SUMMERS, KAREN CRADY, Ph.D. Reading Incest - The University ...

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epilogue that acts as a prayer for Britain. 14
It is also a history of incest. Genius gives an
account of the Creation and the Fall and in doing so tells explains why the first
‘marriages’ were incestuous, and why this was acceptable then and not now. 15
Amans
denies ever feeling incestuous desires:
Mi fader, nay, god wot the sothe,
Mi feire is noght of such a bothe,
So wylde a man yit was I nevere,
That of mi ken or lief or levere
Me liste love in such a wise (VIII.169-73)
The short tales in book eight of Caligula, who “of his oghne Sostres thre / Berefte the
virginite” (VIII. 136-7) and Amon, who slept with his sister Tamar, end with their
destruction. Caligula lost his empire and his life through the ire of God, and Amon’s
incest led to his death at the hand of his brother Absolom. These unkynde sins are
mitigated in kynde fashion: the punishment fits the crime, in reasonable fashion, and
incest is, simply, a destructive and harmful act. Amon and Caligula do not have youth
and innocence as do Canace and Machaire. As mature, experienced men they would be
expected to have already learned self-governance and because they have not, they are
destroyed. The message is clear: little sympathy may be extended to those who
consciously and deliberately act in unkynde ways, and kynde is an outcome of the process
of reason. How safe can Rome be when there is such a ruler as Caligula? The third
14 As there are at least two versions of the Prologue, so are there two conclusions to the poem. In the 1390
version that was dedicated to Richard, the poet prays that Richard will rule with universal justice. In the
later version, dedicated to Henry, the prayer is dedicated to the welfare of England with the hope that
Henry and all men will practice good self-government so that the nation will find peace in a shared vision
of righteousness.
15 I have detailed this account in my Introduction. Also see pp. 44-5.