Bastardy as a Gifted Status in Chaucer and Malory

Author / Editor
Watson, Jessica Lewis.

Title
Bastardy as a Gifted Status in Chaucer and Malory

Published
Lewiston, N.Y.;
Queenston, Ontario;
and Lampeter, Wales: Edwin Mellen, 1996.

Physical Description
x, 90 pp.

Series
Studies in Mediaeval Literature, no. 14.

Description
In Chaucer's RvT and Malory's "Morte D'Arthur," illegitimacy is not a negative notion. The Reeve is unorthodox in his negative view of the illegitimacy of Symkyn's wife and of the sexual liberation of Symkyn's daughter. Chaucer however, discloses a less critical view, enabling his readers to consider bastardy and sexual play in a positive light.

Chaucer Subjects
Reeve and His Tale.