Cresseid Reading Cresseid: Redemption and Translation in Henryson's 'Testament'

Author / Editor
Aronstein, Susan.

Title
Cresseid Reading Cresseid: Redemption and Translation in Henryson's 'Testament'

Published
Scottish Literary Journal 21:2 (1994): 5-22.

Description
Aronstein shows how Henryson, influenced by late-fifteenth-century attitudes toward women, especially prostitutes, returns the story of Criseyde to its pre-Chaucerian misogynistic purpose. The article examines the story's literary history and its participation in the debate about women; considers Chaucer's ambiguous attitude toward Criseyde; and shows how Henryson suppresses such ambiguities to eliminate the danger of sympathetic misreadings.

Chaucer Subjects
Chaucer's Influence and Later Allusion.