SOURCE: “Sex, Discourse and Silence,” in Chaucer's Women: Nuns, Wives and Amazons, Macmillan, 1990, pp. 218-30.

In the following essay, Martin assesses the way in which Chaucer's heroines use both speech and silence to their advantage. Additionally, Martin demonstrates the correlation between the biblical archetypes of Eve and Mary—as representatives of “improper” and “proper” female behavior—and Chaucer's heroines, such as the Wife of Bath and the Prioress.

In felaweshipe wel koude she laughe and carpe 

CT [Canterbury Tales] I 474

In the “General Prologue” we are told that the Wife of Bath laughs and talks well in company, whereas the first attribute in the portrait of the Prioress is her ‘coy’, or quiet, smile. This is one of the most significant contrasts between these very different women. One is quiet, one is voluble throughout the Canterbury Tales. The Prioress never speaks during the Links between the stories. Harry...