Book Review Chaucer The Canterbury Tales Sir Topaz

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A superb early self parody, in which Chaucer humbly sends himself up something rotten. Having told the stories of several fellow pilgrims on the road to Canterbury, Chaucer now introduces his own story into the narrative, when he is asked by the host to entertain the tourist-pilgrims with some kind of entertainment. Chaucer claims to be unused to telling such tales (though he was by this time already a well-established author), and plunges into the verse fable of Sir Topaz, a French Knight. With a long, pompous description of man, armour and horse, Chaucer tells us that Sir Topaz has lived an exemplary life of chastity despite many women wishing to love and be loved by him. One day, while hunting in a forest, he decides to find a wife, but he will only settle for an Elven Queen for his bride. He rides to Fairie where he ends up fighting a Giant called preposterously, Sir Elephant, who forces him to leave, throwing stones after him all the way. Sir Topaz relates his sorry tale in the taverns, exaggerating it enough to give the giant three heads (a detail not used earlier). Eventually, he decides on a rematch, and dons even better armour. He is riding to fairie to take on Sir Elephant when the host stops Chaucer in mid-sentence, telling him that he can’t listen to such doggerel and rubbish any longer. He insists that Chaucer tells another story, preferably in prose which he is less likely to go astray with. This leads Chaucer to give the more serious morality tale of Sir Melibee right after this tale ends. I have to say I rather enjoyed Sir Topaz, and I would have liked to see more. It was rubbish, but it takes a brave writer to deliberately present something so awful, and leave the reader, unlike the host, wanting more. Arthur Chappell