The Monk's Prologue and Tale
Encyclopedia
The Monk's Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer
.
The Monk's tale to the other pilgrims is a collection of seventeen short stories, exempla
, on the theme of tragedy
. The tragic endings of the following historical figures are recounted: Lucifer
, Adam, Samson
, Hercules
, Nebuchadnezzar
, Belshazzar
, Zenobia
, Pedro of Castile
, Peter I of Cyprus
, Bernabò Visconti
, Ugolino of Pisa, Nero
, Holofernes
, Antiochus
, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar
and Croesus
.
Literary critics believe that a large portion of the tale may have been written before the rest of the Canterbury Tales and the four most contemporaries added later. A likely dating for this first-edition of the text is the 1370s, shortly after Chaucer returned from a trip to Italy
where he was exposed to Giovanni Boccaccio
's Concerning the Falls of Illustrious Men
as well as other works like the Decameron. The tragedy
of Bernabò Visconti must have been written after 1385, when he died. The basic structure for the tale is modeled after the aforementioned Concerning the Falls of Illustrious Men
and the tale of Ugolino of Pisa is retold from Dante
's Inferno.
The Monk, in his prologue, claims to have a hundred of these stories in his cell but the Knight stops him after only seventeen saying that they have had enough sadness. The order of the stories within the tale is different in several early manuscripts and if the more contemporary stories were at the end of his tale it may be that the Knight has another motivation for interrupting than sheer boredom. In Line 51 of the General Prologue, it is said of the Knight that: "At Alisaundre he was, whan it was wonne". If the Knight was at the capture of Alexandria
then he was probably part of the crusade organised by Peter I of Cyprus
and hearing of the tragedy of his former military commander may have been what prompted him to interrupt.
The text, despite the Monk's insistence upon a strict, homogeneous definition of tragedy, presents as equally tragic tales that diverge in content, tone, and form massively. For example, the structure and matter of the tales of Ugolino and Nero are, effectively, mirror images. Chaucer may be undermining the Monk's literary dogma and overly-strict generic classifications.
The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at...
by Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
.
The Monk's tale to the other pilgrims is a collection of seventeen short stories, exempla
Exemplum
An exemplum is a moral anecdote, brief or extended, real or fictitious, used to illustrate a point.-Exemplary literature:...
, on the theme of tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
. The tragic endings of the following historical figures are recounted: Lucifer
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
, Adam, Samson
Samson
Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....
, Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
, Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadrezzar II
Nebuchadnezzar II was king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who reigned c. 605 BC – 562 BC. According to the Bible, he conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and sent the Jews into exile. He is credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and also known for the destruction...
, Belshazzar
Belshazzar
Belshazzar, or Balthazar , was a 6th century BC prince of Babylon, the son of Nabonidus and the last king of Babylon according to the Book of Daniel . Like his father, it is believed by many scholars that he was an Assyrian. In Daniel Belshazzar, or Balthazar , was a 6th century BC prince of...
, Zenobia
Zenobia
Zenobia was a 3rd-century Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Roman Syria. She led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. The second wife of King Septimius Odaenathus, Zenobia became queen of the Palmyrene Empire following Odaenathus' death in 267...
, Pedro of Castile
Pedro of Castile
Peter , sometimes called "the Cruel" or "the Lawful" , was the king of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. He was the son of Alfonso XI of Castile and Maria of Portugal, daughter of Afonso IV of Portugal...
, Peter I of Cyprus
Peter I of Cyprus
Peter I of Cyprus or Pierre I de Lusignan was King of Cyprus, and Titular King of Jerusalem from his father's abdication on 24 November 1358 until his own death in 1369. He was also Latin King of Armenia from either 1361 or 1368...
, Bernabò Visconti
Bernabo Visconti
Bernabò Visconti was an Italian soldier and statesman, who was Lord of Milan.-Life:He was born in Milan, the son of Stefano Visconti and Valentina Doria. From 1346 to 1349 he lived in exile, until he was called back by his uncle Giovanni Visconti...
, Ugolino of Pisa, Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
, Holofernes
Holofernes
In the deuterocanonical Book of Judith Holofernes was an invading general of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar dispatched Holofernes to take vengeance on the nations of the west that had withheld their assistance to his reign...
, Antiochus
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. He was a son of King Antiochus III the Great. His original name was Mithridates; he assumed the name Antiochus after he ascended the throne....
, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
and Croesus
Croesus
Croesus was the king of Lydia from 560 to 547 BC until his defeat by the Persians. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Hellenes, providing a fixed point in their calendar. "By the fifth century at least," J.A.S...
.
Literary critics believe that a large portion of the tale may have been written before the rest of the Canterbury Tales and the four most contemporaries added later. A likely dating for this first-edition of the text is the 1370s, shortly after Chaucer returned from a trip to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
where he was exposed to Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
's Concerning the Falls of Illustrious Men
De Casibus Virorum Illustrium
De Casibus Virorum Illustrium is a work of 56 biographies in Latin prose composed by the Florentine poet Giovanni Boccaccio of Certaldo in the form of moral stories of the falls of famous people, similar to his work of 106 biographies On Famous Women.-Overview:De Casibus is an encyclopedia of...
as well as other works like the Decameron. The tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
of Bernabò Visconti must have been written after 1385, when he died. The basic structure for the tale is modeled after the aforementioned Concerning the Falls of Illustrious Men
De Casibus Virorum Illustrium
De Casibus Virorum Illustrium is a work of 56 biographies in Latin prose composed by the Florentine poet Giovanni Boccaccio of Certaldo in the form of moral stories of the falls of famous people, similar to his work of 106 biographies On Famous Women.-Overview:De Casibus is an encyclopedia of...
and the tale of Ugolino of Pisa is retold from Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
's Inferno.
The Monk, in his prologue, claims to have a hundred of these stories in his cell but the Knight stops him after only seventeen saying that they have had enough sadness. The order of the stories within the tale is different in several early manuscripts and if the more contemporary stories were at the end of his tale it may be that the Knight has another motivation for interrupting than sheer boredom. In Line 51 of the General Prologue, it is said of the Knight that: "At Alisaundre he was, whan it was wonne". If the Knight was at the capture of Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
then he was probably part of the crusade organised by Peter I of Cyprus
Peter I of Cyprus
Peter I of Cyprus or Pierre I de Lusignan was King of Cyprus, and Titular King of Jerusalem from his father's abdication on 24 November 1358 until his own death in 1369. He was also Latin King of Armenia from either 1361 or 1368...
and hearing of the tragedy of his former military commander may have been what prompted him to interrupt.
Themes
The form of tragedy depicted in The Monk's Tale is not that argued in Aristotle's Poetics, but "the medieval idea that the protagonist is victim rather than hero, raised up and then cast down by the workings of Fortune."The text, despite the Monk's insistence upon a strict, homogeneous definition of tragedy, presents as equally tragic tales that diverge in content, tone, and form massively. For example, the structure and matter of the tales of Ugolino and Nero are, effectively, mirror images. Chaucer may be undermining the Monk's literary dogma and overly-strict generic classifications.