"The Merchant's Tale" is one of the most intriguing tales in Medieval literary canon The Canterbury Tales. In this tale,Chaucer created the Pluto-Proserpina episode which alludes to the biblical story of..."The Merchant's Tale" is one of the most intriguing tales in Medieval literary canon The Canterbury Tales. In this tale,Chaucer created the Pluto-Proserpina episode which alludes to the biblical story of God expelling Adam and Eve. Previous studies of the episode mainly focus on historical and mythological background of two pagan gods with some focusing on narrative function of the episode. Nevertheless, when examined through the lens of gender studies, Pluto and Proserpina are in effect fabricated as a substitution of God, revealing His androgyny. This article aims to analyze similarities and differences between PlutoProserpina episode, examine God's images in Holy Bible and Medieval society, and finally conclude that the modified God created by Chaucer in the Pluto-Proserpine episode unveils androgyny of God, which is a great challenge to Medieval ideology concerning God's gender.展开更多
文摘"The Merchant's Tale" is one of the most intriguing tales in Medieval literary canon The Canterbury Tales. In this tale,Chaucer created the Pluto-Proserpina episode which alludes to the biblical story of God expelling Adam and Eve. Previous studies of the episode mainly focus on historical and mythological background of two pagan gods with some focusing on narrative function of the episode. Nevertheless, when examined through the lens of gender studies, Pluto and Proserpina are in effect fabricated as a substitution of God, revealing His androgyny. This article aims to analyze similarities and differences between PlutoProserpina episode, examine God's images in Holy Bible and Medieval society, and finally conclude that the modified God created by Chaucer in the Pluto-Proserpine episode unveils androgyny of God, which is a great challenge to Medieval ideology concerning God's gender.
