In The Clerk’s Tale, by Chaucer and Boccaccio’s Decameron, there are striking similarities. These two tales twist the story of the abused and “patient” Griselda, a woman who would do anything for her cruel husband. Even though they are strikingly similar, there are large differences in the texts. The two major differences in Chaucer and Boccaccio’s text are the way Chaucer uses the form of the frame narrative to insert his own opinions and ideals onto the reader, and the representation of religion
And sklendre wyves, fieble as in bataille, Beth egre as is a tygre yond in Ynde, 1200 Ay clappeth as a mille, I yow consaille. (The Clerks Tale 1195-1200) While the narrator is trying to convince women to submit to their husbands and behave like Griselda, the Clerk is telling a cautionary tale. He is trying to convince them that they should stay strong and not bow before their husbands. He tells the strong women to stay strong against their husbands and the slender weaker women to be like tigers
Morality in Middle English Breton lays Medieval culture and romance display dualities through paradigms such as those of the sinner or the saint, the virgin or the mistress and the protector or defiler of women. Middle English Breton lays often exploit those paradigms and create one dimensional characters out of them in order to study their function in the plot. While a complex inner world does not prevail in these lays, there are various elements one should take into account in order to draw the