Marriage, Adultery and Inheritance in Malory's 'Morte Darthur' by Karen Cherewatuk

Abstract

MLR, 103.2, 2oo8 507 theevolution of the Tales. The drawback is that the 'Testament' isnot independently extant: it was only ever 'effectuated inone ormore reading performances' (p. 222) and detective work is required to recover its lineaments now.Accordingly, Lindeboom's book revels inmind-boggling archaeological sleuthdom. On the tiny foundations of the famous Confessio allusion toChaucer and of the Man ofLaw's alleged insinuations about Gower's subject-matter, amassive superstructure of speculation is erected. Parts of the superstructure involve reversion to obsolescent critical positions. In what is called the 'Gowerization' (p. 46) of the tales, the Parson's Tale emerges as the 'eschatological key', converting what had begun as amiscellany into a focused spiritual and confessional work addressing the sins and virtues (pp. IO-12). Linde boom maintains that 'the Wife, Pardoner and Parson, the only threepilgrims whose speeches are sermons constructed out of confession joined to an exposition of the Deadly Sins', are complementary figureswho constitute the core of the 'Testament' (P. I07). The Wife ofBath's Prologue and Tale especially are 'a sparklingminiature Confessio amantis intended to outdo Gower at every turn' (p. I48). Gower is defi nitely 'outdone' if,as Lindeboom supposes, the Wife simultaneously mimics Gower's Amans (making her confession of sins), Genius (the Pardoner calls her a 'prechour'), and Venus (as debauched seductress). Above all, the Wife's performance isalleged to be a systematic self-indictment of sins specifically found in theParson's catalogue and the Pardoner's performance is a self-indictment of any that are leftover. This manages to ignore altogether what ismost demonstrable about the Wife ofBath and Pardoner: that their 'confessional' stimulus comes fromChaucer's fascination with theRoman de laRose, not from theParson's Tale. Lindeboom surrounds his major premiss with multiple ancillary speculations. In order to reconstruct the 'Testament', tales and portions of them are radically filleted, reassigned todifferentspeakers, and recontextualized. The Envoy to theClerk's Tale, for example, is found to have been originally a comment on theWife of Bath, fol lowing her original participation in the relic-kissing scene at the conclusion of the Pardoner's Tale, which in turnwas originally aimed against her. The last portion of the book is devoted to proving that theWife of Bath's and Pardoner's performances are sermons at the same time as they are confessions; and that the sermons include furthermini-sermons. This is as confusing as it sounds, and it is further complicated by the author's adherence to 'exegetical' readings of these 'sermons' whereby anythingwritten can signify many other things. The unfinished state of theCanterbury Tales will always be an enticement to those who like to solve puzzles. Lindeboom marshals the pieces to fithis particular jigsaw with extraordinary tenacity.Even so, he has to introduce many of his headier spe culations with the formula 'What if . . .?'. One can only respond: what if the reader does not accept thehypothesis thatGower provoked Chaucer into a literarysparring match? A book of 477 pages is an enormous risk in thatcontext. GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON ALCUIN BLAMIRES Marriage, Adultery and Inheritance in Malory's 'MorteDarthur'. By KAREN CHERE WATUK. (Arthurian Studies, 67) Cambridge: Brewer. 2006. ii+ I53 PP- ?45; $8o. ISBN 978-I-84384-089-3. This book is a series of short studies on a single theme, although it involves the investigation of a variety of extremely interesting 'subthemes'. Karen Cherewatuk establishes and accepts the idea of an aspiring gentry audience for Malory. She notes also that the storieswere read and owned by those inhigher levels of the elite. Cherewatuk examines the idea of companionate and political/societal marriage, and the interaction between the two,by comparing literaryevidence from the Morte 508 Reviews Darthur with historical evidence from the contemporary Paston Letters. She draws comparisons between Gareth and Lancelot, noting the attitudes tomarriage this reveals for Malory, and (by implication) forhis audience. The Church's ideas ofmar riage are then compared with those of the contemporary English nobility and gentry. Gareth's story foregrounds, and deals with, the tensions which existed (as, again, demonstrated in the Pastons' letters) between companionate relationships and the gentry's need for social stability.We cannot escape, Cherewatuk maintains, the fact that love...