Category Archives: All Videos

Rhymed Roland: Aude and Charlemagne mourn together (in Old French)

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About the scene and clip:
Using a modest costume element and recorded music, the solo artist performs in Old French one of the scenes that show how different the Rhymed Roland is from the most famous version of the Roland story, The Song of Roland. In this scene, Charlemagne holds Aude in his arms. Her heart trembles, her eyes become cloudy, her forehead is pale; she faints. Then she cries out to the Emperor to show her the bodies of her bold brother, Oliver, and of Roland, who had promised to marry her. She tells Charlemagne that she will go away together with her “ami” and her brother who has suffered. Charlemagne says to her, “Beautiful one, they have forgotten me and you!”

About the work:
The story of Roland was famous throughout the Middle Ages. The earliest surviving version, generally titled La Chanson de Roland (The Song of Roland) is one of the great masterpieces of French medieval literature; it dates apparently from the late 11th century and is preserved in a famous manuscript now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. This classic version is composed in laisses (or stanzas) of variable length with ten-syllable lines in assonance (the final vowel is the same within each laisse). Epics like the Roland were originally sung by jongleurs, often with vielle accompaniment. The Roland tells of the Emperor Charlemagne’s great struggle to conquer Spain from the Muslim Infidels. It recounts the betrayal of the French by the traitor, Ganelon, resulting in a great battle at Roncevaux. There, the French rearguard, led by Roland, defeats the Moors, but all the great French knights—the twelve peers—die. Charlemagne avenges the peers in two great battles, and Ganelon is punished. At the end, Charlemagne is called by the angel Gabriel to a new mission.

Such are the classic plot of this work, and the traditional French epic form. But there were many other, somewhat different, versions of the Roland story, some of which survive. One of them is the so-called Roland rimé, or Rhymed Roland. This poem (in two surviving manuscripts) apparently dates from the second half of the 12th century. It is composed in rhymed laisses, rather than in assonanced lines. One of the great innovations of this poem is the vastly amplified and dramatic role it gives to Aude, Roland’s fiancée, who barely appeared in the Song of Roland.

About the genre:
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative which tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
La Chanson de Roland/The Song of Roland: The French Corpus, gen. ed. Joseph J. Duggan, Turnhout, Belgium, Brepols Publishers, 2005; vol. II: The Châteauroux-Venice 7 Version, ed. Joseph J. Duggan, ll. 7170ff; p. 414.

About the performer/ensemble:
Elizabeth Sprague is a student in Dramatic Literature and in Journalism in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2005).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in fall 2005. Nitzan Rotschild was the videographer.

Lancelot: Father vs. Son

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About the scene and clip:
A young knight has attempted to abduct a maiden who was riding with Lancelot. The knight’s father, recognizing how valiant Lancelot is, has forbidden his son to fight with him. The two argue, and the father has his angry son restrained by his barons. The solo performer plays both parts; recorded music from “The Tudors” provides a sound track.

About the work:
Lancelot is one of the five surviving romances by the great narrative poet Chrétien de Troyes; it is centrally concerned with the love affair between Guinevere, wife of King Arthur, and Lancelot, one of the knights of the Round Table. This unfinished romance contains many adventures of Lancelot and Gawain as they attempt to rescue Guinevere, who has been carried off by the evil Meleagant.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart, trans. Ruth Harwood Cline, Athens, GA, University of Georgia Press, 1990, pp. 49ff. French: Le Chevalier de la charrette, ed. Charles Méla, in Romans de Chrétien de Troyes, eds./trans. J.M. Fritz et al, Paris, Classiques Modernes/Livre de Poche, 1994.

About the performer/ensemble:
Jessica Carei is a student in Journalism and in Medieval and Renaissance Studies in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in spring 2008; it was videoed in the classroom.

Lancelot: Dwarf deceives Lancelot

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About the scene and clip:
An evil dwarf betrays Lancelot, who follows him into the woods where he will be taken prisoner by his enemies. The solo performer, with a modest use of props, plays both parts.

About the work:
Lancelot is one of the five surviving romances by the great narrative poet Chrétien de Troyes; it is centrally concerned with the love affair between Guinevere, wife of King Arthur, and Lancelot, one of the knights of the Round Table. This unfinished romance contains many adventures of Lancelot and Gawain as they attempt to rescue Guinevere, who has been carried off by the evil Meleagant.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart, trans. Ruth Harwood Cline, Athens, GA, University of Georgia Press, 1990, pp. 140ff. French: Le Chevalier de la charrette, ed. Charles Méla, in Romans de Chrétien de Troyes, eds./trans. J.M. Fritz et al, Paris, Classiques Modernes/Livre de Poche, 1994.

About the performer/ensemble:
Andrew Long is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, with a minor in Spanish literature and culture in the College of Arts and Science (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in spring 2008; it was videoed in the classroom.

Gesta: Of fidelity, or young prince rescued from pirates

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About the scene and clip:
The performer first tells the story of a young prince who was rescued from pirates by the beautiful daughter of the pirates’ leader, and of his promise to her. Then, in a forceful preaching style, the performer draws out the allegorical meaning of the story.

About the work:
The Gesta Romanorum is an anonymous collection of stories, written in Latin. Though the earliest manuscripts date from the 14th c., the stories were probably written earlier. The tales consist of stories allegedly about deeds of the ancient Romans, with a Christian moral attached at the end, and were probably used by preachers in their sermons. The work was widely known, and Boccaccio, Chaucer, and Shakespeare all retold tales drawn from it.

About the genre:
The tale, like the epic, is an ancient genre and one found everywhere in the world. Many tales are firmly rooted in oral tradition and are recited or told by amateur and professional storytellers and performers. Other tales are the work of literarily sophisticated authors and are often intended to be read aloud or silently from written texts. Some tales circulate separately, while others are part of collections which may be set in complex frames (as in the case of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). There are many sub-groups of tales with specific characteristics; see for example the “lai” and the “fabliau.”

Allegory is a way of composing and of interpreting texts: characters and the plot point beyond themselves to something “other”—something symbolic. Characters are often personifications of forces such as Love, Pride, Reason, or Friendship. The plot is also symbolic: characters’ struggles are between vices and virtues; their journey may refer to life’s pilgrimage or to the discovery of some great truth, such as the nature of love. Works may be entirely allegorical, or may just contain brief passages written in this mode. Allegorical works are often strongly religious, philosophical, or moral.

About the edition/translation:
The Tales of the Gesta Romanorum, translated from the Latin by Charles Swan, revised by Wynnard Hooper, New York, Everest Books, 1959, pp.8-9. Medieval Latin: Märchen und Legenden aus den Gesta Romanorum, mit Holzschnitten von Axel von Leckoschek, Leipzig, Insel, 1926.

About the performer/ensemble:
Zach Fithian is a student in Dramatic Literature in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2006).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in fall 2006.

Wife of Bath: Fairies are gone

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About the scene and clip:
The solo performer, as the Wife of Bath, opens her tale by evoking the good old days of King Arthur, when fairies and elves were abundant in the land. Now, they are all gone—chased away by the prayers of limiters and other friars. (Limiters were friars who had the right to beg within a certain fixed area.)

About the work:
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, dating from around the last decade of the 14th century, tells how a group of pilgrims journey to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury and agree to tell stories on the way there and back, to pass the time. The two dozen or so pilgrims represent various classes and stations of men and women, both lay and religious. There are tales of many different types, including a fabliau (“The Miller’s Tale”) and a miracle story (“The Prioress’s Tale”). Tales are told in a wide range of styles, from the high, noble, and serious, to the low and the bawdy. Most of the tales are in verse, generally in rhymed couplets; a few are in prose. The Canterbury Tales exists in many manuscripts but is fragmentary: as we have the work, the pilgrims do not actually get to Canterbury, or back, and scholars disagree as to the order in which the tales should go. But this collection of great stories, often told by highly memorable characters, is one of the masterpieces of medieval literature.

The Wife of Bath is among the most forceful and memorable figures in The Canterbury Tales. In the lengthy prologue to her tale, she talks about marriage (virginity was not for her!), and about her five husbands, most of whom she bullied and dominated. The story the Wife of Bath tells comes from Arthurian tradition: a bold knight of King Arthur’s court is sentenced to death as a punishment for rape, but the Queen intervenes on his behalf and arranges for him to be pardoned—but only if he can find the answer to the question: what do women want most? After a long and fruitless search, an old crone gives him the answer, but she makes him promise that in return he will grant whatever she asks of him. She demands his hand in marriage. He reluctantly assents and marries her—but, to his delight, she turns into a beautiful young woman.

Another clip on this website–“Wedding of Gawain: What do women want?”–is from a work that tells essentially the same story as Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath’s Tale”—only there, the knight is Sir Gawain.

About the genre:
This story belongs to the tale tradition. The tale, like the epic, is an ancient genre and one found everywhere in the world. Many tales are firmly rooted in oral tradition and are recited or told by amateur and professional storytellers and performers. Other tales are the work of literarily sophisticated authors and are often intended to be read aloud or silently from written texts. Some tales circulate separately, while others are part of collections, which may be set in complex frames (as in the case of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). There are many sub-groups of tales with specific characteristics; see for example the “lai” and the “fabliau.”

About the edition/translation:
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, trans. David Wright, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. 240ff. There are many editions of The Canterbury Tales.

About the performer/ensemble:
Sarah Utz is a student in the College of Arts and Science at New York University; her major is as yet undecided (2010).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in spring 2010. Sam Erenberger was the videographer.

Wife of Bath: Women are children of Venus

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About the scene and clip:
The performer, as the Wife of Bath, uses two classmates as gender props to explain how women are the children of Venus, while scholars are under the domination of Mercury: as one planet sinks, the other rises. Women and scholars can never be in harmony—therefore women are never praised by scholars.

About the work:
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, dating from around the last decade of the 14th century, tells how a group of pilgrims journey to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury and agree to tell stories on the way there and back, to pass the time. The two dozen or so pilgrims represent various classes and stations of men and women, both lay and religious. There are tales of many different types, including a fabliau (“The Miller’s Tale”) and a miracle story (“The Prioress’s Tale”). Tales are told in a wide range of styles, from the high, noble, and serious, to the low and the bawdy. Most of the tales are in verse, generally in rhymed couplets; a few are in prose. The Canterbury Tales exists in many manuscripts but is fragmentary: as we have the work, the pilgrims do not actually get to Canterbury, or back, and scholars disagree as to the order in which the tales should go. But this collection of great stories, often told by highly memorable characters, is one of the masterpieces of medieval literature.

The Wife of Bath is among the most forceful and memorable figures in The Canterbury Tales. In the lengthy prologue to her tale, she talks about marriage (virginity was not for her!), and about her five husbands, most of whom she bullied and dominated. The story the Wife of Bath tells comes from Arthurian tradition: a bold knight of King Arthur’s court is sentenced to death as a punishment for rape, but the Queen intervenes on his behalf and arranges for him to be pardoned—but only if he can find the answer to the question: what do women want most? After a long and fruitless search, an old crone gives him the answer, but she makes him promise that in return he will grant whatever she asks of him. She demands his hand in marriage. He reluctantly assents and marries her—but, to his delight, she turns into a beautiful young woman.

Another clip on this website–“Wedding of Gawain: What do women want?”–is from a work that tells essentially the same story as Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath’s Tale”—only there, the knight is Sir Gawain.

About the genre:
This story belongs to the tale tradition. The tale, like the epic, is an ancient genre and one found everywhere in the world. Many tales are firmly rooted in oral tradition and are recited or told by amateur and professional storytellers and performers. Other tales are the work of literarily sophisticated authors and are often intended to be read aloud or silently from written texts. Some tales circulate separately, while others are part of collections, which may be set in complex frames (as in the case of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). There are many sub-groups of tales with specific characteristics; see for example the “lai” and the “fabliau.”

About the edition/translation:
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, trans. David Wright, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. 236ff. There are many editions of The Canterbury Tales.

About the performer/ensemble:
Hannah McGinley is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts(2010).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in spring 2010. Sam Erenberger was the videographer.

Wife of Bath: Her misogynistic husband

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About the scene and clip:
The performer, as the Wife of Bath, tells about the infuriating misogynistic books her husband used to read.

About the work:
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, dating from around the last decade of the 14th century, tells how a group of pilgrims journey to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury and agree to tell stories on the way there and back, to pass the time. The two dozen or so pilgrims represent various classes and stations of men and women, both lay and religious. There are tales of many different types, including a fabliau (“The Miller’s Tale”) and a miracle story (“The Prioress’s Tale”). Tales are told in a wide range of styles, from the high, noble, and serious, to the low and the bawdy. Most of the tales are in verse, generally in rhymed couplets; a few are in prose. The Canterbury Tales exists in many manuscripts but is fragmentary: as we have the work, the pilgrims do not actually get to Canterbury, or back, and scholars disagree as to the order in which the tales should go. But this collection of great stories, often told by highly memorable characters, is one of the masterpieces of medieval literature.

The Wife of Bath is among the most forceful and memorable figures in The Canterbury Tales. In the lengthy prologue to her tale, she talks about marriage (virginity was not for her!), and about her five husbands, most of whom she bullied and dominated. The story the Wife of Bath tells comes from Arthurian tradition: a bold knight of King Arthur’s court is sentenced to death as a punishment for rape, but the Queen intervenes on his behalf and arranges for him to be pardoned—but only if he can find the answer to the question: what do women want most? After a long and fruitless search, an old crone gives him the answer, but she makes him promise that in return he will grant whatever she asks of him. She demands his hand in marriage. He reluctantly assents and marries her—but, to his delight, she turns into a beautiful young woman.

Another clip on this website–“Wedding of Gawain: What do women want?”–is from a work that tells essentially the same story as Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath’s Tale”—only there, the knight is Sir Gawain.

About the genre:
This story belongs to the tale tradition. The tale, like the epic, is an ancient genre and one found everywhere in the world. Many tales are firmly rooted in oral tradition and are recited or told by amateur and professional storytellers and performers. Other tales are the work of literarily sophisticated authors and are often intended to be read aloud or silently from written texts. Some tales circulate separately, while others are part of collections, which may be set in complex frames (as in the case of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). There are many sub-groups of tales with specific characteristics; see for example the “lai” and the “fabliau.”

About the edition/translation:
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, trans. David Wright, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. 238ff. There are many editions of The Canterbury Tales.

About the performer/ensemble:
Sam (Samantha) Erenberger is a Drama student in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2010).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in spring 2010. Sam Erenberger was the videographer.

Wife of Bath: Wife fights with husband

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About the scene and clip:
The Wife of Bath tells how she fought violently with the husband–who was in fact her favorite among all her five husbands. In this vigorous scene, the solo performer plays both parts.

About the work:
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, dating from around the last decade of the 14th century, tells how a group of pilgrims journey to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury and agree to tell stories on the way there and back, to pass the time. The two dozen or so pilgrims represent various classes and stations of men and women, both lay and religious. There are tales of many different types, including a fabliau (“The Miller’s Tale”) and a miracle story (“The Prioress’s Tale”). Tales are told in a wide range of styles, from the high, noble, and serious, to the low and the bawdy. Most of the tales are in verse, generally in rhymed couplets; a few are in prose. The Canterbury Tales exists in many manuscripts but is fragmentary: as we have the work, the pilgrims do not actually get to Canterbury, or back, and scholars disagree as to the order in which the tales should go. But this collection of great stories, often told by highly memorable characters, is one of the masterpieces of medieval literature.

The Wife of Bath is among the most forceful and memorable figures in The Canterbury Tales. In the lengthy prologue to her tale, she talks about marriage (virginity was not for her!), and about her five husbands, most of whom she bullied and dominated. The story the Wife of Bath tells comes from Arthurian tradition: a bold knight of King Arthur’s court is sentenced to death as a punishment for rape, but the Queen intervenes on his behalf and arranges for him to be pardoned—but only if he can find the answer to the question: what do women want most? After a long and fruitless search, an old crone gives him the answer, but she makes him promise that in return he will grant whatever she asks of him. She demands his hand in marriage. He reluctantly assents and marries her—but, to his delight, she turns into a beautiful young woman.

Another clip on this website–“Wedding of Gawain: What do women want?”–is from a work that tells essentially the same story as Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath’s Tale”—only there, the knight is Sir Gawain.

About the genre:
This story belongs to the tale tradition. The tale, like the epic, is an ancient genre and one found everywhere in the world. Many tales are firmly rooted in oral tradition and are recited or told by amateur and professional storytellers and performers. Other tales are the work of literarily sophisticated authors and are often intended to be read aloud or silently from written texts. Some tales circulate separately, while others are part of collections, which may be set in complex frames (as in the case of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). There are many sub-groups of tales with specific characteristics; see for example the “lai” and the “fabliau.”

About the edition/translation:
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, trans. David Wright, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. 238ff. There are many editions of The Canterbury Tales.

About the performer/ensemble:
Kelsen Larsen is a Drama student in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2010).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in spring 2010. Sam Erenberger was the videographer.

Wife of Bath: How she managed husbands

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About the scene and clip:
The performer, as the Wife of Bath, explains to other wives how she managed her husbands, to show them how it is done. She draws a fellow classmate into her performance to play the befuddled husband.

About the work:
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, dating from around the last decade of the 14th century, tells how a group of pilgrims journey to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury and agree to tell stories on the way there and back, to pass the time. The two dozen or so pilgrims represent various classes and stations of men and women, both lay and religious. There are tales of many different types, including a fabliau (“The Miller’s Tale”) and a miracle story (“The Prioress’s Tale”). Tales are told in a wide range of styles, from the high, noble, and serious, to the low and the bawdy. Most of the tales are in verse, generally in rhymed couplets; a few are in prose. The Canterbury Tales exists in many manuscripts but is fragmentary: as we have the work, the pilgrims do not actually get to Canterbury, or back, and scholars disagree as to the order in which the tales should go. But this collection of great stories, often told by highly memorable characters, is one of the masterpieces of medieval literature.

The Wife of Bath is among the most forceful and memorable figures in The Canterbury Tales. In the lengthy prologue to her tale, she talks about marriage (virginity was not for her!), and about her five husbands, most of whom she bullied and dominated. The story the Wife of Bath tells comes from Arthurian tradition: a bold knight of King Arthur’s court is sentenced to death as a punishment for rape, but the Queen intervenes on his behalf and arranges for him to be pardoned—but only if he can find the answer to the question: what do women want most? After a long and fruitless search, an old crone gives him the answer, but she makes him promise that in return he will grant whatever she asks of him. She demands his hand in marriage. He reluctantly assents and marries her—but, to his delight, she turns into a beautiful young woman.

Another clip on this website–“Wedding of Gawain: What do women want?”–is from a work that tells essentially the same story as Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath’s Tale”—only there, the knight is Sir Gawain.

About the genre:
This story belongs to the tale tradition. The tale, like the epic, is an ancient genre and one found everywhere in the world. Many tales are firmly rooted in oral tradition and are recited or told by amateur and professional storytellers and performers. Other tales are the work of literarily sophisticated authors and are often intended to be read aloud or silently from written texts. Some tales circulate separately, while others are part of collections, which may be set in complex frames (as in the case of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). There are many sub-groups of tales with specific characteristics; see for example the “lai” and the “fabliau.”

About the edition/translation:
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, trans. David Wright, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. 224ff. There are many editions of The Canterbury Tales.

About the performer/ensemble:
Sam (Samantha) Morrice is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2010).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in spring 2010. Sam Erenberger was the videographer.

Wife of Bath: Crone turns into beautiful woman

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About the scene and clip:
In this final scene of the tale, performed here in Middle English, the ugly crone turns into a beautiful woman, to the great delight of her new husband, the knight. The performer plays both parts—as well as that of the storyteller, the Wife of Bath. A shawl aids in transitions, as well as providing a comic touch.

About the work:
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, dating from around the last decade of the 14th century, tells how a group of pilgrims journey to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury and agree to tell stories on the way there and back, to pass the time. The two dozen or so pilgrims represent various classes and stations of men and women, both lay and religious. There are tales of many different types, including a fabliau (“The Miller’s Tale”) and a miracle story (“The Prioress’s Tale”). Tales are told in a wide range of styles, from the high, noble, and serious, to the low and the bawdy. Most of the tales are in verse, generally in rhymed couplets; a few are in prose. The Canterbury Tales exists in many manuscripts but is fragmentary: as we have the work, the pilgrims do not actually get to Canterbury, or back, and scholars disagree as to the order in which the tales should go. But this collection of great stories, often told by highly memorable characters, is one of the masterpieces of medieval literature.

The Wife of Bath is among the most forceful and memorable figures in The Canterbury Tales. In the lengthy prologue to her tale, she talks about marriage (virginity was not for her!), and about her five husbands, most of whom she bullied and dominated. The story the Wife of Bath tells comes from Arthurian tradition: a bold knight of King Arthur’s court is sentenced to death as a punishment for rape, but the Queen intervenes on his behalf and arranges for him to be pardoned—but only if he can find the answer to the question: what do women want most? After a long and fruitless search, an old crone gives him the answer, but she makes him promise that in return he will grant whatever she asks of him. She demands his hand in marriage. He reluctantly assents and marries her—but, to his delight, she turns into a beautiful young woman.

Another clip on this website–“Wedding of Gawain: What do women want?”–is from a work that tells essentially the same story as Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath’s Tale”—only there, the knight is Sir Gawain.

About the genre:
This story belongs to the tale tradition. The tale, like the epic, is an ancient genre and one found everywhere in the world. Many tales are firmly rooted in oral tradition and are recited or told by amateur and professional storytellers and performers. Other tales are the work of literarily sophisticated authors and are often intended to be read aloud or silently from written texts. Some tales circulate separately, while others are part of collections, which may be set in complex frames (as in the case of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). There are many sub-groups of tales with specific characteristics; see for example the “lai” and the “fabliau.”

About the edition/translation:
There are many editions of The Canterbury Tales. This is the final scene of the work.

About the performer/ensemble:
Evan Wilson is an English major in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2010).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in spring 2010. Sam Erenberger was the videographer.