The Monk’s series of little tragedies report the gloomy news that all wealth and position in the world are pure illusion, and nothing can prevent the fall of the proud. The Monk sums up his theme in the introductory stanza: “For sure it is, if fortune decides to flee, / No man may stay her course or keep his hold; / Let no one trust a blind prosperity.” (“For certein, whan that Fortune list to flee, / Ther may no man the cours of hire withhholde. / Lat no man truste on blynd prosperitee … .”)
Why Chaucer wrote these stories for the Monk is unclear. They are monotonous, and the inevitable moral of each — one cannot depend on fickle fortune — comes as no surprise to the reader. This tale is often thought to be one of Chaucer’s early writings. Certainly it has none of the subtly of most of his other tales. Some authorities believe that Chaucer at one time considered writing a book of tragedies, and since he never completed his book of tragedies, this perhaps accounts for the their inclusion in The Canterbury Tales. They were simply available and seemed suitable for the Monk to relate.
