The Clerks Tale

To me, this spiece was intriguing. It starts to break away from the medevial romance characterstics as Walter marries down, a poor woman instead of a nobel woman. Also, he tests her and her love for him instead of the man completeing tasks to win the woman's love. This love is also real, not a platonic relationship which is like Marie de France's work. She avoided the platonic relationship and most of her lais ended with the lovers ending up together, and in this piece, after the truth comes out, the family stay together happily. Walter was beyond controlling and demanding of his wife in the beginning, which I really did not like. But, as I read on through the story and realized his reasoning of testing his wife's love for him, it made more sense. Walter was the lord who was looking for a wife because his people insisted that he get married before he died and there was no heir. Just from this, we can see how it would be trouble. He insisted that he would get married as long as they left it up to him to pick the lovely woman he would marry. He sure enough found his love and in the beginning it was all great. Griselda, a beautiful woman in a poor household, agrees immediately. Walter has her dressed in beautiful clothing, people will never notice the poor household that she came from. They begin to love each other more and more. Later, as the story continues, this changes. Walter begins to treat his lady with such disgust. He demanded that his daughter be taken away from her by an officer and brough back to him. When the officer brought his daughter to him, he decided to have the officer brought to Walter's sister in another town. He would keep her there and have his sister raise his daughter. But, this is not what his wife thought. She thought he was taking her away to kill her and she would never see her again.

Walter was trying to test his wifes love and trust for him. And he wasn't done yet. He convinced her that he had a new wife that he was going to get married to. He sent her back home to her fathers home, where she grew up. Not long after she was there, he asked her to return to help set up for the wedding, since she knew exactly what he loved. The lord says to his wife, "Griseld, he said, by God Who died for us, you are my wife, nor have I another, nor ever had, so God save my soul! This is your daughter whome you supposed to be my wife; the other, in faith, shall be my heir, as I have always intended." Griselda was beyond relieved and happy. She grabbed both her children and hugged and kissed them until she fell to the ground.