Fire in the House: Ralph Waldo Emerson's Misreading of Lines 1139-45 in Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale

Author / Editor
Beidler, Peter G.

Title
Fire in the House: Ralph Waldo Emerson's Misreading of Lines 1139-45 in Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale

Published
ChauR 37 : 86-94, 2002.

Description
Emerson's allusion in "The Poet" to the lecture on gentility in WBT attributes the sentiment to Chaucer (rather than to the Wife), concentrates on the fire's brightness, and suggests that the passage refers to "good blood in mean condition." Since Emerson's purpose was to comment on the role of poets in social liberation, he probably recognized his misreading and used it deliberately.

Chaucer Subjects
Chaucer's Influence and Later Allusion.
Wife of Bath and Her Tale.