Beast fable
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| + | All animals are [[equal]], but some animals are more equal than others. --''[[Animal Farm]]'' | ||
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| - | :''[[Medieval literature]]'' | + | The '''beast fable''', usually a short story or poem in which [[animal]]s talk, is a traditional form of [[allegorical]] writing. It is a type of [[fable]], in which human behaviour and weaknesses are subject to scrutiny, by reflection into the animal kingdom. |
| - | '''The Nun's Priest's Tale''' is one of ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'' by the 14th century [[Middle English]] poet [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]. The 625-line tale of '''Chanticleer and the Fox''' is a [[beast fable]] and a [[mock epic]], which may have existed before Chaucer, but was at the very least popularized by him. | + | |
| - | The tale follows the [[The Monk's Tale|monk]]'s depressing accounts of [[despot]]s and fallen heroes and, as well as sharing these themes, the tale also parodies them. It also has ideas in common with earlier tales with the marriage between Chanticleer and Pertelote echoing the domestic lives depicted in tales like [[The Franklin's Tale|Franklin]]'s and [[The Tale of Melibee]]. These different themes help to unify several tales. The "Nun's Priest's Tale" offers a lively story from a previously almost invisible character. | + | Important traditions in beast fables are represented by the ''[[Panchatantra]]'' and ''[[Kalila and Dimna]]'' (Sanskrit and Arabic originals), [[Aesop]] (Greek original), ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'' (''Arabian Nights'') and separate [[trickster]] traditions (West African and Native American). The medieval French ''[[Roman de Reynart]]'' is called a '''beast-epic''', with the recurring figure Reynard the fox, of whom story is built upon story. |
| - | Like many of the tales, the date Chanticleer was written cannot be fixed with any accuracy, although 1392 is a frequently considered date. Professor [[J Leslie Hotson]] of Harvard believed the work to be an [[allegory]] for the murder in 1397 of [[Thomas of Woodstock]] by [[Nicholas Colfox]] on behalf of [[Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk]] and the cause of the subsequent duel between Mowbray and [[Henry Bolingbroke]] (later Henry IV) described by [[Froissart]] in his Chronicles and [[Shakespeare]] in Richard II. This suggests a date after the Parliamentary "outing" of Colfox. Chaucer based his adaptation on ''Del cok e del gupil'', the work of the 12th century French poet [[Marie de France]], and the 13th century French epic ''[[Le Roman de Renart]]''. | + | Beast fables are typically transmitted freely between languages, and often assume pedagogic roles: for example Latin versions of Aesop were standard as elementary textbook material in the European Middle Ages, and the [[Uncle Remus]] stories brought trickster tales into English. |
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| + | A more recent example, in English literature, was [[George Orwell]]'s allegorical novel ''[[Animal Farm]]'', in which various political ideologies were personified as animals, such as the Stalinist Napoleon Pig, and the numerous "sheep" that followed his directions without question. | ||
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All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. --Animal Farm |
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The beast fable, usually a short story or poem in which animals talk, is a traditional form of allegorical writing. It is a type of fable, in which human behaviour and weaknesses are subject to scrutiny, by reflection into the animal kingdom.
Important traditions in beast fables are represented by the Panchatantra and Kalila and Dimna (Sanskrit and Arabic originals), Aesop (Greek original), One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) and separate trickster traditions (West African and Native American). The medieval French Roman de Reynart is called a beast-epic, with the recurring figure Reynard the fox, of whom story is built upon story.
Beast fables are typically transmitted freely between languages, and often assume pedagogic roles: for example Latin versions of Aesop were standard as elementary textbook material in the European Middle Ages, and the Uncle Remus stories brought trickster tales into English.
A more recent example, in English literature, was George Orwell's allegorical novel Animal Farm, in which various political ideologies were personified as animals, such as the Stalinist Napoleon Pig, and the numerous "sheep" that followed his directions without question.
