Fabliau plotting against romance in Chaucer's 'The Knight's Tale.' - Geoffrey Chaucer

Style, Fall, 1997 by Scott Vaszily

Pearcy discovers six distinct story structures in the sample of fabliaux he analyzes (367, 369):

1. [Mathematical Expression Omitted]

2. [Mathematical Expression Omitted]

3. [Mathematical Expression Omitted]

4. [Mathematical Expression Omitted]

5. [Mathematical Expression Omitted]

6. [Mathematical Expression Omitted]

("S[center dot]" means "Sender interprets the message as indicating that...," "SR[center dot]" means "Both Sender and Receiver interpret the message as indicating that . . ." and so on.)

Notice that every structure but (6) ends with an evident discovery, or anagnorisis; that is, the agent (or, in the case of [5], combination of agents) that has been ignorant of the message's ambiguity comes to recognize that ambiguity. (6) is the formula of fabliaux in which both the Sender and the Receiver recognize the ambiguity of their message, which they interpret in a way favorable to themselves, but unfavorable to society at large; society gives the message the reverse interpretation. In this case, according to Pearcy, "it is the audience, as tacit supporters of the conventional moral and social standards of behavior, who experience anagnorisis in witnessing those standards circumvented and mocked" (371).

To demonstrate the notation, I will apply it to the Summoner's Tale, one of Chaucer's simpler fabliaux. The ambiguous message in the main episode is Thomas's promise to Friar John to give him "somwhat" if the Friar will agree to share it equally with the other members of his convent (2129-36). Thomas, the Sender, recognizes his message's ambiguity ("S[center dot] x[element of]K([A B][less than]K)"). The Friar, the Receiver, interprets the message as referring to some item whose exchange will favor him, but not the Sender ("R[center dot]x[element of] B(s[left arrow]-r)"). Thomas chooses to interpret the "somwhat" as a fart, an item whose exchange will benefit him in that it will allow him to humiliate the Friar, who has been taking advantage of him, but will not benefit the Friar ("S[center dot]x[element of]Z(s[right arrow]r)"). Finally, there is an anagnorisis: Friar John comes to recognize the ambiguity of the original message ("R[center dot]x[element of]K([A B][less than]K)"). Here is the entire story structure of the tale's main episode in Pearcy's notation:

[Mathematical Expression Omitted]

This is a type I fabliau structure; one old French fabliau with this structure that Pearcy discusses is "La vescie a pretre," in which a dying priest bequeaths to a house of Jacobin friars "'something for which he would not accept a thousand marks,'" which turns out to be his bladder (Pearcy 363).

Before this main fabliau episode of the tale, Friar John scolds Thomas for dividing his contributions among several convents: "What is a ferthyng worth parted in twelve? / Lo, ech thyng that is oned in himselve / Is moore strong than whan it is toscatered" (1967-69). Thomas, the Receiver at this point, evidently recognizes the ambiguity of "ferthying"; his later fart is thus an interpretation of an ambiguous message the Friar has unknowingly sent, as well as an interpretation of Thomas's own promise of "somwhat." Here is the structure of this episode: