tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7188858439852729115.post1243971803899142845..comments2023-05-22T03:04:42.242-05:00Comments on Dame Eleanor Hull: I expected to hate it . . .Dame Eleanor Hullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06512884104691200975noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7188858439852729115.post-62524931905841672202011-01-08T00:09:08.083-06:002011-01-08T00:09:08.083-06:00I think it's because they think that anything ...I think it's because they think that anything old must be stale and religious in a boring way.<br /><br />I must admit that I delight when they begin to get the fun in the CT and realize that most of the religious thinking is anything but boring.<br /><br />capcha: inksm :)Bardiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7188858439852729115.post-26174053427717888382011-01-07T16:14:21.386-06:002011-01-07T16:14:21.386-06:00"A Knight's Tale" is a romance, and ..."A Knight's Tale" is a romance, and romances are often anachronistic, even or especially the medieval ones. I show it in the last week of classes to prove to students that they have indeed learned something: they have to write down all the jokes/references they would not have caught before taking the class. This year, I had a whole batch who had seen the movie before and had no idea Chaucer was in it, because "Chaucer" didn't mean anything to them when they first saw it.Dame Eleanor Hullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06512884104691200975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7188858439852729115.post-84909140240845273862011-01-07T14:03:42.561-06:002011-01-07T14:03:42.561-06:00Just ask if they've seen "Knight's Ta...Just ask if they've seen "Knight's Tale," and if they haven't, tell them Heath Ledger was in it. Then tell them to watch for the guy who shows up walking down the road naked. And then tell them: "That's Chaucer!" I find that it is much easier to deal with Brian Helgeland's anachronisms than the cultural propensity to blame the Middle Ages for everything we don't like about the present.Fencing Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16825525662123382529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7188858439852729115.post-85938980362052122352011-01-07T14:00:17.811-06:002011-01-07T14:00:17.811-06:00N&M: that's the obverse side of the coin; ...N&M: that's the obverse side of the coin; people who know a little may expect Chaucer to be dirtier than he is. I can't think of anyplace where he actually describes monks and nuns cavorting, though Harry Bailey does some nudge-nudge wink-wink over the Nun's Priest's Tale, which is about a (ahem) cock and his flock. Fart jokes and a spot of adultery are about the extent of it. You have to go to penitential manuals for the real smut.Dame Eleanor Hullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06512884104691200975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7188858439852729115.post-50473749786633355542011-01-07T11:01:58.875-06:002011-01-07T11:01:58.875-06:00We definitely didn't study Chaucer in high sch...We definitely didn't study Chaucer in high school. I imagine it's scary because of the language. But once you get past the language barrier and learn to decode it, it's probably quite entertaining. The copy of Chaucer I had at home had lots of dirty pictures in it... I remember one of a monk and some nuns, habits and robes thrown aside...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7188858439852729115.post-44363094403380371252011-01-07T10:48:17.462-06:002011-01-07T10:48:17.462-06:00Long comments welcome--thanks for stopping by, &am...Long comments welcome--thanks for stopping by, & for thinking about the problem!Dame Eleanor Hullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06512884104691200975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7188858439852729115.post-77390089507996745872011-01-07T03:30:24.930-06:002011-01-07T03:30:24.930-06:00Thanks for this. I've seen this too, and I thi...Thanks for this. I've seen this too, and I think you're right about students' anxieties over language. I've been wondering if it's not also due to the kinds of usage the medieval's getting in popular culture now?<br /><br /> There's still a certain amount of glamour attached to the Middle Ages via films like the LOR trilogy, but I don't know that that's always enough to counter the tendency to associate the medieval with brutality and backwardness. Which is hardly likely to leave them convinced that we've got much to offer in the way of aesthetic or intellectual pleasure. Sorry for the length of the comment!Sulpiciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00429473623344454462noreply@blogger.com