Ventriloquizing Mothers: Chaucer's Poetic Authority in the Tale of Melibee and the Manciple's Tale

Abstract

Abstract The Tale of Melibee and the Manciple's Tale provide vivid examples of Chaucer's polyphonic authority and highlight the rich network of gendered speech that constitutes his mature voice. A significant portion of both tales relates the direct discourse of women, namely Prudence and the Manciple's mother. Chaucer uses these ventriloquized women to transform continental sources into male English voices, articulating the (re)productive potential of the literary tradition in his native vernacular. Unlike the Wife of Bath (who famously has no children), neither woman addresses the pilgrims in her own voice: it is the Chaucer pilgrim, the Manciple, and Chaucer himself who derive authority via their imported wisdom. Recognizing the ventriloquism of maternal voices in Melibee and the Manciple's Tale reveals that both tales continue to debate the woman question and help to construct Chaucer as the representative voice of Middle English literature.