Chaucer and his prioress: feigning silence in the "Prioress's Tale" and "Chaucer's Retraction"
| dc.contributor.author | Burt, Cameron Bryce | |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Watt, David (English, Film, and Theatre) MacKendrick, Kenneth (Religion) | en |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Finnegan, Robert (English, Film, and Theatre) | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2010-09-03T15:14:03Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2010-09-03T15:14:03Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2010-09-03T15:14:03Z | |
| dc.degree.discipline | English, Film and Theatre | en_US |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Arts (M.A.) | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | This study provides a new reading of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Prioress’s Tale and considers its purpose within the context of the Canterbury Tales. I argue that the Tale, as an exemplum, demonstrates the dangers of tale-telling, and exposes the moral discrepancies of the Canterbury tale-telling competition and the pilgrims’ use of stories as verbal assaults against one another. I argue that the Tale condemns the unchristian-like “actions” of the Christians within its frame as they respond to the clergeon’s murder; the Tale’s ending presents a cathartic response from this congregation, which indicates their understanding of the clergeon’s martyrdom. It also provokes a similar response from the Canterbury pilgrims, which serves to silence them, and to create a paradox that disrupts possible responses to the Tale. Further, Chaucer’s Retraction at the end of the Tales is intended to silence the poet’s critics through the creation of a similar paradox. | en |
| dc.description.note | October 2010 | en |
| dc.format.extent | 387417 bytes | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1993/4093 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
| dc.rights | open access | en_US |
| dc.subject | Chaucer | en |
| dc.subject | Prioress's Tale | en |
| dc.subject | St. Augustine of Hippo | en |
| dc.subject | Silence | en |
| dc.title | Chaucer and his prioress: feigning silence in the "Prioress's Tale" and "Chaucer's Retraction" | en |
| dc.type | master thesis | en_US |