Chaucer's De-colonized Custance

Abstract

Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale (MLT) contains several non-Western views, religious practices, cultures and laws. Most importantly, within the MLT readers can discover an alternative to viewing non-Western people as enemies. By role-modeling the simple law of good, Custance becomes a hybridized queen who holds disparate contexts together. This essay blends postcolonial theory with decolonial options to show how Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale presents a less dehumanized narrative than most scholarship maintains, especially when compared to Nicholas Trive's version of the same story. Rather than vilifying the common foes of Christian Western Civilization, Chaucer's Custance demonstrates a de-colonization of cultural bias by living the law of good, which enables all who practice it to accept the differences of others.