'In Hir Tellyng Difference': Gender, Authority, and Interpretation in the Tale of Melibee

Description: Mel is "very much about what happens when texts are taken out of one context and put to work in another." Prudence invokes gender in shaping her arguments, and her presentation of her authorities reminds us that the "processes of textual engendering and reproduction" are not simple transmission. Her "work" as a compiler and interpreter "mirrors Chaucer's own role" in compiling his tales, as well as his concern about the relationship between authority and authorship.