So, we're studying 'The Wife of Bath', and of course the subject of gapped teeth come up. Over course, I was familiar with the concept through more modern wive's tales, but it's interesting that what popularized the belief was Chaucer. Now maybe someone can help me out here, because of course in the tale the teeth are referred to as the "Seal of Venus", and there are references to the "Womb of Venus", but yet I can't find a connection between the teeth gap and Venus. The only possibility I could assume is that perhaps it related the gap Venus and Mars leave when they pass the sun? I'm not sure, and I'm desperately open to any input. The professor could not answer this riddle either.
There's also the question of "why the gap?" Does it relate to symmetry, therefore beauty and thus the connection with sexual prowess?
Of course it was a wide belief before Chaucer's time that the soul is connected to appearance, meaning you could judge someone based on their looks. Chaucer is clearly playing on this in his tale of the double-standard between the sexes.
