Although the host demands a happy tale from the Monk, the Monk instead gives a series of cameo tragedies, all of which deal with the role of fortune in a man's life. The Monk catalogs the fickleness of Fortune through a series of abbreviated tales about characters such as Lucifer, Adam, Hercules, Samson, Nero, etc., all of whom were initially favored but ultimately abandoned by Fortune. The monk concludes when the knight interrupts and pleads for a happy story. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Monk's series of small tragedies reports the grim news that all wealth and position in the world are pure illusion and that nothing can prevent the fall of the proud. The monk summarizes his theme in the introductory stanza: “Of course, if fortune decides to flee, / No man can maintain her course or keep her hold; / Let no one trust in blind prosperity. ("For sure, when this Fortune wants to flee, / No one can hold back the course of his wages. / Lat no man trusts in blind prosperity...") The reason why Chaucer wrote these stories for the monk is unclear is not clear. They are monotonous, and the inevitable moral of each – one cannot depend on fickle fortune – does not surprise the reader. This tale is often considered one of Chaucer's earliest writings. Certainly, it has none of the subtlety of most of his other tales. Some authorities believe that Chaucer at one point considered writing a book of tragedies, and as he never completed his book of tragedies, this perhaps explains their inclusion in The Canterbury Tales. They were simply available and seemed appropriate for the monk to recount. The Monk's Tale stanza, an eight-line, five-stress stanza with the rhyme scheme ababbcbc. The type was established in "The Monk's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. It bears some similarity to the French ballad form and is one of the forms thought to have influenced the Spenserian stanza. Chaucer uses this form ababbcbc in his Monk's Tale, as well as in his Marian lyrics, the ABC, and is why it is often called a "Monk's Tale stanza." Chaucer may have arrived at this stanza form as an adaptation of the Italian stanza ottava rima (abababcc rhyme) used by Boccaccio for his Teseida and Filostrato. Catherine Addison discusses form in an excellent article on “The Effects of the Stanza on Poetic Narrative.” She describes it as "a rather unsatisfying stanza, disappointing because everything seems to lead up and away from the central couplet [...] Although a stanza like this can serve a disturbing and bathing function, which is perhaps its purpose in the aborted anecdotes. of the Monk's Tale, it is not in itself particularly memorable or enjoyable, as it raises expectations without fully satisfying them. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Although this form is dysfunctional in one way, in another it is quite usable and even authoritative. In addition to the possible Italian source for this stanza, there is also an indigenous tradition, established in the late 14th century, of writing political and religious verses in English in eight-line stanzas of four accented lines rhyming ababbcbC (the capital Chere indicating that each stanza ends with the same refrain).