Barbara Nolan, "'A Poet Ther Was': Chaucer's Voices in the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales."

by Amy Beasley
Web posted at 4:02 PM on 3/2/96 from 9.salc.wsu.edu.

Nolan, Barbara. "'A Poet Ther Was': Chaucer's Voices in the General
Prologue to The Canterbury Tales." PMLA 101.2 (March 1986): 154-69.

(Introduction)
Influence of rhetorical handbooks on General Prologue. Nolan notices three different attempts at beginning, "impersonations" by author.

I. Multiple Voicing in Medieval Theory and Practice
* Important for a number of medieval forms.
* Leads Nolan to suggest a rhetorical and dialogic analysis of voice rather than autobiographical.

II. Chaucer's Voices in the General Prologue
* First & last ("clerk's" and host's) are diametrically opposed, pilgrim is mediator.

III. The Clerk's Voice [p. 23 , lines 1-18]
* Knows Latin literary tradition, rhetorical composition, science, philosophy.
* Rhetorical description of spring points to whole order of creation, hierarchy in universe.
* Heightened, philosophizing, voice of authoritative literary tradition.

IV. The Pilgrim's Voice [p. 23, line 19 - p. 35, line 746]
* Personal "I" along with abrupt break constitutes "semantic reversal" of dialogic discourse.
* Use of "I" suggests speaker is pilgrim first, attempting a poet's task.
* Pilgrim claims fellowship with group members, becomes part of matter of observation.

V. The Pilgrim's Portrait Gallery
* Individual characters avoid formulaic expectations of transcendent ideals.
* Parson's portrait exemplifies coincidence of word & deed that others lack.

VI. The Pilgrim Voice and the Question of Truth
* Misreading of Plato leads to two different ideas of imitation.
* As historian, Pilgrim's words point to transient phenomena rather than transcendent truths.
* Audience must translate unstable, ambiguous signs into meaning.

VII. The Host's Voice [p. 35-36, lines 747-end]
* Harry's theory of fiction: for play and financial profit, not truth or quest for truth.
* Pilgrimage designed for meditation & introspection, Harry demands constant distraction.
* Chaucer both defends and expresses reservations about delights of
rhetorical coloring.

(Conclusion)
* Host & clerkly "frame" offer opposing, static images of poetry.
* Pilgrim's voice allows active, dialogic exploration of human condition.

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