A possible direct link between the two greatest literary collections of the fourteenth century, Boccaccio's 'Decameron' and Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales', has long tantalized readers because these works share many stories, which are, moreover, placed in similar frames. And yet, although he identified many of his sources, Chaucer never mentioned Boccaccio; indeed when he retold the 'Decameron's' final 'novella', his pilgrim, the Clerk, states that it was written by Petrarch. For these reasons, most scholars now believe that while Chaucer might have heard parts of the earlier collection when he was in Italy, he did not have it at hand as he wrote. This volume aims to change our understanding of this question. It analyses the relationship between the 'Shipman's Tale', originally written for the Wife of Bath, and 'Decameron' 8.10, not seen before as a possible source. The book also argues that more important than the narratives that Chaucer borrowed is the literary technique that he learned from Boccaccio - to make tales from ideas. This technique, moreover, links the 'Shipman's Tale' to the 'Miller's Tale' and the new 'Wife of Bath's Tale'. Although at its core a hermeneutic argument, this book also delves into such important areas as alchemy, domestic space, economic history, folklore, Irish/English politics, manuscripts, and misogyny.
Author(s): Frederick M. Biggs
Series: Chaucer Studies, 44
Publisher: D. S. Brewer
Year: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 292
City: Cambridge
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Conventions for Citing Editions
Introduction
Manuscripts of the 'Canterbury Tales' and Chaucer’s Access to the 'Decameron'
1. Boccaccio as the Source for Chaucer’s Use of Sources
Sources and Analogues
Allusions and Verbal Echoes
'Sources and Analogues of the Canterbury Tales' and the 'Nun’s Priest’s Tale'
Tales with No Source: 'Sir Thopas', Squire, and Cook
The 'Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue' and 'Tale' and Gower’s 'Confessio Amantis'
Folktales, 'Fabliaux', and 'Exempla'
2. The Shipman’s Trade in Three 'Novelle' from the 'Decameron'
Folktales and a Pepper Mill
'Decameron' 8.2
'Decameron' 8.1
'Decameron' 8.10
The 'Shipman’s Tale'
3. Licisca’s Outburst: The Origin of the 'Canterbury Tales'
Licisca
Licisca as Source
4. Friar Puccio’s Penance: Upending the Knight’s Order
The Manuscript of 'Heile van Beersele'
Tubs in Two Tales
Tubs in Other Tales
Peronella, Berangier, and Punishment according to the Joints of the Body
'Decameron' 3.4: Narrative Borrowings
'Decameron' 3.4: Religion
Apology and Judgment
5. The 'Wife of Bath’s Tale' and the 'Tale of Florent'
Same Story, Different Meaning
Gower’s Use of Sources
The Chaucer–Gower Quarrel and the Date of the 'Wife of Bath’s Tale'
Making the 'Wife of Bath’s Tale'
Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography
Index of Passages from the works of Boccaccio, Chaucer, and Gower, and from 'Heile van Beersele'
Index
