Edel Mulcahy: “‘Of swiche cursed stories I sey fy’: Incest and its consequences in Middle English Exempla”
-Incest as one of the last remaining taboos (Game of Thrones as contemporary example)
- Literary depictions of incest in Medieval period referred to as “cursed stories”
- This pape will examine incest in Middle English Exempla
- Incest as widely discussed topic in Medieval period (contemporary concern amongst church hierarchy over what constituted incest)
- Medieval writers depicted varied accounts of incest
-Exempla did not ignore incest but used as a cautionary tale
- Used topic as means of explore God’s capacity for forgiveness
- Women were often the aggressor (women, like their ancestor Eve, have insatiable appetites)
In contrast to Romance narratives in which an elderly father attempts to seduce his daughter
- “The Life of Secundis” – Secundis returns from study like a pilgrim – when he returns home he decides to test what he has learnt about the “lustful nature” of women by seducing his mother
- He lies in bed with her but doesn’t sleep with – her obliviousness to his identity, in the context of the story, excuse her behaviour
- Removal of the father in
leads to disorder – again emphasises forgiving nature of God.
- “The Tale of the Incestuous Daughter” – focuses on importance of divine figure
- Wanton daughter contrasted with devout mother
- daughter sleeps with her father which leads to her eventual murder of the resultant children
- Father seeks repentance – but daughter blames him and ultimately kills him in a brutal manner
- She thus prevents him from undertaking a penitential pilgrimage and thus receiving forgiveness
- Incest is always followed by murder (usually infanticide or patricide)
- Daughter repents before bishop – demonstrating that no sin is too great for God to forgive
- Stories emphasise the importance of confession ad repentance
- In Romance tales, it is the father whose desire instigates incest
- it usual propels the daughter from her home
- daughter usually confined to home, but incest narrative gives her an incentive to travel and have adventures usually unavailable to a woman at the time
