The She-Ape in Chaucer's 'Parson's Tale'

Author / Editor
Hallissy, Margaret M.

Title
The She-Ape in Chaucer's 'Parson's Tale'

Published
Essays in Literature (Macomb, Illinois) 9 (1982): 127-31.

Description
The reference to the ape in ParsT is usually understood as an allusion to the sin of pride, the ape being an apt embodiment of the pomposities of fashion. This image is, however, also congruent with the extensive imagery of poison in the tale, since many writers (including Avicenna) considered the ape venomous.

Chaucer Subjects
Parson and His Tale.