Proserpine: 'Liberatrix Suae Gentis'

Author / Editor
Otten, Charlotte F.

Title
Proserpine: 'Liberatrix Suae Gentis'

Published
Chaucer Review 5.4 (1971): 277-87.

Description
Analyzes the "comic unity" of the Pluto-Proserpine episode of MerT with the four biblical accounts women to: Rebecca, Judith, Abigail, and Esther (4.1362-74), all figures of deliverance rather than deception. By association, Proserpine should be read as the deliverer of May.

Chaucer Subjects
Merchant and His Tale
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations