'What Man Arrow?' Harry Bailly and the 'Elvyssh' Chaucer

Author / Editor
Higgs, Elton D.

Title
'What Man Arrow?' Harry Bailly and the 'Elvyssh' Chaucer

Published
Mid-Hudson Language Studies 2 (1979): 28-43.

Description
The tension between Harry Bailly's governance over the pilgrims and the tolerance and permissiveness of Chaucer's fictional narrative voice is implied in three link passages: between KnT and MilT, in the Prologue to MLT, and in the Prologue to ParsT. The "knitting up" of ParsT and Ret brings under Divine governance the varied human experience represented by the pilgrims' tales, as well as the limited perceptions of the Host, Chaucer the Pilgrim, and Chaucer the author.

Chaucer Subjects
Canterbury Tales--General.