Almost Heirs

Chapter 5 approaches the obstacle that daughters posed to male reproductive authority. Daughters, in their limited resemblance to their fathers, became an embodiment of “unlikeness,” terrifying doubles of men who could neither disown them, marry them, nor accept them fully as their heirs. Analyzing the Man of Law’s Tale, this chapter argues that Chaucer’s heroine, Custance, moves through the consequences of her own unlikeness, as the men and women around her are challenged to improve their capacity for perception. It is only when Custance has a son of her own that she can finally be recognized by father and husband alike, and therefore reintegrated into her own lineage. Analogy thus becomes the dominant intellectual desire within this story, replacing the longing for certainty that was tied to men’s production of sons. The chapter concludes by noting that the Man of Law himself claims that while he cannot serve as Chaucer’s heir, perhaps he could serve as an analogous reminder of his poetic talent.