For tyme ylost may nought recovered be.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
By God, if women had written stories, As clerks had within here oratories, They would have written of men more wickedness Than all the mark of Adam may redress.
Interpretation
What this quote means
If women had the same opportunities as men to write, their stories would reveal men's flaws and wickedness.
In this quote by Geoffrey Chaucer, the speaker reflects on the historical disparity in opportunities between men and women, particularly in the context of storytelling and literature. It suggests that if women had been allowed the same voice and platform as their male counterparts, their narratives would likely expose the darker aspects of male behavior, illustrating a critique of societal norms that have silenced women and the implications of that silence on the portrayal of morality in literature.
Themes
WomenStoriesWickednessMenLiterature
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about gender representation in literature, this quote can highlight the need for diverse voices.
More from Geoffrey Chaucer
All quotes βFor in their hearts doth Nature stir them so Then people long on pilgrimage to go And palmers to be seeking foreign strands To distant shrines renowned in sundry lands.
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If gold rusts, what then can iron do?
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
Thus with hir fader for a certeyn space_x000D_ _x000D_ Dwelleth this flour of wyfly pacience,_x000D_ _x000D_ That neither by hir wordes ne hir face_x000D_ _x000D_ Biforn the folk, ne eek in her absence,_x000D_ _x000D_ Ne shewed she that hir was doon offence.
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Ther nis no werkman, whatsoevere he be, That may bothe werke wel and hastily.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
For oute of olde feldys, as men sey,_x000D_ _x000D_ Comyth al this newe corn from yer to yere;_x000D_ _x000D_ And out of olde bokis, in good fey,_x000D_ _x000D_ Comyth al this newe science that men lere.
Geoffrey ChaucerRead
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