1. What is a fabula, and in what sense is 'the loathly lady' theme one? (you can google this one...)2. What does Carter (2003) have to say about Chaucer's 'feminism'? In what sense is the Wyfe of Bath's Tale and in what is it not 'feminist'?
3. What according to Hahn (1995) are some critical issues around The Wedding of Sir Gawain...?
4. What does Hahn identify as its Celtic influences?
5. How do each of the three versions I've given you differ, especially in relation to the choice the knight/king must make?
Happy Blogging :-D
Hello everyone (BIG SMILES),
ReplyDeleteWelcome to our new blogging site.
Due to some miscommunication on the previous site, I decided to set up a fresh page. Clean the slate and start anew! =D
Join me? Up to you. =D
It is exactly the same as the previous site. Just a bit more peace and harmony in this one, with a calming and soothing background of the lovely blue sky and the large ocean boulders below to remind you of that.
Not to mention our awesome Lecturer. Dr. Paul Mountfort... he will be watching us just like he did on our previous site, so the same amount of work is required in here. (It's just that I'm the admin on this one and not Paul).
So fellow bloggers... LETS GET READY TO RUUUUUMBLE!
haha, happy blogging!
-anNiE =]
P.S: remember BIG SMILES =D
Hello again guys =D
ReplyDeleteI'm going to attempt question one.
"What is a FABULA...?"
the definition of a fabula is, in a literary sense "a term used in Russian Formalism for the "raw material" of story, events as opposed to the finished arrangement of the plot" (Baldick, 2001). If we compare this to a classical sense fabula means “besides meaning ‘story’, the general Latin word for ‘play’, frequently combined with an adjective defining the subject. The commonest types were the fabula Atellāna, farce, f. crğpidāta, Roman tragedy on a Greek theme, f. palliāta, adaptation of a Greek comedy, f. praetexta, a serious play on a Roman historical subject, and f. tŏgāta, a Roman comedy with a native theme concerning low life in Rome.” (Baldick, 2001)
Listening to Paul’s lecture on Monday, he said that the word fable is from the word fabula and that fables are stories with a strong meaning behind it (or something, I was half concentrating – sorry :-/)
The character of “The Loathly Lady” originally came from the Wife of Bath’s Tale. The theme became a staple of the Arthurian literature, in which a knight was forced to marry an ugly old hag. But little did the knight know, that he was about to set the ugly old hag free, allowing herself to transform into a beautiful woman during the night but stay an ugly had during the day (or vice versa).
http://celtopedia.druidcircle.net/index.php?title=Loathly_lady
http://www.answers.com/topic/fabula-lit-in-encyclopedia
-anNiE:)
Hey ANNIE!!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to start blogging in this fresh new page!! I'm loving the background of the blue sky and ocean boulders.
Happy Blogging Everyone!!
<3
Hey Akash,
ReplyDeleteI know! It's so soothing huh ?! Just setting a calming atmosphere to keep our HAPPY BLOGGING going. =]
-anNiE:)
Hi All,
ReplyDeleteThis is my understanding for Question 2 this week from the reading that I’ve done, hope it makes sense to you and please feel free to comment on my answer.
Happy Blogging!
Cheers
Albie ^_^
Q.2
What does Carter (2003) have to say about Chaucer’s ‘feminism’? In what sense is the Wyfe of Bath’s Tale and in what is it not ‘feminist’?
According to Carter’s (2003) analysis in the ‘Chaucer Review’, the first evidence of Chaucer’s ‘feminism’ was in the setting of the loathly lady’s first appearance. She was “humbly related to a set of goddesses” (Carter, 2003, p. 82) where femininity was made obvious and Chaucer also put a spin to the destabilization of gender when the hunter became the hunted in the divine power of the loathly lady.
The next evidence of Chaucer’s ‘feminism’ is his interest in the imbalance of gender power than in the standards of the making of a good king. This was shown in the power turning of the knight from a sexual predator to a sexual victim in the hands of the loathly lady. Chaucer’s ‘feminism’ was further strengthened by the Wife’s critical belief of the real existence of knights and maidens. She views that maidens are “objects with the limited option of being either rescued or raped” (Carter, 2003, p. 86) but her response to this is to rewrite the script, in which she gives consent to the loathly lady to repress and reeducate the sinful knight.
The displacement of the males from the crucial position when King Arthur hands over the fate of the condemned knight over to the queen and her court of ladies displays another aspect of Chaucer’s ‘feminism’ in the Wyfe of Bath’s Tale. This shift of gender power in King Arthur’s court was compounded when the knight was given ‘a twelvemonth and a day’ by the Queen to seek the ‘correct’ answer to the riddle: ‘What thing women love most?’ or he would be decapitated upon his return.
The Wyfe also situates Queen Guinevere in the position of a judge among a feminine jury “made up entirely of women” (Carter, 2003, p. 87); the Wyfe’s purpose of this is to seize the privilege of justice of the males and reallocate it to the women of the court. She made this restructuring of gender power more apparent by placing other knights of the court in the shadowy corner of the court where it was usually reserved for the women.
Indication of Chaucer’s ‘feminism’ in the Wyfe of Bath’s Tale continued even to the closure; the male dominant social system in King Arthur’s court was not restored in spite of the fact that the loathly lady gave herself over to the knight to become his bride. At this very last stage of the tale, the asymmetrical balance of gender power between the shapeshift hag and the nameless knight was well established; it might have been seemed that the bride was handing over her power to the groom, but this was the man that she had chosen, won and presumably his empowerment would increase her own pleasure in the privacy of their bed chamber.
Despite of all the above-mentioned aspects and evidence of Chaucer’s ‘feminism’ in the Wyfe of Bath’s Tales, Jill Mann identifies that “[t] he ‘anti-feminist’ elements… constitute the force behind the tale’s challenge to male domination. When the knight surrenders to female ‘maistrye’, he surrenders not to the romanticized woman projected by male desire, but to the woman conceived in the pessimistic terms of anti-feminism” (Carter, 2003, p. 84).
Note: ‘maistrye’ or ‘sovereintee’ means maintaining absolute control.
Hey Albie,
ReplyDeleteJust to go off topic from Carter (2003), another probable reason why King Arthur handed over the power to the Queen to decide the punishment for Sir Gawain, was the fact that it was for the serious crime of taking away a maidens virginity without consent - these kinds of topics are sensitive to women and the fact that it was unjust for men to take away an innocent maiden's virginity.
So women would feel what would be right for the person recieving the punishment.
-anNiE:)
p.s dd i make sense ? x
Hey Guys,
ReplyDeleteThis is my answer for Question 3.
What according to Hahn (1995) are some critical issues around The Wedding of Sir Gawain...?
I’d start by answering my question with some of Hahn (1995) critical issues that I understood from the reading The Wedding of Sir Gawain. The first critical issue that I noticed was “In the old Irish versions, the reward for the hero’s offering his favor or making the right choice is kingship or political dominance; the late medieval English versions recast the tale’s setting, from the realm of epic exploits to a domestic environment of personal love characteristics of romance” (Hahn, 1995, p. 18). This means that the importance or the moral of the story example Loathly Lady was suppose to be rewarding the hero kingship or political power however in the middle ages the version was changed to be more interesting for story telling (tales) about personal love and romance fictions.
The second critical issue I spotted when Hahn (1995) describes the plot of Ragnelle and explains the transformation of the heroine and how it changes both physically and symbolically, from an ugly creature to beautiful lady and from a troublesome and needy woman to a fulfilled woman. Her double role – Beauty and the Beast. Hahn explains how this has turned out to an image criticizing woman with their image and with that only romance is possible and this has become famous throughout the Western culture. I think to elaborate more on this Hahn is trying to explain how this has made the Western culture walk towards the road of shallowness and only accept woman if they were attractive or had a life- giving knowledge.
I hope you guys understood my point and view of some of the critical issues. :)
References:
Hahn, T. (Ed). (1995). The wedding of Sir Gawain And Dame Ragnelle. In Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications.
Hey Annie,
ReplyDeleteYour right about the definition, Fabula does come from the word Fable which means 'tale'. And the basic event of a tale can be retold in a variety of ways am i right or wrong? it is a similar description to what you said that "fables are stories with a strong meaning behind it". So i guess a particular fable will have a meaning behind it but the story can be changed n told in a different ways over time but the meaning still remains the same.
:)
Akash
Hey Albert and Annie,
ReplyDeleteGood job on your answer for Question for 2 Albie. And to move on to what Annie had said in her comment to Albert, it wonders me if that was the real reason why King Arthur had handed over that power to feminine jury. I would agree that King Arthur intentionally handed in the power so that he wouldn't have the responsibility over this decision rather than the King making a wrong decision. So maybe King Arthur did find this a sensitive decision to make possibly due to the virginity taken from the maiden.
Hope i made sense guys :)
Akash
Hey Albie [and others],
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you have put up, just wanted to add a little something something if you don't mind [whether or not you do, im going to add it, LOL].
Anyways, What I found interesting is that, Chaucer was interested in gender role, which is probably why Carter (2003) wrote about it. "The difference between Chaucer's redaction and John Gower's contemporaneous version suggests that Chaucer is more interested in the gender role destablization" (Carter, 2003, p.81), which is probably why Carter had a feminism kind of theme in the review.
-anNiE:)
4. What does Hahn identify as its Celtic influences?
ReplyDeleteHey guys,
I am going to try and talk about question four I am not so confident so lots of feed back on my blog would be much a preciated. This way I will come to a better understanding myself.
Ok my understaning of celtic is that there are a number of different european languages that come together as one.
When reading the introduction text (page 98 second paragraph) i found the different languages that have been used to tell this story old Irish,late medievil English in the past.
It say "Ragnelle may in fact have had its orgins in some distant and lost ARTHURIAN NARRATIVE."
The word Arthurian meaning pertianing to king autharand his knights. which they formed a large part of medievil romance.
I think certain parts of this story he has used celtic influences such as "an ugly hag" where as in another version they have used "loathy lady" so depending on the time or the language that is telling the story there is different influnces on the word that are used through the story.
Jazz :/
haha please dont laugh at my answer guys haha comments?????????
ReplyDeleteWhat is a fabula, and in what sense is 'the loathly lady' theme one? (you can google this one...)
ReplyDeleteFubula is a tale that consist of a many versions that cover many culutres. Fabula is a term originating in Russian Formalism and employed in narratology that describe narrative construction.
When viewing our class powerpoint again, The 'loathy lady' fabula appears to be Celtic origin. Is found in Irish myths as a test a king must face before he can claim the sovereignty of the land.In the middle ages it is said that the theme of the ‘loathly lady’ was part of a common fabula.
jazz