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Kahleb J. Plak

Argumentative Paper 3C

ENG 100-32

27 November 2019

Fables Revealing Facts About Society

American contemporary artist and filmmaker Kara Walker once said during a discussion

involving fables, “I'm fascinated with the stories that we tell. Real histories become fantasies and

fairy tales, morality tales and fables. There's something interesting and funny and perverse about

the way fairytale sometimes passes for history, for truth.” This quote is powerful as well as

revealing because it develops the opinion that fables have the possibility to reveal history in a

more convenient way to a reader. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a fable can be

defined as, “a legendary story of supernatural happenings” as well as “a narration intended to

enforce a useful truth.” Beast fables use animals or other personified objects as ways of telling a

truth or an idea that can be well believed and interpreted by everyone.

The Fable that I will be focusing on is Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in which the main

characters are Phoebus, and Coronis, two characters that deliver a message as a warning to the

readers about the usage of speech. Preceding The Story of Phoebus and Coronis is The

Manciple’s Prologue and Tale, which contains the message of “these texts usually treat the story

of Phoebus and Coronis as a lesson about the dangers of indiscreet speech” (501) which relates

to my aforementioned statement involving fables using animals to tell a truth or an idea that is

put simply enough to be perceived by everyone. Early in The story of Phoebus and Coronis,

Ovid’s first description of the Ravens wing’s were described as “Shining white” but shortly after

were described as “changed to a dusky black” (501) this change in the description of the wings
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can be simply put as a change of purity or character of the raven, due to the common modern

allusion of “white” being the description of purity and good in the world; “black/dark” being the

description of all of the bad in the world. This Black vs. White ideology is described as “Black-

and-white dualism” which is the most prominent in the bible; white being associated with God

and his creations, and Black is associated with the Devil. Furthermore, this idea is further

expressed within stories such as “Starwars” Light vs. Dark, as well as stories involving magic,

good being dressed in white, and bad being dressed in black. The ideology of “Black-and-White

dualism” is shown by Ovid’s transition of the Raven’s feathers changing from the color white, to

black; “This bird was once of a silvery hue, with such snowy feathers that it could rival any

spotless dove” showing before that the Raven’s feathers were white, however shortly after it is

mentioned that, “But its tongue brought about the raven’s downfall. Thanks to its chattering

tongue, its plumage, once white, is now the very opposite” (501) this quote by Ovid directly

places the blame of the changing of the color of the Raven’s feathers due to the Raven’s inability

to stop talking and chattering.

The Raven and it’s mischevious actions are also within John Gowers “The Manciple’s

Tale” containing the story of the Raven ruining Phoebus’ marriage, costing itself it’s feathers,

and ability to speak and sing. It is revealed early by Gower that the Raven is special, “Whit was

this crowe, as is a snow-whit swan, And countrefete the speche of every man, he koude, whan he

shoulde, tell a tale” (133-135) showing that the Raven had the ability to mimic the voice of any

human, and could tell a story if needed. To summarize the tale, while Phoebus is gone, his wife

has an affair that the Raven proceeds to tell him about upon his return, out of rage Phoebus kills

his wife, then changes the feathers of the Raven and takes his ability to speak away. This relates

back to the Prologue of the tale, and the discussion of the cause of the Raven losing it’s white
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feathers, now that Gower makes it apparent what happened, the reader can understand why the

feathers transitioned from white to black. Although it can be argued that the Raven did not do

anything wrong, and was just trying to help Phoebus and tell him about is wife, the question of

“Although it is helpful, is it hurtful?” can be raised to the readers. It is at this moment that I

would like to shift my discussion from the writing to the idea presented at the end of the Tale.

The question that is raised at the end of the tale for the reader, is the direct goal of a Fable in its

entirety. Fables, like I have previously mentioned, aim to get the reader to place themselves

inside of the story, and slightly reflect upon themselves, with respect to the Fable. For instance,

in this situation the reader would place themselves in the position of the Raven, then ask

themselves if they have done anything like that, or if they would ever do anything like that,

causing a reflection upon one’s character.

Throughout both of the Fables discussed, the same events happen, the only difference in

the two is the way that the ideas are presented. Beast Fables, to me, are the best and easiest way

to cause the reader to reflect and ask themselves the big questions in life because they cause the

reader to place themselves inside of the stories and reflect upon their own actions in life, and I

believe that to be very powerful. The ability as a writer to be able to get your audience to let

alone get into the story, as well as reflect upon the story, and their own character, is a very

powerful skill that should not be played lightly with.

Works Cited

“The Canterbury Tales.” The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer et al., Naxos, 2002.
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Gower, John. “The Manciple's Tale from The Canterbury Tales.” From "The Canterbury

Tales": The Manciple's Tale (Modern English and Middle English),

www.librarius.com/canttran/manctrfs.htm.

The Manciple's Tale. New Chaucer Society, 2003.