Modern Approaches to the Canterbury Tales
EXOTICISM & ORIENTALISM
Introduction of Topic
The Squire’s Tale contains many different story lines, all of which are fairly inconclusive and difficult to follow. However, this allows for many different perspectives and themes to emerge. The Squire is a youthful, aspiring knight who lacks maturity and experience, and the effect this has on his tale is an incoherent plot structure with a limited world-view. In understanding the exoticism in the tale with this knowledge of his character, the Squire’s Tale maintains a very European understanding of the East. Ultimately, the Squire fails to develop an Eastern world accurately, and his portrayal is founded in exoticizing people he considers “others.”
Use of Historical Events
In opening his tale with an historical event, the Squire asserts his knowledge of the histories of an exotic land.
The Squire states, “At Sarray, in the land of Tartarye, / Ther dwelte a kyng that werreyed Russye, / Thurgh which ther dyde many a doughty man.” [1]
In using these known historical occurrences, it sets a precedent for an engagement with known events and figures. The purpose of this immediate engagement with a foreign world sets the stage for the tale, yet this assumed knowledge of foreign lands ultimately ends in the failure to omit at European perspective.
Historical, Eastern Figures
The perspective of the Squire shines through all aspects of the tale. One of those that has the greatest influence on the defining qualities is the Western perspective of Eastern peoples. Like the Knight’s Tale, which introduces Theseus, a classical, western figure, this tale begins in a similar manner. The Squires states,
“This noble kyng was cleped Cambyuskan, / Which in his tyme was of so greet renoun / That ther was nowher in no regioun / So excellent a lord in alle thyng.” [2]
In establishing Cambyuskan, or Genghis Khan, as a central figure at the beginning of the tale, he adds a sort of historical credibility to the tale. However, the way that he presents Cambyuskan mimics that of a Western king instead of as a “Tartarye” from the East. Despite this difference, the Squire does not portray him negatively. Where other tales, particularly the Man of Law’s Tale, present foreign pagan people in a very negative and racist light, this tale openly accepts these “others,” even if there are too many assumptions about their culture and society. This is due to the overall domestication of the exotic, which is something born out of the Squire’s youth and innocence.[3] The Squire fails to acknowledge their unique ethnic qualities and through this action he shows not only a lack of understanding of the East, but also an attempt to normalize the East.
A Western Knight in an Eastern World
The presence of a knight in this tale seems somewhat peculiar and out of place. In an Eastern setting, the arrival of a knight shows the reach and influence of the West, and it asserts a sort of Western dominance. The Squire describes this moment saying,
“This strange knyght, that cam thus sodeynly. / Al armed, save his heed, ful richely, / Saleweth kyng and queene and lordes alle,”[4] and continues with, “That Gawayn, with his olde curteisye, / Though he were comen ayeyn out of Fairye.” [5]
Bringing up Sir Gawain brings in a chivalric tradition. Chivalry, something often tied to romances, shows the Squire’s attempt to instill a romance as part of his tale. In creating this romantic narrative in this Eastern setting, the Squire also assumes an Eastern acceptance of this Christian or Western value.
In addition, bringing up “olde curteisye” suggests that perhaps in comparison, a “modern courtesy” is a pale comparison to this older code.[6] This offers a comparison to his father, the Knight, who practices this older form of chivalry. While this suggests the Squire wants to aspire to achieve the same chivalric code of his father, his lack of experience and youthfulness ends up sounding more like a critique of this more mature form of romance. More likely, he points out that the old courtesy, the old chivalric code no longer exists, and this shows how the Squire’s idea of romance is founded in a youthful, innocent perspective of the world.
The Taboo of Incest
One of the most out-of-the-ordinary aspects of this tale is the incestuous behavior of Canacee, the tale’s female protagonist. While this element of the tale never fully engages with incest, the very acknowledgement of its potential shows the eroticization of Eastern people and Eastern women in particular. This is an extremely taboo action, and the reason it is a taboo, other than going against natural human behavior, it is a taboo based upon the perspective of Western society. Through this engagement with the sexuality of an Eastern people, the Squire not only assumes erotic taboos are prevalent, but it shows another complication to the romance narrative in his tale.
“And after wol I speke of Cambalo, / That faught in lystes with the brethren two / For Cancee er that he myghte hire wynne. / And ther I lefte I wol ayeyn bigynne.” [7]
Cambalo, Canacee’s brother, shows up toward the very end of the tale attempting to seek an assumed sexual relationship with his sister. This brings into question why the Squire would include this in his tale, especially when he is trying to establish a romantic narrative. The reason his tale is cut off, however, shows the Squire’s desire to maintain a world founded in innocence. If he were to finish this tale with incestuous relations happening between brother and sister, then this vulgar taboo would create a sort of “fallen world.” [8] It would taint the Squire’s otherwise Edenic, innocent world, which is a world that can only exist because of his lack of experience and exposure to the realities of society and culture.
Magical Objects Embellishing the Exotic
The magical gifts brought to Cambyuskaan by the knight reveal yet another way to understand the Squire’s Tale. These gifts include a ring that grants the ring wearer the ability to communicate with birds, a sword that grants a the wielder to cut through any armor and has healing capabilities, and lastly a brass, mechanical horse capable of flying. These objects show that these Easterners are fascinated in knightly objects like the sword and the brass horse, which ultimately shows the western influence on an Eastern perspective of these objects. [9]
These gifts offer a new method of engagement with the tale, and following these gifts throughout the tale allows for a more consistent plot understanding than the romance narrative. [10] If a greater amount of focus and attention was brought to these objects, then the romance within the tale plays a much lesser role. These objects build upon a sense of wonderment, and through the reader’s engagement with these magical elements, they are able to connect both parts of the story, something the romance narrative fails to achieve. [11] This is due, in part, to the lack of seriousness in the tale which avoids more dramatic tale themes involving “marriage, commerce, and class conflict.” [12] The Squire’s lack of maturity and rejection of a strict, chivalrous agenda, which in turn would reject a more serious romance narrative, allows for these more amusing, magical objects to enter the tale.
In addition, these magical objects create a greater amount of distance between the known and the unknown. The Squire shows that this Eastern society buys into magic, which is something that would not occur in a Christian society. [13] While each object’s purpose can be linked to gender, as has been pointed out, the incorporation of these magical objects into the Eastern society also shows the Squire’s belief that the East is not critical of magic or mysticism. Again, this only reveals the Squire’s ignorance of a world he has never visited.
[1] Chaucer, “The Squire’s Tale”. V. 9-11.
[2] Chaucer, “The Squire’s Tale”. V. 12-15.
[3]Fyler, John. “Domesticating the Exotic in the Squire’s Tale.”
[4] Chaucer, “The Squire’s Tale”. V. 89-91
[5] Chaucer, “The Squire’s Tale”. V. 95-96.
[6] Fyler, John. “Domesticating the Exotic in the Squire’s Tale.”
[7] Chaucer, “The Squire’s Tale”. V. 666-669.
[8] Fyler, John. 32.
[9] Kordecki, Lesley. “Chaucer’s Squire’s Tale: Animal Discourse, Women, and Subjectivity.”
[10] Karnes, Michelle. “Wonder, Marvels, and Metaphor in the Squire’s Tale.”
[11] Karnes, Michelle. 474.
[12] Bleeth, Kenneth. “Orientalism and the Critical History of the Squire’s Tale”
[13] Karnes, Michelle. 466.
Works Cited
Bleeth, Kenneth. “Orientalism and the Critical History of the Squire’s Tale.” In Chaucer’s
Cultural Geography. Edited by Kathryn Lynch, 21–31. New York and London: Routledge,
2002.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales, edited by Jill Mann. London: Penguin Books, 2005
Fyler, John. “Domesticating the Exotic in the Squire’s Tale.” In Chaucer’s Cultural Geography. Edited by Kathryn Lynch, 32–56. New York and London: Routledge, 2002.
Karnes, Michelle.2015. “Wonder, Marvels, and Metaphor in the Squire’s Tale.” ELH 82 (2): 461–90. doi:10.1353/elh.2015.0016.
Kordecki, Lesley. 2002. “Chaucer’s Squire’s Tale: Animal Discourse, Women, and Subjectivity.” Chaucer Review 36 (3): 277. doi:10.1353/cr.2002.0004.
