As someone who was raised as the typical American child, I grew up hearing things like "you can be anything you want to be." So naturally, the idea of social hierarchy has always seemed strange to me. But in reality, when we stop kidding ourselves, our social structure isn't that different from the Middle Ages. We have people who are poor, people who are rich, and some who are somewhere in between. Most people born poor will die poor, and so on. But like society in the Middle ages, our society's lines are often blurred. Chaucer is still entertaining to us today because we understand that people aren't always who we expect them to be. For example, most of us have known someone who seemed, on the outside, to be noble and giving, but was actually selfish, much like the fryer. We also know or hear of people who twist scripture to justify sin, like the wife of bath. Chaucer reminds us that while trends, jobs, and titles change, people at their core remain the same.
Commented on Emily's "Be a true "fill in the blank.""
It is really interesting how humans throughout the ages have in many ways have stayed the same. However, I think that society has evolved greatly. People that use to never have a chance at life have more of an ability to change their social status. Peasants back in the day really had no chance or ability to move up in the world. In today's society it is highly possible for those who are born into a poor family to move up to a higher social status. It is also highly likely for the rich to fall. I do agree with you though that people still remain as unpredictable as they probably did in the Middle ages, at least according to Chaucer.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely! Humans have not changed too much. We do still seem to have that hierarchy even though we live in a nation of equality. I thought it was really interesting how Chaucer brought all of these people together. Due to the hierarchy, most of these people never would have commingled if it wasn't for this pilgrimage.
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