A Transcendent Excess: Examining Griselda’s Assent in Chaucer’s Clerk’s Tale through Georges Bataille’s Atheological Mysticism

This article explores Chaucer’s Clerk’s Tale and the nature of Griselda’s excessive, seemingly limitless assent to Walter’s demands of obedience. Though critically Griselda has been seen at times as an antifeminist figure that dutifully accepts the dictates of her husband, the article argues on the contrary that Griselda’s excess of devotion reflects a mystical identity through its implicit meditations on power and sexuality. By examining the nature of Griselda’s response to Walter, particularly through the lens of Georges Bataille’s atheological mysticism, it reveals a Griselda whose excess of assent, willful self-sacrifice, and physical humiliation counteract the power dynamic by which Walter seeks to assert his dominance. Thus the more that Griselda reaches beyond herself, the more the very concept of the rational “I” becomes nullified, thereby bringing into question notions of subjectivity and selfhood.