When Pardon Is Impossible: Two Talmudic Tales, Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale, and Levinas

Author / Editor
Astell, Ann W.

Title
When Pardon Is Impossible: Two Talmudic Tales, Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale, and Levinas

Published
Ann W. Astell and J. A. Jackson, eds. Levinas and Medieval Literature: The "Difficult Reading" of English and Rabbinic Texts (Pittsburgh, Penn.: Duquesne University Press, 2009), pp. 255-80.

Description
Two talmudic tales interpreted by Levinas complement PardT in "uncanny ways." While Chaucer explores the impossibility of forgiveness from the perspective of the offender, the talmudic tales explore the impossibility of forgiveness from the perspective of the offended. ParsT informs a reading of PardT just as the sayings of the Rabbis inform the tales of Rab. Astell explores the concept of time in relation to forgiveness and comments on Chaucer's petition for forgiveness in Ret.

Alternative Title
Levinas and Medieval Literature: The "Difficult Reading" of English and Rabbinic Texts.

Chaucer Subjects
Pardoner and His Tale
Parson and His Tale
Chaucer's Retraction
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations