Guide to Week 4:
Fabliaux are a puzzling genre, though most modern readers find them immediately accessible as ancestors of the modern short story, satirical situation comedy, and "dirty joke." Before those genres existed, however, these tales circulated in manuscripts like Harley 2253 which suggest that they had an independent existence as oral performances before some kind of audience. Who liked these tales and what they they like about them? One useful test, which might support a midterm paper, would compare the General Prologue's descriptions of the pilgrims while looking for evidence of their taste for tales of trickery, sexual impropriety, and a fair amount of violence. Some pilgrims will remain ciphers on this account, at least as far as the General Prologue can inform us, but others are obviously going to like these tales (the Summoner, for instance) and some would find them disgusting or horrifying (Knight, Prioress). What does that tell us about the social significance of the Miller's choice of this genre to "quite" or beat the Knight's tale?
Also, don't forget our opportunity to learn about Chaucer's style by contrast with the styles of other medieval fabliau writers. As you compare Chaucer's three fabliaux with the four Norman French fabliaux from the Harley manuscript 2253, look for patterns of similarity and difference. Two should be obvious from the start: Chaucer's fabliaux characters are all non-nobles whereas the Harley 2253 fabliaux characters involve knights, and landed lords and ladies, as well as members of the clergy; and the Harley 2253 fabliaux describe graphic, often violent sexual behavior, whereas Chaucer's fabliaux stop at suggestive euphemisms. What might account for these differences?
Note especially Revard's suggestion about the probable audience for the Harley fabliaux on page 127, though note also that his hypothesis depends on the significance of one four-line allusion to the romance of the Swan-Knight, Elias, in one fabliau, and another half-line allusion to an early version of Tristan. How strong do you think these allusions are, and how strong a case does Revard make for the kinds of people who would have known these romances? What other evidence could we find for the likely audience for which Harley 2253, or Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, were created? Try doing this, solely with evidence internal to the text, itself, and where it was found, for a modern novel or poem. It's a fascinating challenge.