The Legend of the 'Martyr King' : Political Representation in The Man of Law's Tale

Author / Editor
Kikuchi, Akio.

Title
The Legend of the 'Martyr King' : Political Representation in The Man of Law's Tale

Published
Shiron 39: 1-19, 2000.

Description
Explores the narrator's "royalist" politics in MLT, arguing that they are "more incomplete" than the narrator thinks. Alla is presented as a good king, and the Sultan follows the trajectory of a typical "martyr king," although the teller misunderstands the "value" of his martyrdom in the context of the court of Richard II, where the image of the martyr king was used to political advantage. Chaucer lampoons the Man of Law's political naiveteĢ.

Chaucer Subjects
Man of Law and His Tale.