"It seems to me accordant with reason
To inform you of the state of every one
Of all of these, as it appeared to me,
And who they were, and what was their degree" (LN. 37~40;Canterbury Tales)
This reading has proven to me how bad I am at discerning a sarcastic writing style. I notice it often enough to know that it is being employed, yet I have to read and reread the text to determine the authors feelings about certain characters. For instance, it seems like he really likes the saucy nun and the scandalous wife of bath, which perplexes me. As the narrator states, his goal is impartiality, to explain the degree and state of every person. In doing so, this text has challenged me to seek deeper the truths of character and not just take people at face value. He is denouncing the practice of taking people at their word or heaven forbid by their job title.Which I fear we are just as guilty of now as they were in the middle ages.
P.S. I commented on Caleb's.
I think we might even be more guilty of it today, especially when it comes to the discernment of rumors. It shows that people don't ever really change.
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