Alcohol, Community, and Chaucer's Pardoner: Ale as a Populist Antidote to Alienating Avant-Gardism.

Published: John A. Geck, Rosemary O’Neill, and Noelle Phillips, eds. Beer and Brewing in Medieval Culture and Contemporary Medievalism (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), pp. 341-62

Description: Assesses references to ale and wine in PardPT as they reflect the Pardoner's "submerged desire" to bond with the Host and his simultaneous attempt to compete with Harry as leader of the pilgrimage. Argues that "the metaphorical ale-stake associated with the Summoners' body" in GP frames the ale-stake of PardP, setting the Pardoner's "conflicted masculinity" in competition for and against the "hyper-masculine" Host, who repudiates the Pardoner's over-reaching efforts to reach and outreach him.

Alternative Title: Beer and Brewing in Medieval Culture and Contemporary Medievalism