Luke 12 and Chaucer's 'Shipman's Tale'

Author / Editor
Winnick, R. H.

Title
Luke 12 and Chaucer's 'Shipman's Tale'

Published
Chaucer Review 30 (1995): 164-90.

Description
A likely source of inspiration for ShT is the scriptural text from Luke, where interrelated sins parallel those of Chaucer's characters and where images and phrases are analogous to Chaucer's.
The biblical text (not a lost French fabliau) as source provides the moral commentary on retributive justice believed missing from ShT, thus supplying outside the text what the "Tale" itself is essentially about.

Chaucer Subjects
Shipman and His Tale.
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations.