The Evolution of the 'Clerk's Tale': A Study in Connotation

Published: Alfred L. Kellogg. Chaucer, Langland, Arthur: Essays in Middle English Literature (New Brunswick, N. J.: Rutgers University Press, 1972), pp. 276-329.

Description: Reads Boccaccio's, Petrarch's and Chaucer's versions of the tale of Griselda, observing particular emphases, similarities, and differences, especially those that pertain to Griselda in relation to the ideal of the "mulier fortis" of Proverbs 31.10 in tension with traditional notions of female weakness. Also comments on the targeted audiences of the three versions, including the Clerk's address to the Wife of Bath. Includes an appendix on Griselda's "moral responsibility."

Alternative Title: Chaucer, Langland, Arthur: Essays in Middle English Literature.

Chaucer Subjects: Clerk and His Tale; Wife of Bath and Her Tale; Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations