Marian Overtones in Chaucer's 'Merchant's Tale'
- Author / Editor
- Wurtele, Douglas J.
Marian Overtones in Chaucer's 'Merchant's Tale'
- Published
- Proceedings of the Third Annual Symposium of Ottawa-Carleton Medieval-Renaissance Club 1 (1976): 56-74.
- Description
- The "sponsa" of the "Song of Songs" is traditionally interpreted as Mary, and thus through January's aubade (4.2138-48) May becomes an ironic echo of the Virgin. The deep ironies of this association reflect the more straightforward presentations of Mary-figures by the Clerk and the Man of Law. They also help to reveal the extreme bitterness of the Merchant.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Merchant and His Tale.
- Man of Law and His Tale.
- Clerk and His Tale.