William Chaucer s The Cock And The Fox - 910 Words

Before the written language, stories were passed down through generations by oral communication. This often led to variations in similar fables that many authors would then write out. Robert Henryson, the successor to Geoffrey Chaucer, wrote a comparable version of Chaucer’s The Nun’s Priest’s Tale called The Cock and The Fox. Although there are vast comparisons such as elaborate language, bestiary, and similar character development, each tale uses a different main action, has separate social aspects, and has variations to redirect towards the moral. Robert Henryson’s work is often compared to Geoffrey Chaucer’s and while he did not encounter the same fame, he does mirror Chaucer’s characteristics. Parallels between The Nun’s Priest’s Tale and The Cock and The Fox include style, themes, and character development. These tales are told in mock-heroic, which takes a trivial event and elevates it into something of greater importance . It treats a trivial event as if it were inspirational. Chaucer uses elevated language to describe a fox catching a rooster in a barnyard a far cry from the classic epics. When the fox, runs off with Chaunticleer in his jaws, the chase that ensues involves every creature in the barnyard, and the entire scene is narrated in the elevated language found in the great epics where language was used to enhance the deeds of epic heroes. The twist on a classical tragic style gives room for comedic and dramatic passages such as the near death scenes from each