procreating. The Wife satirizes these sex-obsessed and guilt-ridden attitudes of medievel Christianity, although her piousness is usually a parody of false clerical argument. In the fourteenth century, women were completely subject to male authority. Marriage was a business through which a man furthered his finances or his opportunities. Chaucer created his Prioress straight from his own world. Chaucer does censure Madame Eglantine for her vanities and for her disregard of the bishop's injunctions, but the blame is extremely mild. The poet makes the lady charming, although her graceful femininity is sometimes too strong for the strictly religious. Through the portrayal of her, Chaucer strongly hints at the sordid reality of medieval ladies from impoverished families, who entered convents simply because there was literally nothing else for them to do in the hard, non-fairytale world of practical matters. Chaucer’s Wife of Bath is a “feminist” of her own making. In the absence of any feminist rhetoric, she uses the traditional patriarchal ideas and expressions, and yet she bends them to suit her own purpose. No doubt, Chaucer is ironical in his portrayal of the characters of the Prioress and the Wife of Bath. But at the same time he allows us to look critically at medieval social institutions that did never allow women to live life in their own terms, where freedom and equality for women was a far cry, buried under hundreds of years of posthumous history. RIASSUNTO VALERIA FEMALE CHARACTERS IN THE ‘GENERAL PROLOGUE’ OF THE CANTERBURY TALES Critics have often categorized “the prioress” and “the wife of bath”as “misfits, that means women unfit for the role they represent. That’s obvious if we consider how Chaucer describes them. A commentator has remarked that the wife is not a character but the idea of a medieval femane fatale, whom the literature satirizes. She embolie all the vices like magging, gossiping, lying, spending, scolding… she is vain, possesive, licentious and egoistic. Despite her crudity, Alice is also a matriarchal figure who trie sto fight the medieval sexual ideas and attitudes. In the 14century, women were subject to male authority. Chaucer created his Prioress straught from his own world. She goes to convent because in the 14century the convent was only solution to leave the daughter secured, in case the parents did not have enough money for the dowry. Chauser is ironical in his portrayal of the characters critically at medieval social istitutions that did never let women to have the same freedom and equality of men.