Browse Items (16470 total)

Describes the cognitive condition of "mind blindness," often associated with autism, and argues that a literary version of the condition recurs in satire, where authors use the blind spots of characters to ironically convey unstated information. Uses…

As part of larger argument that miscellanies were an "essential material condition of vernacular literature before the introduction of printing," Shuffelton considers CT as a booklet miscellany.

Stemmler assesses representations of the Uprising of 1381 in several contexts: the "Anonimalle Chronicle," Henry Knighton's "Chronicon," Thomas Walsingham's "Historia Anglicana," Jean Froissart's "Chroniques," John Gower's "Vox Clamantis," Chaucer's…

A personal memoir recording a childhood experience of reading about "Dan" Chaucer in "The Book of Knowledge," leading to an early understanding of the unchanging drives and characteristics of human nature. A childhood neighbor was like the Wife of…

Examines how the "experiences and voices" of young, unmarried women in late-medieval England reflect ideals of femininity and the social processes of becoming adult women. Focuses on social history and literature, with recurrent mention of CT, TC,…

For two essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Surface et profondeur under Alternative Title.

Nine readings by various authors of archetypal patterns in medieval works. Topics include Marie de France, Christine de Pizan, Julian of Norwich, Joan of Arc, Gottfried von Strassburg, Chrétien de Troyes, the Spanish "Shriek of the Sage Merlin,"…

Argues that details of SumT gain dimension in light of the contemporary debate concerning the Eucharist and transubstantiation as recorded in the "Upland Series." Division of the indivisible fart is a blasphemous joke on questions of divisibility in…

Thirteen essays by various authors on topics such as the conceptualization of Lollardy as a movement, its underlying thought, its book culture, and its relationships with other movements. Includes an extensive bibliography of Lollard study, with a…

Eleven articles by various authors on the functions of prologues and epilogues. For fives essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Prologues et épilogues dans la littérature anglaise under Alternative Title.

Just as in RvT Chaucer plays on his audience's awareness of dialect geography, in SumT he exploits strong contemporary awareness of linguistic class markers. If Chaucer was in some sense a philologist, he was also an efficient and deliberate…

Stevenson interprets William Blake's depiction of the Canterbury pilgrims (rendered in several manifestations) in light of contemporaneous works and Blakes "Descriptive Catalogue" (1809). Visual symbols, juxtapositions, and contrasts indicate that…

Read discusses the conditions of production and marketing of Stothard's Pilgrimage to Canterbury, arguing that the success of the painting and its engravings was due in good part to promotion by Robert Hartley Cromek, an antagonist of William Blake.

Redford analyzes Chaucerian evidence pertaining to Middle English words that "appear to have initial stress" in certain contexts and "final stress in others." Examines several prominent theories and explanations, arguing that meter can be useful in…

Raybin interrogates challenges to the dramatic approach to CT, concentrating on the personalities of the narrators of NPT and PardT. The Pardoner and Chauntecleer share a number of characteristics and artfully mix sentence and solace. Their voices…

The author explores some of the effects arising from polysyllables (i.e., here words with more than one stressed syllable), concentrating on those in rhyming position, especially words referring to worthynesse and gentillesse, the virtues credited to…

Although much medieval English writing is verse rather than poetry, Chaucer's poetic skill is an important and distinctive part of his narrative. Pearsall examines a number of passages (KnT, MilT, RvT, WBP, and PardT) to show how poetic adornment…

The treatment of Cupid in the various works of Bodleian MS Fairfax 16 reveals a cultural transition from the Gallic tradition of the supremacy of love-and from the Latinate tradition of the supremacy of religion-to a new English poetic tradition.…

Olson examines Gerard of Odo's "Facetus, multa documenta," a commentary on Aristotle's "Nichomachean Ethics," as background to the Prioress's description in GP. The Franciscan commentary may indicate that the courtliness of the description is more…

Assesses Chaucer's uses of alliteration as recurrent adornment despite the poet's distance from the so-called alliterative tradition. Focuses on the role of alliteration in various kinds of rhetorical situations (high style, courtliness, prayer, and…

Argues that a seventeenth-century play, "The Wisest Have Their Fools About Them," may reflect the influence of Chaucerian fabliau and some late-medieval stage traditions. Baldwin's analysis focuses on stereotypical characters.

Palmer argues that LGW is not merely a collection of tales retold from Ovid; it is also the story of the narrator's problematic relationship to the God of Love.

Plummer explores sexual references and innuendoes in the speeches of the Host, arguing that sexual and textual power are inseparable for the Host. The Parson's concern with spiritual productivity balances the Host's concern with physical generation,…

The end of PF shows a flagging of spirits; the end of TC is complex and self-reflexive. Although several early poems indicate that Chaucer could not think of an ending or that he lost interest, ABC is notable as a return to the beginnings.

Changes in literary practice in the late fifteenth century helped modify reception of Chaucer's works. Remembered as a personal figure to be reckoned with by Hoccleve and Lydgate, Chaucer--like his works--was later objectified in the "philological"…