Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
12
Introduction
tohisseveredthroatandisconsequentlytransformedbytheVirgininto
anautomaton,whichturnsouttobeadirectpathtohissainthood.11Nev-
ertheless,Chaucer’scharactercannotbeperceivedasamonsterinthe
sameunderstandingastheliteraryfiguresweshallfocusonhere:asoff-
springborndeformed(oraccusedofdeformitybythosewhousecalumny
asaweapondirectedagainstthemother).Still,themonstrouschildren
whowillbeofinterestforussharewiththecharactersbroachedabove
thepotentialforholinessandthereligiousbackgroundoftheirdeformity.
Thoserepresentationsofchildrenaremultifacetedandhencetheybear
anumberofsimilaritiestotheJanus-facedimageofamonsterthatemerges
fromtheancient,medieval,andRenaissanceculture.Themalformedor
deformedbeingrepresentsthereboththesinfulnessoftheworldandthe
unfathomablecharacterofthedivinity.
Whatundoubtedlyneedsmoreexplorationisthefunction,orratherthe
functionsofmonstrouschildren,torestatetheissueinvestigatedbyDavid
WilliamsinhisstudyDeformedDiscourse:TheFunctionoftheMonster
inMediaevalThoughtandLiterature.12Thereligious,moral,andfinally
ideologicalmessagethatthoserepresentationsentailhastobeinvesti-
gated,particularlyduetothecontextofconversionandthesacramentof
baptismthatconsistentlyappearsinthenarrativesthatwillbeinterpreted
intheensuingsectionsofthisstudy.Monstrositythusbecomesatext
inscribedontobodiesforareason;thepurposeoftheinscriptionhasto
undergoaseriousquestioning.Deformitymaybesubjecttometaphoriza-
tionasaninstanceofwritingthatneedsdeciphering.Themetaphorin
turnmightbeconducivetomoregeneralreflectiononthenatureofthe
11AndrzejWicherthuscommentsonthemachine-likequalityoftheboy’sbodyin
hislife-in-deathstate:“Thechild’slifeisnot,however,trulyprolonged,heisturnedinto
asortofcyborgdesignedtoreproduceincessantlyandmonotonouslytheanthem,Alma
RedemptorisMater,aparadoxicalstatewhichtheboyhimselfaccuratelydescribesas
‘singinginmydeath’(l.660).Theparadoxconsistsherealsointhefactthattheboy’sonly
bodilyfunctionthatisleft,apartfromhisbriefstatementjustbeforetheultimatedeath,
issingingaloud,i.e.somethingthatheistheleastlikelytobeabletodobecauseofthe
natureofhiswound”;AndrzejWicher,“SoundingtheLimitsofEroticisminChaucer’s
ThePrioress’sTale”in:RepresentationsoftheErotic,eds.TadeuszRachwałandTadeusz
Sławek(Katowice:WydawnictwoUniwersytetuŚląskiego,1996),pp.29137.
12SeeDavidWilliams,DeformedDiscourse:TheFunctionoftheMonsterinMediae-
valThoughtandLiterature(Exeter:UniversityofExeterPress,1996).
