Friday, October 31, 2014

Halloween Participation Make-Up Work

The first 19 lines of the Prologue in The Canterbury Tales seems to start of with having a peaceful mood, but draws into a darker turn. Chaucer first talks about the budding flowers, and April showers. However, as I read down the lines, I discovered that Chaucer takes a dark turn. On line 10 Chaucer says "That sleep away the night with an open eye" shows that perhaps a person is being hunted and has to make sure that someone is not coming to kill him or it is just not a safe time. The tone of the book textually also differs from the beginning to the end of the 19 lines. Just like the mood, the tone seems to start off lovely with Chaucer describing beautiful scenery, however he throws bits and pieces of words and phrases that show a darker side. For example, on line 3, Chaucer says that "The veins are bathed in  liquor of such power". Why do veins be bathed in liquor? this might show that someone is extremely drunk but I am not entirely sure. The mood and tone for the tales are quite similar but the tone brings about a darker side.  

1 comment:

  1. Solid work trying to interpret the text. You nailed with the mood being peaceful in this pastoral start. The dark turns you mention actually describe a sense of excitement (keeping one eye open at night) and the way flowers absorb the rains of April and grow.

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