Some Sidelights on Chaucer's Alice of Bath
- Author / Editor
- Gillam, D.
Some Sidelights on Chaucer's Alice of Bath
- Published
- Names 35 (1987): 64-73.
- Description
- "Alys" and its diminutive "Alisoun" have interesting reverberations. The rhyme "Alys"/"talys" may link the Wife with "tales" and have a pun indicating love of drink. "Alisoun" may be a covert pun on "eleison." The popularity of the name Alys is ascribed to "la bele Aelis" of early French dance songs. The Wife likes dancing and knows the "olde daunce." The reputation of Alice Perrer, Edward III's mistress, may have influenced Chaucer's choice of the name.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Wife of Bath and Her Tale.