Midieval Literature Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Midieval Literature - Term Paper ExampleThe given subject will discuss the pedigrees for The Canterbury Tales, specifically The Clerks fib, and investigate the differences between the versions of the story provided by different authors.The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer represents a great diversity of stories narrated by many people. This diversity brings to conclusion that the sources the author took for this literary creation are very different. Such conclusion in its turn makes us think of the causes Chaucers had for pen some of the stories met in The Canterbury Tales and his reasons for using definite sources. The most worth-researching connection is the bound betweenthe story called The Clerks Taleand its source. The alterations made by the author of The Clerks Taleto the tale of Griselda show Chaucers wish to make his own deep and profound investigation of the age-old problems connected with marriage by researching the way of thinking of a economize and a wife (Smith , 2008).The first source of the tale defined by Chaucer himself is the work of Petrarch. Some place in the tale seems to be exactly copied from the source. Chaucer not only reflects the thoughts of Petrarch but even uses his words in some sentences.However, Petrarch cant be called the main source for The Canterbury Tales. There is another creation that compete more important role. It is The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, mainly his story of Griselda that represents the main source for The Clerks Tale. Actually, Chaucer himself did not say any word about this source and this is not surprising not only the clerks tale, but many other stories included in The Canterbury Tales have their origin in Boccaccios The Decameron. The proportion is so obvious that it can be even assumed that Chaucer communicated with Boccaccio, but preferred to conceal this fact (Smith, 2008).Two abovementioned creators are considered to be the sources used by Chaucer for The Clerks Tale. However, the