FHS Literary Society: Dr Marilyn Corrie on Chaucers The Merchants Prologue and Tale
On Thursday 26th November, the Literary Societys second lecture of the term took place, when Dr Marilyn Corrie, Lecturer in Medieval English Literature at University College London, spoke on Chaucers The Merchants Prologue and Tale from The Canterbury Tales. An audience comprising not only our own Sixth Formers, parents and staff, but also students and staff from FHS Regents Park and North London Collegiate School, enjoyed Dr Corries incisive and thorough exploration of the Tale. In particular, Dr Corrie focused on the representation of the young wife, May, as a construct of medieval anti-feminism and challenged us to consider whether Chaucer himself may be considered a feminist, Chaucer being the first writer in English to give voices to women in his writing. Questions from the audience afterwards enabled Dr Corrie to locate Chaucer against a broader medieval European tradition of womens writing and writing about women, including that by Christine de Pizan.
