Reply #1: I'd dispute both "dull" and "obtuse"... [View All]

[Chan790]

he is however extremely literal in his interpretation of the tale of woe and lost love of the black knight.

It could be viewed as either an ironic trait or Chauncer's sidewards jab at his profession as poets are by nature and necessity figurative and abstract in worldview; making this one a literalist who is not quick on the uptake recasts him as poet/fool...he's clearly the foil of his own narrative; the knight is more in line with the traits one ascribes to poets than the poet is. The poet's literalism highlights that.

Is Chauncer saying one must be a fool to be a poet? Maybe...He is always a wiseass, thought it gets lost in stuffy translations and a difficult English.