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This week I read the "Canterbury Tales" set of stories. I noticed a romance theme throughout most of the stories involved in the first half of the reading and I thought this would be the perfect section for me to use for my storytelling this week. I love romance stories and I enjoy writing them, so it works out. I think I'm going to write a story based on "The Wife of Bath's Tale: The Unknown Bride" next week. I think there is a lot of potential for a more metaphorical style of writing and that tends to be something I like to do, so it fits. In the original story, a knight was condemned to his death because he treated a woman very poorly. However, for some reason all the women in the land particularly liked him and begged the King to spare the man. The King gave in and ended up leaving the man's fate to the Queen who determined that the knight could be spared IF he could come back to her in one year's time and tell her what it is woman wish for most. In the end, on the very last day of the year, the knight happened across an old lady that tells him the answer. Once he was freed from his death sentence, she announced that he would be in her debt since she saved his life. She wants him to take her as his wife and he's mortified because she is old and plain. He agrees to marry her, however, and in the end she turns into a beautiful woman. In my story next week, I'd like to rewrite this story in a unique way. I think my story will be more metaphorical than the original. The young man will probably just be a commoner and he won't be set to death or anything like that. He will just be searching for love in the wrong ways (looking for outward beauty) and will need to find his way to the right path eventually. I don't want to give too much away but it should be fun to write and hopefully fun for you all to read!Characters
A young man, looking for love in all the wrong ways and a few love interests. I want to keep a fairly simple character set on this one. The love interests may even just be mentioned in passing, rather than actually described in any manner. I really want to focus in more on the young man and his journey to discovering what true inner beauty is and how much better it is to hold than outward appearances.
Plot
The young man will be looking for love by going after the most beautiful women he can find, but he will never feel satisfied with his romantic situation. He will eventually see that he's been looking for the wrong things all along and find his way to seeing his true love's inner beauty.
Setting
There probably won't be too clear of a setting with this one. Again, I just want to focus in on true inner beauty and how important that aspect is in life. I'd like to write this in a way that allows the reader to kind of place the story wherever they see fit. It could be in a small village or a big city or wherever the reader feels it fits best.
I’m hoping to use this story to exemplify all kinds of beauty and shine a light on the most important kind, the beauty we all hold within ourselves.
Source
"The Wife of Bath's Tale: The Unknown Bride" as retold by Eva March Tappan in "The Chaucer Story Book"
I think you have a lot of good planning notes here. I remember reading the Canterbury Tales my senior year of high school in this large literature textbook. I had to carry it around everywhere I went. Nonetheless, I remember thinking the stories were entertaining and fun to read. My only suggestion before you write your story is to make sure you have dialogue in it. Stories are less fun to read if they don't have dialogue.
ReplyDeleteI love romance stories as well! The plot sounds like it will be fun to work with. A touch of surprise or some sort of twist will make the story even better. The concept you have is incredibly moving. It’s true, we all hold a beauty within ourselves. Overall, great job. I’m excited to see how this story forms together!
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