Chaucer's Toxicology

Author / Editor
Ireland, Richard W.

Title
Chaucer's Toxicology

Published
Chaucer Review 29 (1994): 74-92.

Description
Chaucer's use of poison in PardT and ParsT indicates more than a cursory knowledge of the law and lore associated with it. In PardT, poison--affiliated with Envy and Jealousy and with the devil--serves to darken both the characters and the plot line. The Parson's use of poison--associated with contraception and abortion--reveals a tension between contemporary civil and common laws.

Chaucer Subjects
Pardoner and His Tale.
Parson and His Tale.