Chaucer's Tale of Melibee and the Failure of Allegory

Author / Editor
Taylor, Jamie.

Title
Chaucer's Tale of Melibee and the Failure of Allegory

Published
Exemplaria 21 (2009): 83-101.

Description
Considers Mel as an allegory of translation, proposing that Chaucer applies legal theory drawn from Henry de Bracton's "De legibus et consuetudinibus Angliae" to questions of ownership. In MelP, Chaucer uses "thyng" as a legal term pertaining to an author's use or ownership of an allegory.

Chaucer Subjects
Tale of Melibee
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations
Language and Word Studies