What's Wrong with the Pardoner? Complexion Theory, the Phlegmatic Man, and Effeminacy
- Author / Editor
- Whitney, Elspeth.
What's Wrong with the Pardoner? Complexion Theory, the Phlegmatic Man, and Effeminacy
- Published
- Chaucer Review 45 (2011): 357-89.
- Description
- In the context of medieval humoral symptomatology, Chaucer's Pardoner fits the profile of a phlegmatic male. This diagnosis explains, in turn, his corrupt character, for "incontinence, excess, deceitfulness, cowardice, and negligence" in a man were all thought to be symptoms of excessive phlegm.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Pardoner and His Tale