Experiencing Authority: The Wife of Bath's Deaf Ear and the Flawed Exegesis of St. Jerome.
- Author / Editor
- Pedersen, David.
Experiencing Authority: The Wife of Bath's Deaf Ear and the Flawed Exegesis of St. Jerome.
- Published
- Medieval Feminist Forum 55, no. 2 (2019): 98-114.
- Description
- Argues that the Wife’s non-congenital deafness signifies not spiritual deafness, but damage done to her by the contents of Jankyn's book, which she, ironically, destroys. Compares Alison's interpretations of Scripture in WBP with those of Jerome in "Adversus Jovinianum," identifying the "flawed" techniques of both and suggesting that, perhaps, “the authorities are not so authoritative.” Includes comments on medieval understanding of deafness.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Wife of Bath and Her Tale
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations