The Physician's Tale

Virginia's death as depicted by Romanino.

"The Physician's Tale" is one of The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century.

It is a domestic drama about the relationship between a daughter and her father, based on a tale from the Histories of Titus Livius and retold in The Romance of the Rose. Additionally, Chaucer drew on John Gower's Confessio Amantis and the biblical story of Jephtha for inspiration.

Although difficult to date like most of Chaucer's tales, the Physician's tale is usually regarded as an early work of Chaucer-- probably written before much of the rest of the Canterbury Tales. Some scholars believe it may have originally been intended for Chaucer's poem The Legend of Good Women instead.[1] The long digression on governesses possibly alludes to a historical event and may serve to date it. In 1386, Elizabeth, the daughter of John of Gaunt, eloped to France with John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke. Elizabeth's governess was Katherine Swynford, who was also Gaunt's mistress and later wife. Chaucer's words on the virtues of governesses were potentially influenced by this scandal.[2][3]

The Physician's Tale is widely considered by Chaucerian scholars to be a failure, largely due to its convoluted moral message.[4][5] However, the story is still considered one of the moral tales, along with the Parson's Tale and the Knight's Tale. Additionally, the Physician's Tale is considered part of the Children's Cluster, a group of tales centered around child characters or themes of childhood.[6] Other tales in this cluster are the Prioress's Tale and the Pardoner's Tale.

  1. ^ Middleton, Anne (1973). "The "Physician's Tale" and Love's Martyrs: Ensamples Mo than Ten as a Method in the "Canterbury Tales"". The Chaucer Review. 8 (1): 9–32. ISSN 0009-2002.
  2. ^ The Politics of Ecology: Land, Life, and Law in Medieval Britain. Ohio State University Press. 2016. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-0-8142-1295-0.
  3. ^ Farber, Lianna (2004). "The Creation of Consent in the "Physician's Tale"". The Chaucer Review. 39 (2): 154–157. ISSN 0009-2002.
  4. ^ Bloch, R. Howard (1989). "Chaucer's Maiden's Head: "The Physician's Tale" and the Poetics of Virginity". Representations (28): 113–115. doi:10.2307/2928588. ISSN 0734-6018.
  5. ^ Middleton, Anne (1973). "The "Physician's Tale" and Love's Martyrs: Ensamples Mo than Ten as a Method in the "Canterbury Tales"". The Chaucer Review. 8 (1): 9, 12–13, 15, 23. ISSN 0009-2002.
  6. ^ "The Physician's Tale – The Open Access Companion to the Canterbury Tales". Retrieved 2023-12-16.