Proverbs and the Wisdom of Literature: 'The Proverbs of Alfred' and Chaucer's 'Tale of Melibee'
- Author / Editor
- Cannon, Christopher.
Proverbs and the Wisdom of Literature: 'The Proverbs of Alfred' and Chaucer's 'Tale of Melibee'
- Published
- Textual Practice 24 (2010): 407-34.
- Description
- Explores medieval definitions and aesthetic responses to proverbs by examining "The Proverbs of Alfred" and Mel, exploring how each depends upon "acts of recognition that are produced by the repetition of well-worn truths." Both works are examples of "wisdom literature," which depends on an aesthetic sense alien to modern valorization of originality--one that satisfies by teaching us what we already know.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Tale of Melibee