Literary Devices in The Canterbury Tales: the Man of Law's Tale
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
"The Man of Law's Tale" is wide-ranging and epic in the scope of its setting, with its heroine traveling all over the known world over the course of the story.Well, the world as it was known back t...
Narrator Point of View
The Man of Law is one of Chaucer's most present narrators. What do we mean by that? Well, the lawyer rarely misses an opportunity to comment on the action. He's all up in this story.When Custance m...
Genre
If the Sultan and the Emperor of Rome had gotten their way, the "Man of Law's Tale" would be a family drama or a romance. It would be a story in which a beautiful girl marries a worthy man, starts...
Tone
The narrator of "The Man of Law's Tale" really loves to spin a yarn. And to do so, he relies on his fair share of exaggeration. Accordingly, Custance is not just beautiful and virtuous; she's the m...
Writing Style
Iambic pentameter is a type of poetic meter. And, to make matters a bit simpler, all of the Canterbury Tales are in iambic pentameter. Four tales, the Clerk's, Second Nun's, Prioress's, and Man of...
What's Up With the Title?
The narrator of "The Man of Law's Tale" is definitely a medieval lawyer. How do we know? Let's see...All the fancy shmancy language he uses could've come straight from the legal manuals of the day....
What's Up With the Ending?
Prepare yourselves for a bummer, Shmoopers.The narrator warns us not to get too excited near the end of "The Man of Law's Tale," when Custance returns to Northumberland with King Alla. For, "Who ly...
Tough-o-Meter
We won't lie, this one is pretty tough. Chaucer's use of the Rime Royal stanza, which has a more complicated end rhyme scheme than rhyming couplets, means that he sometimes has to twist his sentenc...
Plot Analysis
Initial Situation This initial situation contains lots of potential for conflict. The Sultan and Custance have never met one another in person, and they come from totally different cultures. And ye...
Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis
Custance receives a proposal of marriage from a Syrian Sultan, which her father decides to accept upon the Sultan's promise to convert to Christianity. Never mind that Custance has never been to Sy...
Three-Act Plot Analysis
Custance goes to Babylon to marry the Sultan, but finds herself cast out to sea in a rudderless boat by his scheming mother-in-law. Hey, stuff happens.Washed up on the shores of Northumberland, Cus...
Trivia
The Prologue of the Man of Law's Tale is a paraphrase of a papal bull (proclamation) by the 12th century Pope Innocent III denouncing poverty and the excess accumulation of wealth. The more you kno...
Steaminess Rating
The sex in "The Man of Law's Tale" happens off-stage, but it does happen, and it's the focus of some attention. Perhaps sensing a disconnect between Custance's preferences as a chaste, pious girl a...
Allusions
Lucan, Pharsalia, Entry of Julius Caesar (401)Life of Saint Mary of Egypt (500)Daniel (473)Jonas (486)Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes (502)David (935)Judith (939)Semiramis, Queen of Babylon (359)P...