The Griselda's Clerk Tale

The story of Griselda in the Clerk’s tale by Geoffrey Chaucer narrates the life of a young humble woman whose husband tests her devotion and obedience with tremendously obstacles. This clerk’s tale is a very intense and remarkable story, where Griselda had to demonstrate her devotion and obedience to his noble husband. Griselda knew excitly how to follow the ruled stated in the Component Books. These books stated rules that women had to follow as part of they routines. The rules laid out are "how to be pious, faithful, silent, and subservient, and household duties." Griselda was raised with the belief that woman had to accept and obey husband’s will under any circumstance. Walter, Griselda’s husband, made her believe that he killed both of his children, and he also dismissed her, he did all of these just to test her wifely virtue of obedience and faithfulness. In this story, Chaucer had as the ideal wife like a woman who can overcome any obstacles. Despite the situation Griselda had lived with his husband Walter, deeply Walter felt sorrow and ashamed of the situations that he’s making Griselda goes through. As the Clerk states “The Constance of hys wyf, he caste adoun/His eyen two, and wondreth that she may/ In pacience suffer al this array;/and forth he goth witth drery contenance, /but to his herte it was fil greet plesance.”(Chaucer, 108, lines 667-72). In his interior, he knew what’s he was doing was terrifically inhuman. At some point, Walter acted kind of obsessive with Griselda’s loyalty. At the same time, he felt happy because Griselda showed him her loyalty and obedience. Griselda behaved as one of the most grandiose wives, as the most amazing of all loving and dutiful wives. In the end, Walter stood up as a man, and overcome his obsession to prove Griselda’s worth.

Comportment Books

How stressful can be a book based in the obedience and meekness that wives, daughter and women in general have follow. "Comportment books." These books stated rules that women had to follow as part of they routines. The rules laid out are "how to be pious, faithful, silent, and subservient, and household duties." These characteristics is present in the movie "The name of the Rose's" girl. This girl was pious, faithful, silent and subservient with Adso of Melk. The rules laid out in those texts are not impossible to uphold. Those books were absolutely created by men to underestimate women’s capacity. It demonstrated men’s frustration to maintained women under control, because they knew what women were capable of doing. Women have so much potential and control, they definitely can follow those rules and at the same time be able to improve herself and intellectual. I know it might be difficult back then, but just knowing the fact that for the first time a woman dared to sit down to write a conduct book. Christine de Pizan’s work (1364-1430), one, Le Livre des Trois Vertus was written for the daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, this is the first comportment books written by a woman. Women were already getting an intellectual realization, gaining place in the society as writers and at the same time, they obeyed and subservient men. Men were used to write books and all the laws back then. This is a very smart move by women.

Il nome della rosa

The Name of the Rose  
(Il nome della rosa)




It is a very impressive film directed by Jean-Jacques Annoud. Where William of Baskerville with his novice Adso of Melk were called upon to solve a deadly mystery in a abbey. In this film not only God has part of it, but also the insecurity of human beings. This film gave the perception how authority can lead to fatal errors. How monks abused of their authority just because they didn't want to accept the reality.

There were different types of monks group. Each of them had their own perception and idealism about God. The saddest part is that they didn't provide any hospitable, charitable and hospital services to the poor peasant from outside, especially toward women. The movie emphasized women as a human beings that did not have any respect and value. They were seen as a sin. A sin that can lead to destruction and self-disvalue, if men follow women. They were perceived as a pleasure object, nothing more. In the end of the movie, the novice Adso of Melk who fall in love with a girl, he had sex and felt something especial for her. He left her, even though she looked for him. He choose to follow William of Baskerville than to stay with the love of his life. He choose to have wisdom than love. During that period of time, men valued more wisdom than women. They preferred to live a life alone with wisdom than married with family. Women did not have freedom of speech. The beginning of the Middle Ages, women did not receive any consideration from men. Freedom of speech was prohibited for women. If they did, they were considered witches. Women were seen to be inferior to men. For the Church, women should be docile and obedience to their father and husband. During this period of time, men had an absolute control. In the Film, the only girl that appeared, she was a poor one, with not education, self-respect and notions. She used to look for food in the abbey. This showed how women were the silent voices of the middle age. Any mistakes could lead women to be burned at the stake. The film might reflect a negative side of the women. This negative side is showed when the monk was looking for the girl to offer her food in exchange of sexual act. The young girl was seen as a sex object in exchange of food. A woman was like the forbidden fruit.