W(h)ither Feminism? Gender, Subjectivity, and Chaucer's Knight's Tale

Abstract

Abstract In Chaucer's Knight's Tale, Emelye's vulnerability, and the focus on modes of agency and expression traditionally associated with women, allows Chaucer to imagine an interventionist, feminist version of the human that is not defined by domination and governance, but by forbearance and endurance. This model of subjectivity arises from imagining the human body not as closed, disciplined, and effectively distanced, but as open, fluid, and frequently compromised. Emelye's precarity makes room for a more egalitarian subjectivity, which is based on yielding rather than wielding power. That this model of subjectivity did not gain historical prominence does not diminish its importance in thinking about how Chaucer challenges and potentially reformulates the gender politics of his day.