"is there a loathly lady in the tale? well SORT OF"

April 15, 2022 7:16 PM

"The Seven Daughters Of The Cailleach Foraoise" by Dyce (Sarah Blackwell) is tagged "new fairy tales / going old school with this one / threes and sevens and animals in danger and trick questions / the lot / enjoy": "Being kind of heart, he wrapped his hands in his cloak to protect them, and freed the young fox despite its attempts to bite him." Thematically related: Kate Clayborn writes a Twitter thread on the Canterbury Tales, the loathly lady, and 'a quest to find a true answer to the question "what do women most desire"' (nitter view, Threadreader view): "i really need to say a word on behalf of my old friend the wife of bath" [Content note for mention of rape in Twitter thread.]
posted by brainwane (3 comments total)

Angela Carter wrote an essay in Shaking a Leg called "Alison's Giggle" about the unfaithful young wife in The Miller's Tale that was also a nice examination of female desire in Chaucer.

And yes it is extremely annoying to see a writer conflate the Wife of Bath with the Loathly Lady. Not the same! At all!

The short story was nice, but a little pat. Fairy tales can be like that if you're not careful, the best ones have more mystery and ambiguity around them.
posted by emjaybee at 8:27 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

The Miller's Tale

My Middle English prof had far too much fun pronouncing (with, um, gestures) queynte, and also Absolon & Nicholas were both ... well, I'll spare us all the obvious joke and just say that people are remarkably similar across the eons despite the innumerable idiotic beliefs we all hold.

This tale is doon, and God save al the rowte!

Indeed.
posted by aramaic at 10:51 PM on April 15, 2022

I enjoyed the story, and the politeness of the younger son and the entire family--but this definitely does a one-two-skip-a-few about the original conflict with the uncle! I wanted to know what happened with that!!!
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:29 AM on April 17, 2022