'For my Synne and for my Yong Delite': Chaucer, the Tale of Beryn, and the Problem of Adolescentia

Most criticism of the Tale of Beryn deals principally with the ‘continuities’ between the text and Chaucer’s work. Contrary to this position, the paper concentrates on the points at which Beryn departs from Chaucer, signalling how the later poet engages with and even challenges his predecessor in productive ways. In particular it focuses on the different attitudes to adolescence put forward by the two poets. It is found that the later writer exploits latent discrepancies in Chaucer’s text to initiate a debate on youth, sensing a greater level of danger in adolescence than his forebear.