The Clerk's Tale is an indirect response to the Wife of Bath who .
stated that women desire complete sovereignty over their .
husbands and lovers. The Clerk puts forth a diametrically .
opposite view and draws the sketch of a totally submissive .
woman. .
Chaucer's source for the Clerk's tale is Petrarch's "Fable of .
Obedience and Wifely Faith" written in Latin that was in turn .
derived from Boccaccio's "Decameron". Chaucer closely follows .
Petrarch's text. Chaucer makes the Clerk candidly acknowledge .
that his tale is derived from "Frauncey's Petrak". .
The Clerk's Tale is suited to his character as a serious student. .
His tale too has a scholarly theme and deals with the issue of .
genuine obedience and loyalty in a wife. Griselda's story upholds .
faith in goodness even in times of adversity. It is definitely a .
moral tale and the Clerk relates it with all seriousness and .
economy of words. .
The Host's warning to the Clerk to keep his language simple and .
to tell an entertaining and adventurous tale were not needed. The .
tale proves that the Clerk was not an ossified academic. However .
the Clerk does not relate an adventurous tale and does make use .
of rhetoric and figures of speech. When the Clerk concludes his .
tale the Host commends him for relating his story in a sweet and .
wholesome manner. .
Chaucer has invested, the folk tale Petrarchan version of the .
patient Griselda's story, with an amazing degree of realism. .
Griselda comes across as a real life human character. Her .
sincerity to her husband and affection for her children seem .
realistic. Her pathos is heart rending and earns the reader's .
compassion. .
Griselda's story of long suffering may be unappealing to modern .
readers. But it is important to interpret the tale in the context of .
the fourteenth century. Griselda was simply acting in accordance .
with her roles as a loyal wife and a subject of the marquis. She .
was fulfilling her moral obligations. .
One could perhaps interpret the tale as a homily on Christian .