喬叟《法學家的故事》及《學者的故事》中 人物性別認同與權力運作

Gendered Identity and the Operation of Power in Chaucer’s Man of Law’s Tale and Clerk’s Tale

蔡佩樺(Tsai, Peihua)

指導教授 ： 王明月

國立中正大學/文學院/外國語文學系/碩士(2012年)

摘要

在喬叟《法學家的故事》及《學者的故事》中，康絲坦絲和葛絲妲是順從且沉默的女性，然而她們的服從和沉默卻具有如此之大的力量，以致於能夠影響她們所愛的人，甚至使異教徒皈依基督教。本論文中，我參照現代理論家米歇爾傅柯(Michel Foucault)的權力運作論 (the operation of power and authority) 來探討康絲坦絲和葛斯妲的女性美德(wommanheede) 及她們的力量展現 (operation of power)。康絲坦絲和葛絲妲的女性聲音也許是沉默壓抑的，但她們在婚姻當中的從屬地位以及基督教社會加諸於她們之身的性別活動 (gendered activities) 引起我們對聖經當中權力運作的注意及探討興趣。喬叟筆下的女性角色乍讀之下似乎處於勢弱之態，表面上是由法學家和學者主導故事發展和講述她們對命運的無能為力及順從，而實際上這兩則故事的發展動線卻是深受女性美德展現的力量所牽引而導至開放式的結局。藉由傅柯以及當代喬叟學者如 Carolyn Dinshaw, Mary Erler, Maryanne Kowaleski, 以及Helen Cooper 的論述，我主張喬叟的《法學家的故事》及《學者的故事》旨在闡述女性服從和堅忍美德的力量，並且告誡世人耐心和信仰不但是基督徒為宗教奉獻的中心意旨，亦是人性重要一面。本論文主張藉由傅柯的權力運作論檢視這兩部作品性別意識形態和權力運作，並期望此論文能幫助讀者更深入詮釋並理解喬叟文本。

關鍵字

喬叟 ； 傅柯 ； 權力

並列摘要

In Chaucer’s Man of Law’s Tale and Clerk’s Tale, Constance and Griselda are submissive and silent women, yet their silence and obedience are so powerful that they cast huge influence upon people they love and even convert pagans to Christianity. In this thesis, I examine Constance and Griselda’s “wommanheede” (ClT 1075) and their operation of power in the light of Michel Foucault’s theory of power. Constance and Griselda’s female voice may be reticent, yet the subjugation they experience in their marriage and the gendered identity that the Christian society casts upon them may call our attention to the operation of power as explored in the Bible. Chaucer’s women are seemingly powerless. On the surface, it is about their powerlessness to their fate that the Man of Law and the Clerk develop the storyline of their tales; however, lurking beneath the surface, the power of female virtues brings the stories to open-ended closure. Following Foucault and recent Chaucerian scholars, such as Carolyn Dinshaw, Mary Erler, Maryanne Kowaleski, and Helen Cooper, I argue that in Man of Law’s Tale and Clerk’s Tale Chaucer writes about women who revel in the power they attain through absolute submission and female fortitude so as to show us that patience and faith are central to both the Christian devotion and humanity. By examining the female characters’ gendered activities and operation of power in the two tales of the Canterbury Tales in the light of Foucault’s theory of power, it is hoped that the findings of my thesis will help readers better understand the meaning of Chaucer’s text.

並列關鍵字

Geoffrey Chaucer ； female fortitude ； Michel Foucault

參考文獻

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Bennett, Judith M. “Public Power and Authority in the Medieval English Countryside.” Women and Power in the Middle Ages. Eds. Mary Erler and Maryanne Kowaleski. Athens: U of Georgia P, 1988. 18-36.

Besserman, Lawrence L. Chaucer’s Biblical Poetics. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1998.

Biscoglio, Frances Minetti. The Wives of the Canterbury Tales and the Tradition of the Valiant Woman of Proverbs 31:10-31. San Francisco: Mellen Research UP, 1993.

Blamires, Alcuin. Chaucer, Ethics, and Gender. New York: Oxford UP, 2006.