Gardner 7

Sara Gardner

Eng 345

Final Paper

Foucault's "The Means of Correct Training" from Discipline and Punish is a theoretical model that outlines the main tools that effectively bring about the desired training or rehabilitation of individuals through the use of disciplinary power. According to Foucault, the purpose of discipline is to multiply and use individuals, not reduce them.

"Discipline 'makes' individuals; it is the specific technique of a power that regards individuals both as objects and as instruments of its exercise. It is not a triumphant power, which because of its own excess can pride itself on its omnipotence; it is a modest, suspicious power, which functions as a calculated but permanent economy" (Foucault 188).

There are three simple components to Foucault's critical model, all of which are interrelated: hierarchical observation, normalizing judgment, and the examination.

Foucault states that "the exercise of discipline presupposes a mechanism that coerces by means of observation; an apparatus in which the techniques that make it possible to see induce the effects of power" (189). This means that there is a power relationship between those with the ability to see and those who are seen. The idea is that those who are watched are aware of the power of those who are watching and adjust their behavior accordingly so that no other form of discipline becomes necessary, but this is not a power that is meant to be abused. Foucault clarifies that "the power in the hierarchized surveillance of the disciplines is not possessed as a thing, or transferred as a property; it functions like a piece of machinery" (192). He also notes that "discipline makes possible the operation of a relational power that sustains itself by its own mechanism" (192-193). The method of surveillance is organized as a multiple, automatic, and anonymous power. This means that, though there is a figurehead, everyone is capable of exercising surveillance on someone else. It is an efficient system because it makes everyone accountable.

The second necessary component of Foucault's critical model is normalizing judgment. According to Foucault, the art of punishing has five distinct operations: to refer the individual's actions to the group which functions at once as a field of comparison and a space of differentiation, to differentiate individuals from one another in terms of how far they lie from the ideal average, to measure quantitatively and hierarchize the "nature" of the individuals, to emphasize through these value judgments the importance of conformity, and to trace the external frontier of the abnormal. This idea refers to a set of observable phenomena within a group that operates by differentiating individuals. To be distinguished from the group is to be called out for what you have done. The use of normalization is a great instrument of power because the things that once set people apart and gave them a sense of status gave way to a desire for normality and membership in a homogenous social body.

The final component of Foucault's critical model is the examination which combines the techniques of the two previous components. It combines the ideas of being seen and the desire for normalization. Foucault likens it to a parade in which "the 'subjects' were presented as 'objects' to the observation of a power that was manifested only by its gaze" (199). The examination also introduces the idea of documentation which gives people who have never physically seen the individual the ability to observe the individual on paper. This gives the individual the feeling that he is "under the gaze of a permanent corpus of knowledge" (202) and writes a chronicle of that person that he has no control over.

The combination of these three techniques results in a form of discipline that does not rely on an existing set of laws that must be consulted or corporal punishment. Disciplinary power produces; "it produces reality; it produces domains of objects and rituals of truth. The individual and the knowledge that may be gained of him belong to this production" (205). These characteristics of disciplinary power can be seen in Geoffrey Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale.

The character in the Wife of Bath's Tale who is feeling the effects of disciplinary punishment is the knight who rapes the maiden in the beginning of the story. The first mention of consequence that is seen following this incident is when it is reported to the king. "For which oppressioun was swich clamour/ And swich pursuite unto the king Arthour,/ That dampned was this knight for to be deed,/ By cours of lawe, and sholde han lost his heed" (Chaucer 889-892). This informs the audience that the king is prevailed upon to be beheaded for his crime because that is the assigned punishment according to the law. However, the queen asks the king to have mercy perhaps because she sees that beheading the knight would not be in any way productive whereas rehabilitating him might which signifies the switch in this story from corporal punishment to the use of disciplinary power. The queen manages to convince the king and "he his lif him graunted in the place,/ And yaf him to the queene, all at her wille,/ To chese wheither she wolde him save or spille./ The queene thanketh the king with all her might" (896-899). Foucault's idea of hierarchical power and observation can be seen in this exchange; the power flowing from the king to the queen to the knight.

The queen speaks to the knight and tells him that in order to escape death, he must find out what it is that women most desire and come back and tell her in a year and a day. Though the knight is by no means excited to complete this task, it sets up an expectation that he desperately wants to fulfill. This is similar to Foucault's idea of normalization in which individuals strive to meet the standard expectations in order to avoid further punishment; Foucault calls this a "minimal threshold" (Foucault 195). In completing this task, the knight will also be under continual observation of women and because he is approaching them in request of their help, he will be lower in the hierarchy of power and observation.

After a year, the knight appears for judgment at the court under the eyes of "ful many a noble wif, and many a maide,/ And many a widwe—for that they been wise—/ The queene herself sittinge as justice,/ assembled been, his answere for to here" (1026-1029). This scene relates to the examination portion of Foucault's theoretical model for discipline. It is reminiscent of what he refers to as "the parade." The knight is presented as an object to be judged by the multitude of women surrounding him. It is an effective tool of discipline because once it has been experienced, it is likely to be avoided in the future at all costs because "the spectacle of public events substitutes the uninterrupted play of calculated gazes" (Foucault 193). Foucault also notes that is not necessary that the figurehead of power, the king, be present because the image of the sovereign power is felt through the eyes of the onlookers. The knight presents his answer to the queen and all the women agree that he has found out what is it that women truly desire and he his given his freedom.

On first reading, one might be under the impression that the knight got away with raping a woman without any real consequences, but the knight's actions toward the end of his quest and after he is granted his freedom suggest that he has experienced reform. When the knight is nearing the end of his year long allowance of time, he starts his hopeless journey back to court. The fact that he is returning to court to face certain death suggests that there has been some reform because he recognizes the power of the queen and that he has not met the minimum threshold. Further reform can be seen on his journey home when he encounters a group of beautiful dancing ladies. Instead of responding to the physical impulse of attraction, he approaches them "in hope that some wisdom sholde he lerne" (Chaucer 994). After he is granted his freedom, he keeps his promise to the old hag even though, presumably, she has no real power. At the end of the story, his hag wife asks him if he would rather have her be young and beautiful but unfaithful or old and ugly but true and humble. After a moment of quiet consideration, the knight responds "My lady, and my love, and my wif so deere,/ I put me in your wise governaunce./ Cheseth yourself which may be moost plesaunce/ And moost honour to you and me also./ I do not fors the wheither of the two,/ For as you liketh it suffiseth me" (1230-1235). This demonstrates that the knight recognizes and respects the authority and worth of the woman to whom he owes his life. Even though he is no longer under the penalty of death, he grants her complete control and now holds himself accountable which suggests that the knight is now a rehabilitated individual. Furthermore, according to Foucault, the Knight's discipline does not end with the closing of the story. The Wife of Bath's recanting of this tale represents the written portion of the examination. As long as this story exists in written or verbal form, the knight is under surveillance and in subject to perpetual judgment.

The three components of disciplinary power, hierarchical observation, normalizing judgment, and the examination, can be seen in the Wife of Bath's Tale. The individual in question faces the threat of capital punishment, but is instead given the chance to reform through the guidance of the queen so that he can become a productive member of society rather than a wasted life.

Foucault's theory is an effective tool for analyzing the Wife of Bath's Tale because it allows for a broader interpretation of the story. As was previously stated, upon first glance, it may seem to the reader that the knight escapes punishment for a horrible crime and instead is given a year to answer one question and his freedom. He then goes on to live happily ever after with an old hag that turns out to be a beautiful young woman. It is hard to see the justice in this interpretation. The reader might think that the only moral of this story is to respect women and treat them as equals rather than dominate them, but Foucault's critical theory allows the reader to see past the surface of the story and the reader's indignation at the first reading. This critical theory could be applied to any text that involves some sort of punishment or disciplinary action such as A Clockwork Orange. It is also a critical theory that allows other theories to be applied to the text simultaneously. For instance, a feminist or Marxist analysis of this story could be done and none of Foucault's theory would detract from it in anyway. Foucault's theoretical model "The Means of Correct Training" is represented and successfully employed in the Wife of Bath's Tale.

Works Cited

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Wife of Bath. Ed. Peter G. Beidler. Boston, MA: Bedford Books, 1996. 73-85. Print.

Foucault, Michel. "The means of Correct Training." The Foucault Reader. Ed. Paul Rabinow. New York, NY: Random House, 1984. 188-205. Print.