The Tale of Melibee

E951993

The Tale of Melibee is a lengthy prose narrative in Geoffrey Chaucer’s *Canterbury Tales* that explores themes of patience, counsel, and forgiveness through a moral debate over how to respond to injury.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
The Tale of Melibee canonical 2
Tale of Melibee 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Canterbury Tales tale ⓘ
moral tale ⓘ
prose narrative ⓘ
adaptationOf Liber consolationis et consilii ⓘ
audience medieval lay readers and listeners concerned with ethical conduct ⓘ
author Geoffrey Chaucer ⓘ
centralCharacter Melibee ⓘ
Prudence ⓘ
containsCharacter Melibee’s daughter ⓘ
containsMotif consultation of multiple advisers ⓘ
wounded child as a test of parental virtue ⓘ
contrastWith The Tale of Sir Thopas ⓘ
linked to: Tale of Sir Thopas
didacticPurpose to instruct readers in the discernment of good and bad counsel ⓘ
to promote patience and forgiveness in the face of injury ⓘ
form prose ⓘ
genre didactic literature ⓘ
moral allegory ⓘ
historicalPeriod late 14th century ⓘ
interpretiveIssue often discussed in relation to Chaucer’s views on authority and textual citation ⓘ
language Middle English ⓘ
length one of the longer tales in The Canterbury Tales ⓘ
literaryFunction illustrates the value of wise counsel over rash vengeance ⓘ
provides a serious, didactic counterpoint to more comic tales in The Canterbury Tales ⓘ
literaryTradition medieval conduct and consolation literature ⓘ
moral Christians should seek prudent counsel and practice mercy rather than immediate revenge. ⓘ
moralTechnique use of authorities and exempla to support Prudence’s arguments ⓘ
narrativeMode frame tale within a pilgrimage narrative ⓘ
narratorWithinCanterburyTales Chaucer (the pilgrim) ⓘ
linked to: Chaucer the pilgrim
originalMedium manuscript ⓘ
partOf The Canterbury Tales ⓘ
plotSummary Melibee seeks revenge after enemies attack his house and injure his daughter, while his wife Prudence counsels patience and forgiveness. ⓘ
positionInCanterburyTales told after The Tale of Sir Thopas ⓘ
religiousContext medieval Christian morality ⓘ
setting Melibee’s household and its surrounding community ⓘ
source French prose version of the Liber consolationis et consilii ⓘ
sourceAuthor Albertanus of Brescia ⓘ
structure extended debate between Melibee and Prudence ⓘ
style heavily rhetorical and exemplum-based ⓘ
theme Christian ethics ⓘ
counsel ⓘ
forgiveness ⓘ
patience ⓘ
proper response to injury ⓘ
prudence ⓘ
revenge ⓘ
tone serious and didactic ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Chaucer the pilgrim → tellsTale → The Tale of Melibee ⓘ
Tale of Sir Thopas → followedBy → The Tale of Melibee ⓘ
Hengwrt Manuscript of The Canterbury Tales → associatedWork → Tale of Melibee ⓘ
linked to: The Tale of Melibee