Two Themes from the Gesta Romanorum

May 17, 1995

Jonah and Bassanio

The exempla entitled "Anselme" in the Gesta Romanorum has two motifs that seem very popular. The first motif is that of a person being swallowed by a big fish or a whale and the second is that of a test involving three chests. The influence or appearance of these themes covers a wide literary variety from Shakespeare to popular movies.

The first theme, that of a human being swallowed by a large marine beast is quite popular, possibly originating from the book of Jonah in the Christian Bible. That story has Jonah attempting to escape God. He boards a ship, but God raises a tempest. Jonah tells the sailors to throw him overboard to save themselves. They do, the sea calms, and Jonah is swallowed by a large fish. He repents his disobedience and God orders the fish to put Jonah back onto dry land. Jonah goes on to convert the whole city of Ninevah.

This theme has some elements of basic religious anthropology. Using the ideas of Mircea Eliade, we see that by refusing the way of God, Jonah is thrown into the water. Eliade uses water as a symbol for things unformed, for the protoplasmic world. By entering the water, Jonah re-enters the watery chaos from which he once rose; it is a dissolution of forms (Eliade 130). A creature of the water, a "demon of chaos" swallows him. By repenting and reentering the "truth," he is placed back on the land by the fish from the chaotic deep, a symbol for formal manifestation (Eliade 130).

Also, this theme retains some of its elements in different contexts in "Anselme." The maid is being sent by her father to marry a young Imperial Prince. On the way, a great tempest rises and all on the ship are drowned except herself. She finds that a great whale is following the boat to devour it. She keeps it at bay by lighting a fire, but eventually she falls asleep and the fire goes out. The whale swallows her, and within the whale, she makes another fire and stabs the whale from within with her little knife. The whale regurgitates her onto dry ground into the hands of a friendly earl.

In the Reduccio of "Anselme," the compiler states that the tempest is the "tribulacioun' of þe world Temptacon' of þe flesse / & Suggestyon' of þe fende;" (Sandred 70). The whale is, of course, the Devil, and the fire is that of Christ. The maid smites the devil with the knife of bitter penance and lights the fire of charity within the devil's intestines. Charity and bitter penance gets her cast to the "londe of goode Lyfe" (Sandred 70).

According to the interpretation, the tempest is temptation and evil suggestions. Jonah tries to escape doing the Lord's work, as if he was lured off by laziness. In any event, the tempest lashes him. Both Jonah and the girl both escape by using penance: Jonah repents and composes a psalm to God while the maid attacks the Devil from within with the knife of penance. Jonah and the maid are cast out of the devil-beast's stomach onto dry land, that land of good life. It seems that as an allegory within an allegory, the good land and dry land are symbols of Heaven. Both Jonah and the maid attain the safety of land/heaven by penance, just as the good Christian does.

This theme also comes out in the Walt Disney movie Pinocchio. While attempting to find his lost son, Gipetto is swallowed by a whale called "Monstro," and to escape, the father and son light a fire within the fish and escape to dry land. By repenting his excessive behavior, Pinocchio saves his father from the whale by lighting the fire of charity. His regurgitation is a reformation and he is cast up on the beach as a real boy.

There is another occurrence of this theme in the novel Lord Valentine's Castle. The heir-apparent and his female bodyguard are swallowed by a seagoing mammalian "dragon." The bodyguard saves herself and Lord Valentine by cutting out of the belly of the beast (Silverberg 233-239). It is interesting to note that the Silverberg version has many twisted elements with respect to both the Jonah and the "Anselme" Reduccio. Valentine is not fleeing the works of order. He is attempting to replace the disorder of an evil usurper. His entry to the belly of the dragon is not concurrent with the previous situations. Valentine's escape is also different. Rather than going out the same way he came in, the goes out through a side door. He also isn't put onto dry land, but instead bobs to the surface and floats overnight on the sea before being rescued. Lord Valentine's Castle is an atypical version of the fish motif.

Concluding the fish story, we see that usually being swallowed by the fish is a mechanism of being engulfed in chaos. By re-accepting a faith, the victim can be regurgitated onto the dry land and back into order. Valentine does not retrace his path and thus is not put directly back onto the ordered land, but instead floats in the chaotic sea. According to Eliade, entering and leaving the water is a regeneration for Jonah, a cleansing and rebirth (130). The maid of "Anselme" is cast into a new heavenly life by penance and charity. Pinocchio is reborn as a real boy after being spit from the belly of Monstro. Valentine is the lone entity of the set that is not reborn by his stint in the belly of the beast.

This "fish motif"is made famous by its progenitor version. Another motif from "Anselme" is made famous by its end version. This motif is that of the three chests. These three chests form some sort of judgment test. The number of chests is variable and really does not matter, so long as choice can be proffered. They may be chests, urns, boxes, anything that can conceal its internal contents. There is usually an obvious difference between the correct choice and the incorrect one; the correct choice seems to be the most worthless, but in fact turns out to be the most useful.

The maid is given this dilemma: choose the one which contains the most profitable things. In the Reduccio, it says that the Emperor stands for God, and he gives the maid, as mankind, the choices between good and evil, life and death. The gold vessel is interpreted as worldly men: without, they shine of gold, but within they are dead men's bones, their works in this world are dead to God by their deadly sins. So, if she chooses wealth, she will go to hell. It is, after all, easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. The silver vessel, according to "Anselme," stands for judges, wisemen and kings, who shine in speech as though silver, but inside are filled with worms and earth. They are false advertisements just like the gold vessels, bright outside and dirty within. The final vessel is indicated to be the simple life. God's chosen children take simple raiment and obedience to God. The precious stones within are equivalent to good works which will earn a man Heaven.

In another exemplum, this one from Jaques de Vitry, a king falls down in reverence to two monks. His soldiers are aghast that he would demean his crown by such an act. To explain himself, he makes four chests: one of silver, one of gold and two rotten ones covered with haircloth. The expensive chests contain filth and dead men's bones while the other chests contain pearls, perfumes and precious ointments. The king's soldiers pick the gold and silver chests and despise the others. The king ordered the chests opened and compares them to the monks (Crane 153). This allegory is much simpler than that of the Gesta Romanorum. Crane thinks the monks are represented by the hair-covered boxes (Crane 153) and I agree. They are poor and decrepit on the outside, with a great treasure on the inside. The gold and silver chests symbolize the knights: shiny armor outside, yet worms and dirt on the inside. This version of the story is much different in that the people who choose are supposed to choose wrong. The king is supposed to illustrate their folly to them.

Another version of the caskets occurs in a very short tale in the Decameron. In this story, the King of Spain has a patient knight in his household. The knight never seemed to receive honors from the king for his incredible feats of arms. The king tests his knight by giving him a mule and sending him off with a spy. The mule relieves itself when it shouldn't and doesn't when it should. He curses the mule for being like the king. The king finds out and makes the knight answer for it. The knight says that the king gives gifts when he shouldn't and doesn't when he should. To this the king says, "I never reward you, even though you are worth much more than some that I rewarded, because you just have bad luck. We will experiment with this." The king presents two chests, one filled with earth and one filled with his crown jewels. The knight chooses the one filled with earth. This illustrates the king's point, and to reward the knight anyway, he gives him the other chest (Bondanella and Musa 603-605).

This time, the chooser receives the reward even though he doesn't pick the correct chest. There are also two chests, but although one is filled with precious gems and one with dirt, they are outwardly undifferentiated. In this case, the test is merely a controlled experiment, rather than a wisdom choice as in "Anselme" or the exempla of Jaques de Vitry.

There is another tale in which a young girl, after setting out on a journey and having had many adventures, takes service with an old woman or a witch. When the young girl decides to return home, the old woman gives her the choice between several boxes. The girl modestly chooses the smallest of the boxes, which turns out to be full of gold. When her bad sister does the same thing, she refuses to help anyone she meets along the way and chooses the biggest box, which turns out to be full of snakes (Roberts 3).

This tale has two who choose, a unique element so far. It also has boxes that differ in size rather than in obvious value. There is also a value judgment in this version. The good little girl is rewarded for kindness; her good works and modesty are rewarded by the choice of the correct box, like the maid in "Anselme" and the eventual reward of the knight in The Decameron. The bad girl gets snakes, which is unusual. Most of the other "bad" boxes have bones or earth in them, while this contains living creatures.

Lastly, we have Shakespeare's three boxes in The Merchant of Venice. The Prince of Morocco describes each casket before he makes his choice:

This first, of gold, who this inscription bears,

"Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire";

The second, silver, which this promise carries,

"Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves";

This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt,

"Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath."

(MV II.vii.4-9)

These caskets bear more resemblance to the Gesta Romanorum than any of the other tales; the inscriptions on the silver casks are almost verbatim. The Prince of Morocco chooses the gold casket based on the inscriptions rather than the material of the chest. He figures, that since the whole world desires Portia, then she must be in gold. Besides, why would one with such beauty as herself be associated with those baser metals? Despite his great praise for Portia and noble sentiment, he is wrong. The Prince of Morocco He chooses the gold casket, which has a skull with the following note in its empty eye-socket:

All that glisters is not gold,

Often have you heard that told;

Many a man his life hath sold

But my outside to behold.

Gilded [tombs] do worms infold.

Had you been as wise as bold,

Young limbs in judgment old,

Your answer had not been inscroll'd.

Fare you well, your suit is cold.

(MV II.vii.65-73)

This note looks like the Reduccio of "Anselme," involving the "gaye sepulcurs"and the men whose outsides shine like gold but who's insides are black and dead. They've sold their lives for gold.

The Prince of Arragon chooses the silver casket. He passes the lead casket because he doesn't think Portia is worth enough to risk all, as the inscription indicates. He refuses to pick the gold one because the inscription indicates commonness: If many men desire it, then he doesn't want it. So, he picks the silver casket. Inside it has a portrait of a "blinking idiot, / presenting me a schedule" (MV II.ix.54-55). The "schedule" is a note, just like that in the skull's eye, and it reads like this:

The fire seven times tried this:

Seven times tried that judgment is,

That did never choose amiss.

Some there be but a shadows kiss,

Such have but a shadow's bliss.

There be fools alive, iwis,

Silver'd o'er, and so was this.

Take what wife you will to bed,

I will ever be your head.

So be gone, you are sped.

(MV II.ix.63-72)

In this rejection slip, the references to "Anselme" are a little less obvious, just like the allegorical breakdown from "Anselme" on silver says a little less than the one on gold; Shakespeare has a little more to make up. The recognizable element of the judges and the important speakers being merely silvered over fools is still present.

Finally, our hero chooses the proper cask. Its inscription fits him perfectly; he has risked everything to get Portia. However, Bassanio chooses his casket based mostly on the outward appearances. Within his lead chest, he finds Portia's picture and the ubiquitous poem. It seems as if Shakespeare is comparing Portia to the Gesta Romanorum's jewels. The scroll within reads like this:

You that choose not by the view,

Chance as fair, and choose as true:

Since this fortune falls to you,

Be content, and seek no new.

If you be well pleas'd with this,

And hold your fortune for your bliss,

Turn you where you lady is

And claim her with a loving kiss.

(MV III.ii.131-138)

There is irony here, because in the internalized discourse (shared with the audience), Bassanio chooses solely on the merit of the box's appearance. However, he is the expected winner, the "good guy," even though later he does not keep to the values of the lead vessel from "Anselme." He certainly doesn't do any good works for Shylock.

Condensing all that, we see that the "choice among chests" motif is not uncommon. There is usually a differentiation among the chests, and the proper person receives the reward. Of the few surveyed here, it seems as if Shakespeare and the Gesta Romanorum are very closely related. I think that The Merchant of Venice is a direct product of the Middle English "Anselme." The others are variations on the theme.

Here we have explored two very powerful and relatively common themes. The sea monster theme is one made famous by Jonah and adapted to many other instances, even into the modern period and it has some underlying moral messages. It works with Eliade and his studies of religious anthropology, since Jonah is a Biblical tale. The theme of the three boxes is made famous not by its precursor, but by its later form in the tale of the Bard. It also has the underlying allegorical morality that the Jonah tale has. So, the two most famous variations of the motifs are represented by those diverse characters, Jonah and Bassanio, even though their respective parts in the Gesta Romanorum are played by the same maid.

Bibliography

Bondanella, Peter and Musa, Mark, trans. The Decameron. New York. Norton: 1982.

Crane, Thomas Frederick. The Exempla of Jacques de Vitry. London. David Nutt: 1890.

Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane. New York. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich: 1987.

Evans, G. Blakemore et al, ed. The Riverside Shakespeare. Princeton. Houghton Mifflin: 1974.

Roberts, Warren E. The Tale of the Kind and the Unkind Girls. Detroit. Wayne State University Press: 1994.

Sandred, Karl Inge, ed. Gesta Romanorum. Uppsala. Uppsala University: 1971.