CR Episode 90: Canterbury Tales XII – The Parson’s Tale and Chaucer’s Retraction

A MS illustration depicting Cherubim, the Ladder of Virtues, and the Tree of Penitence

Released on 9 August 2021:
https://criticalreadings.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/cr20210809.mp3

The panel concludes its summer reading of The Canterbury Tales with a look at penitence, sin, and freedom in The Parson’s Tale, and then considers whether Chaucer’s Retraction (Boece excluded!) is an appropriate end to the Tales and to Chaucer’s oeuvre.