| Few of Chaucer's works provoke such animosity as does his “Clerk's Tale.” Modern critics are divided by the social and gender issues to which the tale lends itself. However, the tale was immensely popular to Middle Age audiences and was one of the best loved of the Canterbury Tales. Therefore, to dismiss this tale's literary values outright, as some critics have done, is a mistake. By examining the history of the Griselda story, Chaucer's use of his source materials, and the tale's placement within the Canterbury Tales, this thesis is an attempt to examine the tale in more culturally, religiously, and historically appropriate way. |
