Gender, Vulgarity, and the Phantom Debates of Chaucer's "Merchant's Tale."

Author / Editor
Pugh, Tison.

Title
Gender, Vulgarity, and the Phantom Debates of Chaucer's "Merchant's Tale."

Published
Studies in Philology 114 (2017): 473-96.

Description
Argues that MerT is unified by its engagement with medieval debate tradition, evident in a series of five episodes that concern competing views on gender and marriage. Moreover, the "phantom debate" of the Merchant's "split consciousness" and the Host's reported conflicts with his wife evoke ongoing concerns with gender and matrimony, while leaving May to stand as a "parodic figure of female wisdom."

Chaucer Subjects
Merchant and His Tale