The Pardoner and the Oxford Cleric in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Geofferey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales serves as a complex poetic satire of the late-Medieval English society he lived in. In the general prologue, Chaucer introduces all of the characters in the rest of the tale, accounting for their poor character traits as lightly as possible. However two characters in particular give examples of how Chaucer does this, the Pardoner and the Oxford Cleric satirically represent two different types of people in Chaucer's society.  

The Pardoner's position in the Church is to collect indulgences, that is money "donated" to the church to "forgive" sin. However, in Chaucer's presentation of the character shows him to be corrupt, greedy and guilty of simony. In his portrayal he accuses the Pardoner of being two-faced by saying, "he sew'd a holy relic on his cap; his wallet lay before him on his lap..." and also that "by his flatteries and prevarication made monkeys of the priest and congregation." Chaucer further makes vicious the Pardoner's character with the following lines:

"But best of all he sang an Offeratory,
For well he knew when that song was sung
He'd have to preach and tune his honey-tongue
And (well he could) win silver from the crowd.
That's why he sang so merrily and loud."

Simony and other misuses of ecclesiastical powers are major themes in Chaucer's work. Through the satirical illustrations of the Pardoner, the priests, the nun, the monk, the parson, and other characters, Chaucer makes [negative] political commentary on the issues of his time.

The Oxford Cleric is made fun of as well, but not to the degree of the Pardoner. The Cleric is said to "had found no preferment in the Church", indicating his lack of piety, but on the bright side, "he was too unworldly to make search for secular employment." And "whatever money from his friends he took he spent on learning or another book...", whereas the Pardoner took money from people for his own pleasure and in the Church's name. 

Even though the Cleric may be just as "in-virtuous" as the Pardoner, I would argue that the Pardoner's sin is magnified greater due to it's ecclesiastical corruption. The comparison of these character's, and others, demonstrates Chaucer's dissatisfaction with the Church in his time.

The Literary Fabric of Dante's Inferno

Dante is one of history's most acclaimed and well known poets. He is known as the father of the Italian language. He has influenced, both directly and indirectly; consciously and subconsciously, many writers and poets. Not only has the metaphorical story of his journey through the spiritual world attracted world fame, but the styles, techniques, and allegories used in his story. Dante's work is one the most influential and complex literary works of all time: a thick and tightly knit interweave of philosophical ideas and political thought, masterfully crafted at the loom of his own intellect.

One element of Dante's writing that is quite notable and apparent, is his copious use of references to other literary works and mythologies. Throughout the entire story, Dante references numerous texts and stories, using them as preset tools to provide infinite detail to his own work. Among the references used, the Bible and the Aeneid are the two most common. Dante uses the biblical ideologies as obvious inspiration for his own work but also nearly directly quotes from the Scriptures in his work. The Aeneid provides Dante not only with a set of characters to populate his Inferno, but also a preset mythology and pagan set of ideologies. Both of these texts were widely well known in Dante's time (and until now) due to the religious and re-emergence of classical texts. 

Dante also uses characters and places from his modern time in medieval Florence (or at least from its recent history) as well as famous associates of the medieval, italian, Church. Dante pulls characters from Florentine history (and present) as example and allegory to the circle of Hell in which he describes. For example, in the second circle of Inferno, Dante places Francesca and Paolo, both of whom were murdered and were hot topics of the late Florentine history. Also, Dante strategically places his enemies in particular places in hell. Pope Boniface VIII was the major contributor to Dante's exilation from Florence, and thus, reserves a special place and mention in the Inferno. 

These allegories continue virtually infinitely through the Divine Comedy. It would take thousands of pages of commentary to even cover a fraction of them. Because the story itself is an allegory for our mortal lives and eternity with (or without) God, the allegory is quite expansive. Also, among the story includes allegories relating to the topics of (and not limited to) the meaning of life, morality, the structure of time, space, and the universe, God's love and perfect justice, etc.... To claim a knowledge of them, and how Dante intended them to be read, would be ignorant.

The final element of Dante's work that also shows great literary prowess is his ability to structure his poem. The entire Comedy is divided into a (nearly) perfect three. Each stanza is also structured into terza rima, or three lines. The obvious reference to a holy trinity structure, I think, also implies some degree of perpetuality and cycle. Each time you read three lines, another set of three begins again; each time one's soul travels the path through the spiritual realm, another soul must follow.

The complexities of Dante's work continue to further present themselves more complex each time I review them. Each individual thread of Dante's complex and expansive tapestry are evidently each carefully chosen from an abundance of the world's material. However, the only way to see why he chose each thread and element of his great work is by looking closely to each one as it relates to another. 

Summary of 'Guerre sainte dans La Chanson de Roland: La «Mythification» de l'histoire' as Translated by Mark Dominik

The Crusades is a tricky topic among Christians and non-Christians today. The sweet pious imagery of Christians we perceive from the medieval world completely mystifies the reason behind the horrific actions of the numerous Crusades. However, historians are well aware that these raids through the Holy Lands were by no means ignorant bursts of hatred. The Crusades were considered, by the Christians who participated in them, a Holy War. This was not merely a pillaging of Islamic land, this was a divine war, God-ordained, this was a way to establish your place in sainthood! The Song of Roland demonstrates to the general population of Francia that the act of murdering and pillaging through Arabia was not only justified, but proved their faith. Mark Dominik, in the essay he translates, notes the different literary elements of the Song that point toward a propaganda nature. 

Dominik identifies that the work is much aligned with a national epic, just as the Iliad was for the Greeks, and the Aeneid was for Rome.  The Franks of Francia are a newly established empire, or more correctly, a newly gathered tribes-people. Having witnessed the quality of power the Roman Empire had possessed over the known world, the Franks had a strong desire to be Rome, and through Clovis's conversion and Charlemagne's name, they were able to accomplish just this. While they now held the name, the Franks knew something was missing. The Rome they had seen had been overrun by Muslims. 
Here is justification number one: the Crusades are only taking back their own land; robbing the robbers; becoming Robin Hood for the Mediterranean. 

Not only do the Franks find a national identity within the Song, they are also able to mythologise religious and political leaders into epic heroes and small battles into great war triggers. The Song of Roland articulates the many atrocities that happened in the battle of Roncevaux at the hands of the evil Muslims, when in fact this was a short battle with the Basques. The heroes of this story end up being both the sacrificial Roland and the omnibenevolent Charlemagne. Dominik notes that both of these men take on the role of Christ symbolically in the Song, providing a tactile embodiment of Christ as a role model of the ideal Frankish Christian citizen, as Aeneas did in the Aeneid and Achilles in the Iliad. And here come the second justification: the Crusades are an act of justice for our fallen hero and serve as a way of imitating a morally upright Christian. 

Another element the author notes abundant throughout the Song is the mentality the poem develops. In the Song, the poet readily establishes an "us vs. them" mentality. The Song never establishes that the enemy they fight are specifically of the Islamic religion. Instead, much broader terms are used, such as pagans. This term not only includes Muslims, which the Crusades were primarily targeted at, but also any non-Christians. Charlemagne not only picked fights with Arabs, but also much further North with Saxons, also of a 'pagan' religion. In addition to this division, the Song clearly denotes the moral purity of themselves (the Christian) against the incurable immorality of the pagans (perhaps Saxons and Muslims). This immorality was seen to such a radical degree that the very language of the poem begins to dehumanise the enemy. Their view of morality remained very black and white. Since all Franks were Christians and all Christians were morally correct, all Franks were morally pure. And also since Christianity was the only way, all non-Christians (read pagans) were evil. Finally, here is the third justification: the Crusades served as a way of keeping the Mediterranean world pure from pagan (evil) contaminants (of a non-human source), and encouraging the world toward a Godly and upright moral standard.  

The complex and questionable nature of the Crusades was of the same nature even prior to the First Crusade. However, the justification of their actions, as demonstrated through Dominik's essay on the Song of Roland, shows a thorough moral compensation for the atrocities committed by the wandering Crusaders. Unfortunately, the propaganda of literary articles such as the Song worked in making the Crusades of a "Christian" source. 

Aristotle's Poetics VIII

In this book, Aristotle speaks to the Unity in a Plot. He argues that while a Plot should be well unified, it also shouldn't focus exclusively on an individual character. He praises Homer's Odyssey as a prime example of the integration of multiple character focus, as well as keeping it unified. He also says that both the characters and the events of the Plot should be well correlated and relevant to each other.

"For a thing whose presence or absence makes no visible difference, is not an organic part of the whole."

Aristotle's Poetics VII

Aristotle focusses primarily on the action in a Tragedy. The action of a Tragedy should be "complete, whole, and of a certain magnitude". This may be done by ensuring the use of a beginning, middle, and end to a story. The beginning is where there are no preceding events of pertinent importance to the Plot, and from which all events of the story follow from. The middle leads and follows other events of the story. And the end must have no following events pertinent to the Plot, and it is what all other events lead to. Also the length of the Tragedy must be set between two standards, as a Tragedy that is too long gathers much detail yet will lose the attention of the audience; a Tragedy that is too short may stick in the audience's mind, it is not able to contain many details. Therefore the Tragedy should be in a midpoint between those two points.

Aristotle's Poetics VI

Aristotle notes there are six parts to Tragedy, excluding nothing in its essence, they determine the quality of the art. In order of importance, Aristotle denotes the following:
First and foremost is the Spectacle, how the audience perceives the overall visual presentation of the Tragedy through stage and actors. Second is the Characters, the people who make up the actions in the story. Thirdly is the Plot, which is the chronology and events in the Tragedy. Fourth is the Diction, the syntax, composition and word choice of the poet, sets the tone of the Tragedy through language. Fifthly lies Song, which may be described as the embellishments and flourishes of the Tragedy. And finally sixth is the Thought of the poem, which is the intellectual and philosophical depth within the Tragedy. Combined, these aspects of Tragedy reflect a very similar approach to theatre even today.

Aristotle on Tragedy and Mimesis

Aristotle views Mimesis as an Epistemology, and a good one at that. It is a natural form of learning things, used even by small children. Not only is it natural, we find pleasure in imitation (as a form of art). We have a desire to learn; to know the unknown, and this is all by isolating the original form. Mimesis offers a way of understanding the original form of the imitation through discovery, connection, and contemplation through personal reflection.

Aristotle's definition of Tragedy (as always) isolates it from otther forms of imitation. He says that "Tragedy" is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude. It should also have a degree of artistic value, like metre or rhyme. It shouldn't, however be a narrative, only presented through action. It also forces the audience into feeling certain emotions, like pity and fear, and properly purges them.

Aristotle's Poetics V

Comedy is of lower character, not necessarily in a bad sense, but in an 'ugly' or 'misshapen' way. Like a mask, it imitates a face, but in a distorted form. Comedy has a relatively short history, as it was not respected or treated seriously in any manner, certainly not appropriate for a Dithyramb. Comedy progresses Poetry far beyond any spiritual sense and moves along into a sense of self reflection of society, similar to epic poetry. However, Epic Poetry has strict rules when it comes to metre, Comedy on the other hand has no use for these rules. Similar to Epic Poetry, Tragedy follows these rules, and in essence Epic Poems follow after Tragedy, not vice versa.

Aristotle's Poetics IV

Aristotle begins the fourth part by explaining how poetry even began. He goes on to say that imitation is a purely natural thing for humans to do, adopting it as small children and ceasing not from there. Not only is it natural, but we learn things through imitation and delight in works of imitation. What poetry does is takes this imitation to levels of rhythm, making heavy emphasis on its innate aesthetic beauty.  

Tragedy draws imitation from the parts of reality that are filled with misfortune; dramas derived from poetic Dithyrambs. He mentions that Tragedy has drastically changed from what it was in that it included far more many actors than intended due to Aeschylus and Sophocles' innovations. Also the metre changed from a satyric trochaic tetrametre to simplistic iambic hexametre. The iambic stanzas are far too similar to how people normally speak to be very aesthetic. His final complaint is how long and how many acts the plays contain, granted details are important. 

Aristotle's Poetics II and III

Aristotle in his brief second part of the Poetics describes the three different levels of agency in poetry. There are, in other words, three different ways to present a character to an audience. In relation to the 'average man' a character can be presented in a standard better or worse than us, or else the same as. He gives three examples: Homer shows his character's better, Cleophon (Athenian politician) presents them on 'our own level', and finally Hegemon of Thasos presents his character lower than a standard.

In the third part of the Poetics, Aristotle furthers his segregation of the elements to good literature/poetry. He points out that there are three ways to deliver the story and go as follows:
1. A narrative with elements of monologue and dialogue mixed in. Homer often does this. The narrator and the character[s] don't necessarily need to interact, however.
2. The poem remains in one voice for its entirety, certainly no dialogue is allowed here. 
3. In this form, dialogue is superfluos, and the events of the story are 'acted' out. What we   call now 'playwrights' would fall under this category.

Aristotle's Poetics I

In this part of the Poetics, Aristotle begins by defining what poetry is. He notes that there are four genres of poetry that may be written in three 'styles'. The four genres that Aristotle notes are epic poetry, comedy, tragedy, and Dithyrambs. Each of these can differ however in that they can be expressed through these three ways: the medium, the objects, or the mode of imitation. These make up what poetry is, and how it can be expressed as an art form. Another aspect of poetry Aristotle speaks of is the importance of both metre and 'harmony' in poetry. Through imitation it is important to add rhythm and metre, otherwise it cannot be considered poetry. All art however also contains elements of tune, rhythm, and metre, or else all its structure is ambiguously messy.