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By: Alaric stone, and Hashir
Faheem
Character Name: Griselda and the
Marquis
Type of Tale: Moral tale
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After the Summoner concludes his tale, the Host
notices that the Student has not said a word so far.
He asks the Student to tell them an entertaining
story, one which is not to sad, nor one that they,
the company, would find uninteresting.
The student complies, saying that he will tell them
a tale by Francis Petrarch, who is from Padua and
is a well known Italian poet. He begins to tell them
the introduction that Petrarch wrote for this tale,
but then decides to skip it, because it has no
bearing on the story.
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The tale begins by describing a land in west Italy,
called Saluzzo, which is ruled by a marquis, named
Walter, who was loved by his people.
One day, the people go to him as a group, to ask him
to marry and take a wife
The marquis, agreed to find a wife to please his
people, so long as they respect his decision.
The people agreed to this, and asked him to set a day
for the wedding, because they were still afraid that
he would not marry at all. The marquis set the day,
and then the people went away, having thanked him.
He then called his officers and ordered them to
prepare a feast.
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There was a woman, named Griselda,
who was very beautiful, mature, and
responsible.
The marquis had often seen Griselda,
and looked upon her with great respect.
He was so impressed by her virtue, that
he decided that he would marry her
alone.
When the wedding day approached, no
one knew yet who the marquis would
marry. He proposed to Griselda, she
accepted, and she became well loved by
the people. Griselda also gave birth to a
girl not long after their marriage.
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Not long after the child was born the
marquis wanted to test Griselda’s
constancy.
He told her he had to kill their child to
make the people happy.
Then a sergeant was sent to take the
child from her, and she did not resist
this, because it was the marquis’ wish.
The marquis was secretly pleased that
she remained loyal after this test.
He then gave his sister the child and
told to keep her background a secret
from everyone.
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Four years later Griselda gave birth to a boy.
This made everyone very happy. However, the
marquis wanted to test her again.
He did the same thing as before (‘ said he had to kill
his child’).
The sergeant came again, took the baby, gave it to the
marquis’ sister, with the same instructions as before.
Years later the marquis prepared to fake his divorce
with Griselda. He also ordered his sister to return his
children, and to tell his daughter she was to marry
the marquis of Saluzzo (him).
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The Marquis then went to Griselda
to test her again, and told her that
his people were forcing him to take
another wife, and that the Pope
himself consented to such a course
of action.
Therefore, he asked her to vacate
her place and to go back to her
father’s house. In other words, he
divorced her.
Griselda complied, wishing he and
his new wife prosperity and
happiness.
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Not yet satisfied, the marquis tried to
test Griselda’s faithfulness still further.
Before his “bride” came, he sent for
Griselda, and asked her to prepare
everything for his coming wedding.
The next day, his daughter and son
arrived, and Griselda cheerfully
received the guests and the woman she
thought was the marquis’ new wife.
The marquis, seeing that Griselda has
remained steadfast and constant
through all these trials and tests,
revealed all to her.
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Griselda and the marquis lived for many
prosperous years at peace after this.
Their daughter was married regally to a
fine lord in Italy.
His son succeeded him after he died, and
he was fortunate in many things, including
marriage.
The student ends this tale by talking about
how Griselda is a model to all wives, and
how all women should be like Griselda in
humility. He says all women should show
the same steadfastness that Griselda did
when faced with adversity.
Foreshadowing another literary device that appears in
the Students tale. Foreshadowing is when the author
alludes to a future event that will occur.
 “… on her behavior often he’d reflect”
(line 238). This quote demonstrates foreshadowing,
because it foreshadows that the marquis will be
prone to question and reflect on Griselda’s behavior,
which he does. This is what made him test Griselda.
 “Would you agree to all by me desired, and that,
when I think best, I freely may cause pain or pleasure
as may be required and you would not begrudge it
night or day?” (lines 351-354). This quote
foreshadows that the marquis would cause Griselda
to suffer pain and hardship.
Dramatic irony is when the reader or the audience knows
something the characters do not know. These are examples.
1.
“…and ask that she herself might undertake To raise the
child, and nobly, for his sake; And also that whose child it
was she hide From everyone, no matter what betide
(Chaucer 592-595).” This is an example of dramatic irony,
because the audience knows from this what has really
become of Griselda’s daughter, while Griselda doesn’t.
2.
“He gave her for his answer not a word. He left as if not
caring for one limb, but to Bologna gently carried him
(Chaucer line 684-686).”This quote is another example of
dramatic irony, because it reveals to the audience that
Griselda’s son has not been killed or harmed by the
sergeant, while Griselda thinks her to be dead, and does
not know this.
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I found this tale enjoyable, and liked reading it for
several reasons. One of these was the fact that the
entire story was meant to illustrate a moral point, that
all women should act like Griselda when faced with
adversity. Also, the story was entertaining because it
constantly kept the reader in suspense as to what
would happen to Griselda, and whether the marquis’
actions would bring about his downfall. (Alaric)
Personally I thought the poem was good. There were
many parts of the poem that I did not agree with, but
it was not terrible. I believe that the morale of the
story was easy to understand. I also liked how the
poem met its requirement of not being too sad or too
boring. Overall I thought this was an interesting
poem. (Hashir)