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Carnivalization is the term used by Mikhail Bakhtin to describe the shaping
effect on literary genres. The idea of carnivalism is the discourse of
structuralism. Carnivalism is the opposite of everything deemed normal. Bahktin
describes it as: ...the true feast of time, the feasts of becoming, change and
renewal. (45) Carnival originated from the Feasts of the Church. The feasts were
a serious, formal occasion in which strict patterns were closely followed.
Emphasis was placed on social standing. It was considered a consecration of
inequality (45). However, during Carnival, everyone was considered equal. The
festivities of Carnival were very popular, everything was turned upside down
(the smart become stupid, rich become poor, etc.; fantasy and reality become
one). The jolly relativity of all things is proclaimed. (45) Carnivalism is
evident throughout literature, but it is very noticeable during the Renaissance.
The Socratic dialogue is an example of the earliest carnivalised literary forms.
Two of the most familiar forms of carnivalism are Alisoun; the Wife of Bath from
Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and Falstaff, from Shakespeare's Henry IV.
Alisoun, asserts her own overbearing assessment of the roles of women in society
and relationships. The Wife has often been written off as a shrew-like bombast
simply sprouting her dissatisfaction.
She is the opposite of what women were
expected to be in her time. She seems to take pride in being so contradictory to
societal ideals. Falstaff, like the Wife; enjoys being the center of attention
and shocking people with his outlandish proclamations. He is a con man, coward,
and thief. Although people would never admit it, they secretly enjoy hearing the
lewd stories told by the Wife and Falstaff. The Wife and Falstaff could be
described as grotesque realism. Grotesque realism has no lower level. It is the
dark side of society. The term perfectly describes both characters. They
represent the subconscious of people- the things and ideas that people are
afraid to say or do. Falstaff and the Wife both use apologia to justify their
actions. The Wife has her own unique interpretation of the Bible. She asks where
in the Bible is virginity commanded. She also questions the traditional moral
values of medieval British culture in asking, ... to what end were reproductive
organs made, why are people made so perfectly? Falstaff justifies his actions by
saying banish plump Jack, banish all the world. In essence, everyone is just
like him; the only difference is that he doesn't hide it.
Bakhtin's emphasis on
carnival goes against the idea that literature must be unified. He suggests that
major literary works may be multi-leveled and resistant to unification. (41) In
his essay, Discourse of the Novel, he states when someone else's ideological
discourse is internally persuasive for us and acknowledged by us, entirely
different possibilities open up.(43) This is the case with the Wife and
Falstaff. They represent the idea that life does not have to be so rigid, it is
o.k. to bend the rules a bit. The Wife of Bath and Falstaff are examples of
carnivalism, grotesque realism, and authoritative discourse. The characters
appear to be larger than life when they are actually only one side of the coin
of society. Heads shows society as it is expected to be, tails shows life as it
really is.
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