Summary and Analysis of Tale of Melibee :: Canterbury Tales Melibee Essays

Summary and Analysis of Tale of Melibee (The Canterbury Tales)Prologue to the Tale of MelibeeThe Host interrupted the Tale of Sir Thopas, pleading with the fabricator to desist. He told him that the rhymes were doggerel, and asks him to tell a tale in prose. The narrator agrees and asks for the groups attention once more. AnalysisThe connecting passages between the tales that Chaucer himself tells ar more dramatically fulfilling than the stories themselves, which are small(a) more than comic anecdotes. These passages best illustrate the narrative behind the tales themselves. The tales exist as they relate to one another in a complex stick of interactions between the various pilgrims they are not simply a set of free-standing short stories given a rough context. The tales themselves are products of this interaction the Tale of Melibee that Chaucer leave behind give is a response to the Hosts unfavorable reaction to the Tale of Sir Thopas. The Tale of MelibeeA young man called Mel ibee, mighty and rich, had a wife named Prudence and a daughter Sophie. One day while he was in the fields he left his wife and daughter in his house. Three of his old foes stone-broke into the house, raped his wife and left his daughter for dead by wounding her in five places her feet, hands, eyes, nose and mouth. When Melibee returned he began to weep. Prudence consoled him, then asked him to desist and to be as patient as Job. She tells him to call on the counsel of his true friends. His physicians vowed to cure Sophie. They advice him to set guards at his house, but not to attempt vengeance. The younger men, however, talk over him to declare war. Prudence agreed with the elders, who did not want to attack the perpetrators in haste. However, Melibee cites Solomon, who advised that no wife or child should ever have command over a husband. Melibee and Prudence continue to debate on the subject, discussing every bit of minutiae in the subject debated. Finally she advises that he delay his attack on his enemies, telling them that if they will accept peace they shall be forgiven. They came to the court of Melibee and he gives them an option they can put the punishment in the hands of Melibee or Prudence. The wisest of his enemies admits that they are unworthy to come into his court, and submit to his judgment.