The Clerk's Tale (Canterbury Tales)

What town is the setting of "The Clerk's Tale"?What Italian province is this town located in?

Lombardy and Saluzzo Italy

What two emotional attitudes do the lesser lords and the commune have toward the Marquis of

Saluzzo?

They want him to get married

Why hadn't Walter ever married before? What was "al his thoght" devoted to?

He has never married before because he loves his freedom and not being tied down.

What request do the people of the land make of the young marquis?

To get married. He says he will, but only if he picks his own wife. His lords pick the wedding date.

Why are the people so worried about Walter having no children in lines 136-40?

They don't want his line to end (for there to be no heir).

When Walter agrees to the people's proposal, who does he assert will choose the wife? What

stipulation does he make concerning the way the people will treat her?

He chooses Griselda, who is poor and lives in a village a little whiles away from the castle. He thinks people will look down on him for choosing a wife that is poor and of a lower class.

What is Grisilda's character?

Griselda is a girl that has a beautiful soul and looks beautiful, but she is very poor.

How does Grisilda spend her days each day? What keeps her busy?

Spinning in the field, she watched a few sheep. She would come home make her bed and cook dinner.

Describe the conditions under which Walter first sees Grisilda. What does he resolve to do as

soon as he sees her? When does he tell his plan to Grisilda? When does he reveal his plan to the

common people?

Walter tells Griselda that she must always submit to him. On the day of the wedding, Walter had not revealed to the public the woman he would marry, and the populace wondered whether he might, in fact, not marry at all. Janicula was so astonished, he turned red, and could not speak - but did manage eventually to assent to the marriage.

Why are the common people so upset as the lord begins making wedding arrangements? (Who

or what have they not seen yet?)

They're upset he's marrying someone of a lower class. They don't want to dress Griselda up in fancy clothes because she was not born into being wealthy.

What conditions does Walter place on Grisilda before he marries her? What is she not permitted

to do?

Walter asked her hand in marriage, and asked her to to be ready to do whatever he said, whenever he said it, but never to resent him; if she agreed to this, he said, he would swear to marry her. Griselda swore never to disobey him - and he took her outside to introduce her to his people as his new wife.

When Grisilda hears Walter's demands in lines 358-59, her body language gives away her

emotional state. What is her emotional state?

She trembles with fear and this gives away that she is intimidated by Walter.

What does he want to prove to himself through his tests?

That Griselda is faithful to him.

How does Grisilda react when the sergeant moves to kill her child?

It says that she lay there meek and still like a lamb, and let him do his will. She does ask to kiss her before he kills her

After the sergeant brings the daughter to Walter, what does Walter actually order for the child

(instead of killing the babe?) Where is the child taken?

Walter orders the child to be taken to his sister to live there instead of being killed.

What arrangement does Walter make in Rome? Why does he make the arrangement for these

counterfeit papal bulls?

Organizing the court of Rome to send a counterfeit papal bull which ordered Walter to divorce Griselda and take another wife. Upon hearing this, Griselda remained steadfast.

What request does Griselda make concerning the body of her daughter?

To bury her where no one and nothing will find her body.

What two things does Griselda give back to Walter before she leaves his household?

She only asks that she not be sent naked from the palace, but will be given the simple smock, just the like the ones she used to wear in poverty, to wear to spare her from suffering the indignity of returning home completely unclothed. Walter granted this request, and in, stripping herself of all of her riches, Griselda returned home to her father in her poor clothes once more.

What cruel "job offer" (if we can call a ruler's command a job offer!) does Walter make of

Griselda when the day of his "second wedding" rolls around?

Walter sent a message to Griselda that he would be married soon and wished for Griselda to plan the ceremony; patiently, Griselda agreed and began to make the arrangements.

What does the clerk say the moral of Petrarch's story is?

It's not told so that wives should follow Griselda's example in humility; it is impossible that they would. But, Every person should try to be constant in adversity and in the face of God, like Griselda was to Walter: this is why Petrarch wrote the story.