초서, 가우어, 그리고 왕들의 귀감 장르: 「멜리비 이야기」와 『연인의 고백』을 중심으로

Chaucer’s Tale of Mellibee and Gower’s Confessio Amantis pursue the two-fold objectives of specula principum, or mirrors for princes, by revealing the king’s errors on the one hand and concealing the author’s intent to educate the king on the other. In each work, the conversational form and multilayered frame are used to protect the author from the king’s potential persecution. Thus Prudence’s wifely role (mis)presents the Melibee as an exemplum of ideal wifehood, while the penitential form of Confessio Amantis conceals the author’s true intent of advising the king. Both works, in fact, register anxiety about the effectiveness of royal education. It is arguable that these conflicting motivations make specula principum an elusively impractical genre. KCI Citation Count: 0