'Man in the Middle': Art and Religion in Chaucer's 'Friar's Tale'

Author / Editor
Kolve, V. A.

Title
'Man in the Middle': Art and Religion in Chaucer's 'Friar's Tale'

Published
Studies in the Age of Chaucer 12 (1990): 5-46.

Description
In the carter's episode, the ethical center of FrT, balanced curses and blessings invoke medieval images of humanity, "in the middle" between heaven and hell, and so preoccupied with daily life that it forgets spiritual concerns. Carters are so presented in PF 102 and Bo; in the latter, "the carter working on his cart is proof of man's free will." The "middle" space of the carter is the locus of Chaucer's art.

Alternative Title
Biennial Chaucer Lecture, the New Chaucer Society, Sixth International Congress, August 9-11, 1988, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Chaucer Subjects
Friar and His Tale.
Parliament of Fowls.
Boece.