Chaucer's Clerk's Tale: The Griselda Story Received, Rewritten, Illustrated

Originally published in 1994. This surveys the origin and development of one of Chaucer’s most problematic characters, Griselda, who through the centuries has challenged the horizon of expectations of many an audience. Starting with Boccaccio’s Decameron and suggesting in turn its precursors in whole or in part, Bronfman goes on to summarize the reigning opinions of Chaucer’s heroine and her situation.

The advance of feminist perspectives on medieval literature had the result that for many t...