"Anything you want, you got it": that's pretty much how things roll in the world of "The Clerk's Tale," at least if we're talking about loyalty to your lord. As Walter and other characters in the tale seem to define it, loyalty consists not just in obedience to your lord's commands but also in a total submission of your will to your lord.
What your lord wants, you want.
This kind of loyalty is what Walter demands not only from his vassals but also from his wife. Both vassals and wife must show their "love" to their lord (basically, we're talking about loyalty) in absolute obedience. The loyalty Walter's vassals show him extends not only to himself but all the way to his family and bloodline. It is out of this loyalty—not to a person, but to a bloodline—that Walter's vassals request the marriage that sets the plot in motion.
Questions About Loyalty
- How do characters in the "Clerk's Tale" express their loyalty to Walter? What does Walter do for them in return?
- How do Walter and other characters in the tale define loyalty? Is this definition ever criticized in the course of the tale? If so, how and where?
- How do Walter's vassals demonstrate their loyalty not just to him but also to his bloodline?
- Who lacks loyalty in the "Clerk's Tale"? How can you tell? What does this lack of loyalty tell us about these characters' driving concerns and motivations?
Chew on This
The "Clerk's Tale" portrays the loyalty a vassal owes to his lord as essentially the same as the loyalty a wife owes her husband.
The most disloyal character in the "Clerk's Tale" is Walter because of the way he fails to keep the best interests of his wife and vassals at heart.