Tale of Constance.
- Author/Editor
- Rogers, Will, ed. and intro.
- Title
- Tale of Constance.
- Published
- Rogers, Will, ed. and intro. "Tale of Constance," In Medieval Disability Sourcebook: Western Europe, ed. Cameron Hunt McNabb (New York: Punctum, 2020), pp. 304-12.
- Review
- Rogers offers first an introduction to John Gower's "Tale of Constance" (Confessio Amantis Book II) from the perspective of Disability Studies before then presenting an edition of the tale, footnoted with special attention toward moments of impairment and/or disability. After providing a brief synopsis of both CA as a whole and then the tale itself, Rogers makes the claim that the tale "is ultimately about sight and perception" (304). Rogers calls our attention to Gower's emphasis on listening and hearing in the tale, reminding us that Envy--the section of the CA from which this tale is taken--is a sin that stems from sight. As Rogers nicely puts it, "no one truly sees Constance, besides those who attempt to destroy her, those who are physically blind, or those who die or are separated from her as a result of her friendship and love" (304). It is this emphasis on sight, then, and those moments in the tale to which Rogers directs readers who may be interested in disability and impairment. He reminds us, however, that blindness in the tale is a condition that requires intervention--whether medical or spiritual. Rogers concludes, "For Gower's text, as for Chaucer's, the fiction of the normal body is just that" (305). [JGS. Copyright. John Gower Society. eJGN 43.2]
- Date
- 2020
- Gower Subjects
- Facsimiles, Editions, and Translations
Confessio Amantis
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations