Art, Anxiety, and Alchemy in the Canon's Yeoman's Tale

Description: The alchemists' discourse echoes Chaucer's, and one might serve as a "metaphor for the other." Alchemists, like poets, were concerned with interpretations of the written word and with concealment.; The Canon is skilled at tales, of which he makes "sondry" kinds, undertaking a "greet emprise." Thus, he is linked to Chaucer, who, like the alchemists, is the "helplessly addicted victim of an enchanting and frustrating art" and a "diabolical cozener" of tales.