Chaucer, Fairytales, And The Culture Of Retelling

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CHAUCER, FAIRYTALES, AND THE CULTURE OF RETELLING

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Chaucer, Fairytales, and the Culture of Retelling

Fiction, even in its most sophisticated forms, requires the ability to tell a story that people

care about; one that will stick and be remembered long after it has been told. Each culture and

time period has its canon of classic stories, and in some cases these stories have lived on

throughout the centuries, crossing oceans and genres and remaining relevant in the minds of all

who hear them. For a writer like Geoffrey Chaucer adapting classic stories and already written

characters was not plagiarism, but a way to make a story live on. His famous collection of

stories, The Canterbury Tales, borrows characters and plots from other works of the medieval

era, but adds vitality unique to only Chaucer himself.

In today’s media world the tradition of retelling lives on. Ancient mythology and classic

fairytales are made into bestselling twist series and blockbuster hits. Even our modern classics

are twisted and retold by scores of fans determined to make their favorite characters live on.

Perhaps Chaucer recognized what many current authors and writers do – that stories live on as

long as they are told. Re-telling and re-imagining updates old classics to appeal to the moral,

social, and entertainment standards of the time. Chaucer gave his humor and social

understanding to every character he borrowed. Our culture has a similar continuing stream of

stories that are brought back to life over and over again to retain their social relevance. Scholars

and writers alike have studied this evolution of storytelling, where it originates from, and where

it will take future writing.

In the time of Chaucer it was not uncommon for stories to be “borrowed” by multiple

authors. Books were an expensive investment, and often only a few were owned by only the

wealthy. Verbal storytelling was a cheaper and more convenient way to entertain. For this reason

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stories not only tended to rhyme, but characters took on a life beyond that which their initial

creators gave them. The roots of retelling begin in the tradition of carrying on the hero, not

necessarily the specific details of the original story. This idea of separating character from author

creates a feeling of immortality- turning an idea into almost a mythical being. A prime example

of Chaucer’s character reinterpretations is Troilus and Criseyde, a tale he accredits to a writer

named Lollius. “Chaucer takes quite particular pains to convey the impression that his Troilus,

from beginning to end, is faithful translation from the Latin work of Lollius.”

While details on

the origin and existence of Lollius may be hazy, it is clear that these two characters and their

bizarre tale transcended beyond even Chaucer’s writing, and were later used by Shakespeare

himself.

It was typical of Chaucer’s style to add a sense of humor to even the bleakest stories. His

particular brand of satire implores readers to look beyond the severity of the text and into the

strange and often silly complexity of human nature itself. Chaucer makes light of the lengths that

those of his time and humanity in general, are willing to go to achieve their goals. It is likely that

his retelling of Troilus and Criseyde was written to show the bizarre and exaggerated nature of

the characters, and thus make them less tragic and more examples of human ridiculousness. This

sort of retelling could have been a way for Chaucer to offer his own personal commentary on the

Greek tragedies and add real humor where in the past it was only implied. He had a masterful

knack for satirical jokes, one that could inspire a laugh out of the most twisted tales. It is unlikely

that Chaucer truly left Lollius’ work as only a translation, and instead added his own charm to

the wording of the story to create the effect he desired.

Kittredge, George Lyman. Chaucer's Lollius. Vol. 28. Harvard University Press, 1917. VIA: Pratt, Robert

Armstrong. "A Note on Chaucer's Lollius." Modern Language Notes (1950): 183-187.

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This talent is even farther exemplified in his Canterbury Tales, a series of stories in

which Chaucer calls into question nearly all of the story telling and cultural norms of the

Medieval era. In the Prioress’s tale, Chaucer addressed the grim world of anti-Semitic religious

tales. The story itself is tragic and riddled with anti-Jewish sentiment. This stereotyping

viewpoint makes dangerous accusations against an entire religious body, but not without

Chaucer’s own lens. It is a tale of murder that rewrites popular texts of the time such as the Life

of William of Norwich, and other tales of Jewish ritual murder. It seems that Chaucer finds a way

to show just how foolish and uncomfortable this kind of story was through his choice of narrator:

the pretty young prioress.

In a sense, Chaucer is taking the norms of this kind of story and retelling them through an

unbelievable mouth piece. To look at the description of the Prioress (“She was so full of pity and

charity, that she’d cry for a mouse that she might see caught in a trap, if it bled or was dead”

)

and imagine her telling a tale of murder and human sacrifice gives the feeling that this situation

is perhaps as vulgar as seeing a little girl curse. The story does not seem right coming from her

mouth, and if she is a golden and upstanding Christian, it is likely that Chaucer is using this

particular narrator for the effect of showing how strange it is for good and “righteous” people to

be telling such dangerous and twisted tales. In fact, when writers have pondered over how to

properly readapt Chaucer’s tales for children, the sheer strangeness of the prioress’s tale is

consistently called into question “Is it legitimate to retell, say, Chaucer’s “Prioress’s Tale” with

its strong and almost bizarre anti-Semitism, for a child audience? If the bloody violence is

removed, and the anti-Semitism is removed… then what is left of the story? And what is left of

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales, general prologue lines 143 to 145

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the way that Chaucer is using that story to characterize the prioress?”

The story is

uncomfortable and simply does not fit – and like any good storyteller, it seems that this is exactly

what Chaucer wanted.

Chaucer uses the Canterbury Tales as a mirror to the medieval literary world which

seems riddled by now classic tropes and stereotypes. His retelling finesse comes into play

through his choice of narrator (like the prioress), or his odd approach to the story itself (such as

the rapist also playing the hero in The Wife of Bath’s Tale). He adds a quirky nature that mocks

the audience, but also invites them to mock themselves. Through Chaucer’s warped mirror, the

society of the medieval era was invited to look in on themselves and their nature and see it for

the strangeness it was. The mark of a good storyteller is one that can tell the tale in a way that

makes the reader rethink and reevaluate its original meaning, something that writers are still

experimenting with today.

Storytelling has the ability to communicate ideals and morals in a non-accusatory way

across generations. Beyond the entertainment value, underlying ideologies of the time period

give structure to plot and character motives. For the past century, classic fairytales are an area

where the borrowing and retelling of popular heroes/ heroines is very much utilized. Often,

writers turn to the classic tales of The Brothers Grimm (written roughly between 1810 and 1860).

The Grimm’s were masters of retelling themselves, as their well-known collection is simply

recordings of word of mouth legends that they traveled across Germany to find. Today, these

characters and plotlines are used over and over again in nearly every form of entertainment. In

Schmidt, Gary D. "Adapting the Arthurian Legends for Children: Essays on Arthurian Juvenilia, and:

Chaucer as Children's Literature: Retellings from the Victorian and Edwardian Eras (review)." The Lion

and the Unicorn 29, no. 2 (2005): 276-280.

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the past decade alone there have been over a dozen versions of the now seemingly immortal

Snow White, from ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” to “Snow White and the Huntsman”. This

phenomenon seems to have begun with Walt Disney’s popular animated retellings in the 1930’s,

which have become the most generally told and accepted versions of these tales. However,

looking into the recorded writings of the brothers Grimm, show that certain chapters of their

recordings eerily similar – as though some of the earliest recorded fairytales were simply

different versions of the same story. The characters they recorded were never accredited to

specific authors, and in the case of a character like Cinderella, it seemed that the brothers

recorded several versions of the same story each with its own slight changes

But why do we update these stories? Author Adam Gidwitz stated “Fairy tales endure

because they speak to our deep needs and deep fears. When the world feels disenchanted, we

want to go to a place of enchantment. Watching a TV show about fairy tales or reading a book

about fairy tales is like that”

In the case of Walt Disney, the purpose of updating fairytales was

first to introduce the idea of a feature length animated movie while using a character that would

already be well known to the audience. It was a chance for people who had grown up with

versions of Snow White to see a moving, speaking version of their favorite princess as well as

become exposed to the idea of the story stretching beyond the boundaries of the original tale.

Each popular fairytale already has an audience, and that audience is immediately tapped into

when a writer or director chooses to reuse the story. An alternate motive for Disney’s seeming

Cinderella is the most well-known, however upon reading the complete brothers Grimm collection there were

several stories of a girl enslaved by her stepmother and two stepsisters who uses magic to meet a prince and

becomes queen. (One Eyes, Two Eyes, Three Eyes)

From an interview with USA Today’s Carol Memmott

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favoritism of fairy tale retellings is to create a popular version of each story that is family

friendly, memorable, and devoid of the usual darkness that flows through these tales.

Beginning in the late 1980’s/ early 90’s we begin to see the genre of “postmodern fairy

tales” taking root. “As the fairy tale is recycled in the late twentieth and early twenty first

century, many of the traditional stories are adapted to our current literary models.”

This suggests

that as society pushed towards a new century, there was a need for a social revamp of old stories.

We now begin to see fewer damsels in distress and more free agent female heroines, while

simultaneously exploring the faults of male heroes and focusing less on one specific trait (i.e.

strength or cleverness) and more on their humanity. These ideas were not forged simply for the

sake of reversing typical character roles, as much as adding the necessary humanity to both male

and female characters to allow the modern audience to engage with the stories on a more

personal level. It hints that perhaps todays viewing and reading audience do not want to look up

to pedestals of heroes, but instead want to feel a personal connection to the people we read about.

We want to feel that they are at, if not close, to our level. In a sense these retellings are like

Chaucer’s mirror, we long to see our own strengths and weaknesses reflected through fiction.

The same is true for what readers seem willing to believe today. Suspension of disbelief

has very clear limits, and even the most fantastic of tales must somehow be grounded in human

emotion or scientific reasoning. “Many authors who reinterpret fairy tales in contemporary

retellings consciously depart from this magical thought and confront well known fairy tale

In the Grimm’s Snow White (Barnes and Noble Classic Edition), she is an 8 year old and by the end of the tale

marries a grown man. Another equally unsettling example is in the original Cinderella, Cinderella’s stepsisters cut

off pieces of their feet to fit the slippers. In a 1930’s context, these were not appropriate children’s tales

Joosen, Vanessa. "Disenchanting the Fairy Tale: Retellings of" Snow White" between Magic and

Realism." Marvels & Tales 21, no. 2 (2007): 228-239.

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material with a more realistic setting.”

It seems that we are now incapable of accepting the fact

that a magical being will show up on Cinderella’s front step and offer her a chance at a better life

simply out of the goodness of her heart. We want to know why, how, and what is the impending

catch. We are a skeptical generation – unwilling to believe in pure good or pure evil but

essentially obsessed with the shades of grey in between. This has become clear in the way

writers have begun creating new characters and reinventing the old. Our stories, no matter how

fantasy based, now have to have something realistic, some sort of logical handle that we can

grasp onto if we are expected to go along for the ride. We can believe in magic if the emotional

and social dynamics of the characters are similar to our own, and we can believe in a completely

bizarre plotline as long as it is grounded in some sort of seemingly logical scientific theory.

In other cases, retellings are used to confront readers with a new concept in a familiar

setting, or enforce outside ideas through an already beloved mouthpiece. Author Regina

Doman’s Black as Night retells Snow White with several clear twists. The story is rooted not in

magic but in science, and was clearly written to portray a moral message more so than entertain

her audience. It is a narrative against pulling the plug on “vegetable” coma patients, and uses

fiction to present the act of “plug pulling” as the evil the hero must defeat. “All magical

elements are given a scientific explanation. Blanche, the “Snow White” figure, lapses into a

coma after eating a poisoned slice of apple strudel. .. Luckily for Blanche, her prince shows up

before anyone pulls the plug.”

Complete with seven friars in the place of dwarves, this

religiously laced fairytale offers readers a chance to considered the supposed horrors of taking a

See footnote 7

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patient off of life support and disguises this lesson in the well-tailored vessel of a familiar story

line.

Retellings like this are grounded in the idea that morals can be passed on from teller to

listener easier when the character is familiar and beloved. In 1940’s war time, popular superhero

comic books such as Captain America and Superman encouraged children to gather paper and

scrap metal for the war effort

. Ideas coming from trusted fictional characters feel safe and

trustworthy. They feel to readers less like an alien concept being forced upon them, and more

like advice from a friend. The same goes for updating characters into modern times. Using a

well-known name will already create public interest around a new novel or movie, like Snow

White, however retelling the story in a different way can allow for the teller to add a different set

of values, humor, gore, or entertainment that they see fit.

While Chaucer may not have been directly toying with the moral side of his society, there

is another retelling motive that hits a little bit closer to some of his tales: sexualization. A key

example of sexualized retellings can be found in the work of author Anne Rice who famously

has written an erotica series based on the tale of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Beauty’s

Punishment, and Beauty’s Release). These novels took the cleaned up 1950’s housewife inspired

image of Sleeping Beauty that Disney presented and threw it out the window. They are novels

riddled with risky sexual behavior and set in a medieval fantasy world. This sort of retelling is an

interesting phenomenon. Chaucer seems to have used sex as an almost humorous trait of his

Characters. His famed Wife of Bath seems to be most engaged with questions of the usage of sex

and female sexuality. Whether or not she was a character ahead of her time, or Chaucer’s

From the History Channel Documentary “Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked” directed by Steve Kroopnick.

2003

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charming caricature of a borderline harlot, remains to be seen, however it is clear that sex (for

humor or otherwise) adds another level of entertainment to Chaucer’s stories. It seems that even

then what was sexy was scandalous, and scandal creates interest.

Sex works in similar ways in modern storytelling. One of the key ideas in Hollywood is

“sex sells”. While in some cases adding sexual exploits is simply a money grab, in others it can

add a level of depth to classic characters that the reader would not have otherwise seen. Rice’s

novels may be very blatant in the sexuality of her retellings, however in other mediums and

stories it comes up in other ways that have either impressed or alienated audiences. Snow White

and the Huntsman (a 2012 film) presents us with an evil queen that enjoys her share of nude

scenes, and 2010’s The Black Swan offers and erotic and homosexual version of The Red Shoes

by Hans Christian Anderson.

Audiences, myself included, have had mixed feelings towards

these two portrayals. Snow White and the Huntsman was meant to be a completely feminist

retelling of the tale, presenting the beloved princess as the “chosen one” trope that is usually

saved for men. In spite of the Queen’s nude scenes and cleavage clad wardrobe, it seems that

both she and Snow White are in control of their sexual identities and the situation.

Even so, I sometimes wonder at the necessity of these scenes, and am often left

pondering what options the writers could have explored to fill the space instead. The Black Swan

on the other hand, certainly earned its R rating. While it may have been a contemporary and

creative reimagining of a less popular tale, some of the scenes between stars Natalie Portman and

Mila Kunis were very clearly included to create interest, and thus make money off of, the

heterosexual male and homosexual female audience. The film included several scenes that

http://flavorwire.com/236868/10-twisted-fairy-tales-on-film/5

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bordered on pornographic, and certainly did not add to the character or plot development of the

story. In some cases the choice to add sex to classic stories is simply creative expression, and

when done correctly can give added complexity to the story. In other cases, it is a ploy for shock

value, to attract viewers, and ultimately make money with little concern for the actual sanctity of

the story itself. From a Hollywood standpoint, it seems that one of the surefire ways to attract

viewers to invest in your version of the story is to add something appalling and scandalous.

Outside of the blatant bikini clad princesses sometimes seen in modern comic book and

television series (Like Vertigo’s Fables, which I love in storytelling, but sometimes cringe at the

way the heroines tend to be drawn), it can sometimes be hard to tell the line between the use of

creative sexual retellings, and sexual retellings that are purely made to make money.

Outside of the realm of sexual retellings, writers recreate old stories with more suspense

and heart than ever before. In the past 30 years we are beginning to see an interest in exploring

the psychology of old characters, especially the villain. This renaissance of villains poses

important questions to readers about the way we view and stereotype those around us. One of the

most successful retelling authors is Gregory Maguire (author of Wicked, Confessions of an Ugly

Stepsister, and several others). He has taken to rewriting old fantasies from the perspective of the

villain, giving them a motive, backstory, and grounded sense of humanity that readers can relate

to. His most popular novel, Wicked, has even been adapted into a Broadway success that has

been running continuously for over a decade (another prime example of retelling a retelling).

This “through the villain’s lens” genre has spread like wildfire, turning the Wicked Witch of The

West into the beloved Elphaba (a misguided outcast who is only trying to do the right thing),

A decent example of where this can be blurry is Neil Gaiman’s short story Snow, Glass, Apples. I adore Gaiman,

but question if it was necessary for his retelling of Snow White to include a necrophiliac prince and the suggestion

of incest between Snow White and her father.

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Hans Christian Anderson’s Snow Queen into a toy line inspiring Disney character (Elsa, from

2013’s Frozen), and this summer promises to retell Sleeping Beauty from the view of Maleficent,

the evil fairy that curses a baby over a missing party invitation (Disney’s Maleficent to be

released in 2014.)

Chaucer may not have rewritten any famous villains, but he exhibits a clever way of

playing with the readers expectations for certain character stereotypes. The Wife of Bath’s Tale

begins with a rapist, who eventually becomes the hero that the audience is compelled to root for.

Even in his chosen narrators, Chaucer plays with our expectations by giving us a flirtatious

monk, greedy pardoner, and racist prioress. Chaucer seems to have played with typical story

telling in the opposite way of Maguire, turning our expected heroes and moral characters into

dislikable representations of human fault. Even so, both of these kinds of retelling appeal to the

reader/ viewers psychological viewpoint, and ask us whom we truly trust. Is a witch the villain

simply because our original narrator said so, or can the tale told from a different angle prove that

we can never truly know a story until we have heard all sides? On the same token, is a religious

character trustworthy simply because they say they follow God, or can their motives be just as

flawed as the common man because of their own tendency to fall prey to human imperfection?

This sort of reimagining rewrites the very core of the character, adding a layer of depth that

keeps the reader on their toes. Even so, times have changed from the days in which Chaucer

wrote, and taking creative liberty with someone else’s story is not always encouraged, regardless

of the compelling layers that new writers can add to preexisting characters.

In our modern literary landscape, questions of authorship are taken much more seriously.

Legal battles over contracts, ownership of characters, titles, publishing, and film rites ensue

consistently. The creative community is far less of a free flowing network of story, and more of a

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structured business. Even so, enthusiastic fans that have fallen in love with their favorite

characters have taken it upon themselves to revitalize their favorite novels and television shows

in a trend known as “fan fiction”. While legal action has never popularly been taken against this

form of writing, fan faces are usually left unpublished and are anonymously shared only in small

online communities. One fan fiction that broke this mold is the current best seller Fifty Shades of

Gray, a retelling of the popular teen series “Twilight” that turns the initially sexless relationship

of a vampire and a human into a sexual sadism tale that toys with idea of an attractively

dangerous partner in a different way. As Fifty Shades would suggest, these fan fictions function

not so much to humorize or continue the adventures of characters, as much as to provide

alternate romantic relationships and sexualize stories that may have previously lacked eroticism.

Modern day classics such as the Harry Potter novels are some of the most utilized books within

this trend; however they are joined by series such as Twilight, The Hunger Games, Game of

Thrones, and television shows as diverse as “Sherlock”

and “Supernatural”

Despite the outpouring of enthusiasm these writers show for the work of their favorite

authors, not all authors are welcoming to the idea of their characters living beyond their written

boundaries. George R.R. Martin, author of the Game of Thrones series, stated “using someone

else’s world is the lazy way out…My characters are my children … I don’t want people making

off with them, thank you. Even people who say they love my children. I’m sure that’s true, I

don’t doubt the sincerity of the affection, but still… ”

. Anne Rice shares this sentiment by

A British Television series starring Benedict Cumberbatch that retells Sherlock Holmes stories in a modern

setting

An American Television series that follows two brothers as they battle monsters, urban legends, and heaven and

hell. Ironically this show also features a plethora of retellings from urban legends to bible stories.

How Authors Feel About Fan Fiction. 2012. http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/68332629.html

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saying “I do not allow fan fiction. The characters are copy righted.”

(Which may be ironic

considering, as I previously discussed, that some of her most famous novels are retellings of an

already created character)? It seems that modern fiction is very much concerned with the

business side of the literary world. Characters do not as easily become immortal characters to be

passed at the will of storytellers, and are instead tied to specific authors and companies, the rites

to which seem to be in a continuing lottery of buying and buying out. While it is certainly

arguable that this stifles creativity in some senses, it can also be said that this sort of character

lock down compels young writers to create their own characters and come up with new material.

Despite the current push for turning characters into franchises and locking them in place

as symbolic cash cows, it seems that the future of retellings is secure. Every year new versions of

old stories are released, changing the context and meaning of each story and offering us new

ways to look at old heroes. Like Chaucer, writers are finding ways to reflect their world through

the funny and the fantastic, and offer entertainment that not only catches the eye, but compels the

mind to look deeper into the world we live in and who we are as a global culture and generation.

I am certain that we will meet hundreds of new Snow Whites in the coming decades, and see the

tragedies of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (which is roughly the plot inspiration for Disney’s Lion King)

and Romeo and Juliet played out over and over again with new faces and different meanings. As

for Chaucer himself, he can certainly take a seat as one of the most famous pioneers of satire and

retelling, and stand as an example of how to get the ills of society to laugh at themselves.

Perhaps in the future we will even meet a modern group of travelers on their way to somewhere

familiar, sharing story after story to amuse their host and win a dinner.

Seen note 15

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Bibliography

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales, general prologue lines 143 to 145

Kittredge, George Lyman. Chaucer's Lollius. Vol. 28. Harvard University Press, 1917. VIA:

Pratt, Robert

Armstrong. "A Note on Chaucer's Lollius." Modern Language Notes (1950): 183-187.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales, general prologue lines 143 to 145

Schmidt, Gary D. "Adapting the Arthurian Legends for Children: Essays on Arthurian Juvenilia,

and:

Chaucer as Children's Literature: Retellings from the Victorian and Edwardian Eras

(review)." The Lion and the Unicorn 29, no. 2 (2005): 276-280.

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