The Discourse of Marriage in the French Fabliaux and Chaucer’s Shipman’s Tale

Description

Fabliaux are short comic tales in verse that appeared in twelfth century Northern France. Most often anonymous, they circulated orally before they were compiled in manuscripts. The fabliaux were no longer written in fourteenth century France, but Chaucer used the form in the Canterbury Tales . The fabliaux, situated mostly in the towns of Northern France, Picardy and Flanders where the economic expansion of the twelfth century started, portray the lives of merchants, craftsmen, and rich peasants, members of the emerging bourgeoisie. During this time, the definition of a Christian marriage based on consent, affection, and indissolubility was finalized. The fabliaux address the concerns, anxieties, and identity development of this emerging group of people, as they adapt to a new economy as well as a different understanding of marriage. Studying the fabliaux in the context of their production and applying concepts from conflict and relationship equality theories, makes it possible to evaluate the quality of the fabliaux marriages in the context of the new discourse of the church. The romances of Chrétien de Troyes ( Cligès, Yvain and Erec et Enide) and the Lais of Marie France, especially Le Frêne , show how the aristocracy is adapting to the new emphasis on consent and affection. Similarly, the fabliaux offer the emerging bourgeoisie possibilities to rethink marital relationships in the context of the market economy by depicting these unions as exchanges whose ultimate goal is the satisfaction of both parties. This understanding of the fabliau is reinforced in Chaucer’s Shipman’s Tale, which, using the same form, imagines the internalizing of the mercantile ethos in marital relationships. The texts analyzed here contrast two kinds of fabliaux marriages: the successful partnerships based on consent and affection where the characters learn to accommodate each other’s needs versus the ones where one spouse is always dissatisfied. While the marriages based on consent and affection achieve equity, the characters enact traditional roles for husbands and wives. Going further, the Shipman’s Tale offers the possibility for equality in marriage as the wife manipulates her husband into agreeing to her terms for repayment of a debt. The merchant and his wife’s relationship exemplifies a marital partnership framed by the new understanding of marriage and the values of the market economy, providing a model for the emerging bourgeoisie.