lit

Happiness and Love : Pursuits of Ancient Literature

Based on the Chinese poems and excerpts from The Canterbury Tales the driving forces of early and middle cultures are simple human desires- happiness and love . Characters in The Canterbury Tales nevertheless , have different ideas of happiness and love . Chinese poems in general , have their happiness hinged on honor , family , and nature These differences in thinking of these ancient and middle-period authors lead them to make different decisions and have diverse experiences in life

What aided or guided decision making in the middle age

were honor and love . In The Knight 's Tale ' Arcite and Palamon set aside their friendship , so that they can fight for love and honor . On the other hand , The Wife of Bath 's Tale ' and The Clerk 's Tale ' demonstrate opposite views of a wife 's role and position in the family . These stories underscore different ideas of love , wherein The Wife of Bath 's Tale ' defines love as gender quality , while The Clerk 's Tale interprets love , as a wife 's complete submission to her husband . A number of stories also demonstrate happiness that comes from tricking the trickster , such as in The Reeve 's Tale ' and The Pardoner 's Tale ' Several poems in early Chinese also describe the beauty of preserving honor and love . The family is presented ideally in early Chinese poetry , as a source of honor and happiness . Other poems illustrate Chinese reflection on nature . Tao Quian 's poems , for instance , are poems about...