The Bane of Flattery in the World of Chaucer and Langland
- Author / Editor
- Wurtele, Douglas (J.)
The Bane of Flattery in the World of Chaucer and Langland
- Published
- Florilegium 19: 1-25, 2002.
- Description
- Patristic and scholastic writers condemn flattery as misuse of speech and an activity conducive to fraud. Chaucer's stricture on flattery initially appears comic, yet it is more direct and explicit than Langland's harsh condemnation, which Chaucer may have known. NPT, ParsT, WBT, and MerT illustrate how seriously Chaucer treats the problem of flattery.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Nun's Priest and His Tale.
- Parson and His Tale.
- Wife of Bath and Her Tale.
- Merchant and His Tale.