Chaucer's 'Tale of Melibee': Its Tradition and Its Function in Fragment VII of the 'CanterburyTales'

Author / Editor
Christmas, Robert Alan.

Title
Chaucer's 'Tale of Melibee': Its Tradition and Its Function in Fragment VII of the 'CanterburyTales'

Published
DAI 29.09 (1969): 3093A.

Description
Treats Mel as a "consolatio," not an allegory, of the same genre as Boethius's "Consolation of Philosophy" and "designed to cure an excess of wrath" and to promote "forgiveness." Identifies ways that Mel engages thematically with the other tales in Part 7 of CT, particularly Tho, but also PrT, ShT, and NPT.

Chaucer Subjects
Tale of Melibee
Tale of Sir Thopas
Prioress and Her Tale
Shipman and His Tale
Nun's Priest and His Tale