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Thread: The canterbury tales innuendos

  1. #1
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    Unhappy The canterbury tales innuendos

    I have to do a term paper due in a few weeks on a book that could be banned from schools. I chose the Canterbury Tales because I had heard that there were a few stories that had sexual innuendos and were thought to be inappropriate in schools. I realize I should have read the book before I started the paper, but I had to submit my Thesis that day. In order to save time, I was wondering if some people could help me by naming a few of the tales that are sexually based, and those that could help me explain why it could be banned. That way I can read those and save time.
    THanks!!

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    Hello, hotrocks, welcome to the forum.
    Though I find it depressing, I can see how libraries think of banning The Canterbury Tales, as they have with several classical works of art; somehow, I think if they ban Chaucer, Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron contains much more sexuality from the same era.
    Regardless, a few tales that come to mind: A Knight's Tale, The Pardoner's Tale, and The Miller's Tale. Unfortunately, this seems all I can think of for the time, but I will report back if I remember more tales to focus. Good luck!

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    and The Merchant's Tale...
    R rated...

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    hey i'm in the same boat, i have to write a research paper on Canterbury tales. Some other books that have been banned for sexual content are: An American tradgedy, the arabien nights, the art of love, candide, fanny hill, forever amber, the bluest eye, the group, lolita, madame bovary, pamela, tropic of cancer & tropic of capricorn ( those two are extremely raunchy), ulysses, sanctuary, jude the obscure, the kama sutra of vatsyayana, lady chatterly's lover just to name a few. i got a book that lists banned books and their court cases for my paper, just in case you were wondering why i knew all of those titles

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    in canterbury tales itself, the cooks tale is pretty bad, so is the miller's tale, also in the knight's tale the knight is "honourable" and "worthy" yet has slaughtered and raped the innocent in the crusades

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    Forget it. Just go for the Bible. Judges 19 should do it. A graphic description of a gang rape.

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    The Millers Tale is full of naughtiness - adultery, scalded 'ers' and blasphemy to name a little. In the prologue Chaucer even advises those of a gentle disposition to 'turne over the leef and chese another tale'.

  8. #8
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    The Wife of Bath

    Not only does the "narrator" of the tale (the wife of bath) boast about using her sexuality to control men, he story begins with a knight raping a young woman. Most of the tales involve sex explicitly or veiled. (Whether it is kissing someone's but or being caught mid-thrust in a tree)

    Obviously, there is no substitute but to read the tales. They are enjoyable anyway. If you need to do something this minute, though, you can find a good summary of each online. Good luck

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