Fragments I-II and III-V in The Canterbury Tales : a re-examination of the Idea of the "Marriage Group"
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Publication Date
1-1-1988
Volume
19
First Page
80
Last Page
98
Publisher
University of California
Abstract
In this article I propose to change interpretive strategy and read the tales in Fragments I-II and III-V, not as a dramatic act, but as an ongoing discourse between Chaucer the ultimate narrator and the reader. In these fragments, Chaucer discusses marriage not in discursive terms but through an artistic handling of narrative materials. Therefore, we will examine how Chaucer treats the themes, characterization, plots, motifs, and images, and thereby get to know his ideas about different aspects of marriage and his attitudes toward different types of marriage. As we find out how Chaucer deliberately reworks and interweaves the recurrent themes, characterization, plots, motifs, and images in Fragments I-II and III-V, we will perceive the internal coherence of these fragments as Chaucer's sustained discussion of marriage with regard to its major aspects and types.
Print ISSN
00696412
E-ISSN
15570290
Publisher Statement
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Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Cai, Z.-q. (1988). Fragments I-II and III-V in The Canterbury Tales: A re-examination of the Idea of the "Marriage Group". Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 19, 80-98.