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Geoffrey Chaucer’s Hybrid Woman: The Prioress in The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer’ın Melez Kadını: Canterbury Hikayelerindeki Başrahibe

Journal Name:

  • Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi

Publication Year:

  • 2015

Key Words:

Keywords (Original Language):

Author NameUniversity of AuthorFaculty of Author
Abstract (2. Language): 
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales presents pilgrims whose status in the medieval three estates is not clearly defined. The Prioress is one of those pilgrims who experiences in-betweenness as she lives in what Bhabha terms the “territories” (1994, p. 28) of her former and present estates, the nobility and the clergy respectively. In fact, the members of medieval monasteries were mostly of the noble origin. Generally, it was not the choice of the members of the nobility to enter monasteries; yet, it was the wish of their families. Thereby, most of the noble men and women had to leave their previously secular and worldly life behind and live in full compliance with the monastic rules which required an entirely ascetic life. Accordingly, in most cases, the noble members of monasteries had difficulty in adjusting to monastic life which put them in between the territories of their former and present estates, in what Bhabha terms “a third space” (1994, p. 28). As they neither completely belonged to the nobility nor to the clergy, those nobles of monasteries lived in a third space contesting the territories of both estates. Thus, they became medieval hybrids. Similar to her historical counterparts, Chaucer’s Prioress of noble birth can find a fixed status or identity neither in the nobility nor in the clergy, and she has to live in between them. That is, the Prioress develops a hybrid identity at the interface between her former and present estates. Within this context, this paper aims to discuss Chaucer’s Prioress in The Canterbury Tales as a medieval hybrid who occupies a medieval third space on the borders between the nobility and the clergy.
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Abstract (Original Language): 
Geoffrey Chaucer’ın Canterbury Hikayeleri Ortaçağ’ın üç sınıfında yeri tam olarak belli olmayan hacıları resmeder. Eski (soylular) ve yeni (ruhban) sınıfları arasındaki Bhabha’nın deyişiyle “alanlarda” yaşam sürdüğü için arada kalan Başrahibe bu hacılardan biridir. Ortaçağ’da manastır mensupları genellikle soylulardan oluşurdu. Soylular manastırlara çoğunlukla kendi tercihlerinden değil, ailelerinin istekleri doğrultusunda girerlerdi. Bu yüzden, bu asil erkek ve kadınların çoğu laik ve dünyevi hayatlarını arkalarında bırakıp, bütünüyle dünyaya kapalı bir hayat gerektiren manastır kuralları doğrultusunda yaşamak zorunda kalırlardı. Dolayısıyla, manastırın asil mensupları çoğunlukla manastır hayatına ayak uydurmakta zorluk çekerler ve Bhabha’nın “üçüncü alan” olarak tanımladığı eski ve yeni sınıflarının arasında yaşamak zorunda bırakılırlardı. Tam anlamıyla ne soylu nede ruhban sınıfına ait olmayan manastırın bu soylu mensupları iki sınıfında alanlarını kapsayan üçüncü bir alanda yaşayarak Ortaçağın melez bireylerine dönüştüler. Tarihteki emsallerine benzer bir şekilde, kendine ne soylular nede ruhban sınıfında kabul gören bir konum ya da kimlik bulamayan Chaucer’ın asil kökenli Başrahibeside bu iki sınıfın arasındaki alanlarda yaşamak zorunda kalır. Başka bir deyişle, Başrahibe eski ve yeni sınıflarının arasındaki alanlarda melez bir kimlik geliştirir. Bütün bu bilgiler ışığında, bu makale Chaucer’ın Canterbury Hikayeleri’ndeki Başrahibesini Ortaçağın soylu ve ruhban sınıfları arasında “üçüncü alanda” yaşayan melez bir kimlik olarak ele almaktadır.
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