Geoffrey Chaucer and the culture of dissent : the Wycliffite context and subcontext of the Parson's Tale

Abstract

Geoffrey Chaucer's Parson's Tale is comparatively neglected by the critics who, as this thesis will demonstrate, perceive it to be an inept attempt at the closure of an otherwise masterful work. Its apparent opacity, furthermore, deters many readers. Nonetheless, Chaucer implicitly suggests a mode of reading this Tale by creating irrefutable similarities between his depiction of the Parson (in the General Prologue) and a Wycliffite Poor Priest. When the Parson rebukes the Host for swearing, furthermore, he is accused of being a Lollard. He does not deny this accusation (although one would expect such a renunciation from an orthodox priest), and in this fact, Chaucer encourages his reader to go in search of Lollard codes in the Parson's Tale.