Browse Items (16346 total)

Shows that evidence from a twelfth-century bestiary may indicate that the comparison of Alison to a swallow in MilT 1.3257-58 ironically anticipates later events of the plot--her "departure" from John and his fall from the roof beam.

Describes the fabliau features of ShT, comments on its likely (though unknown) source, observes that its "personal generalizations" are unusual in the genre, and assesses its treatment of women and its stylistic features as evidence that its original…

Identifies the "tregetoures" of FranT 4.1141, not as jugglers or magicians, but as the "actors, craftsmen, 'artisans mécaniques'" who produced spectacular entertainments such as the ones recorded by chroniclers to have taken place at the Royal…

Argues that TC, in its "integration of style, structure, and theme with meaning," is best regarded as "transitionally Renaissance in its entire import." Articulates differences between medieval and Renaissance cultures, and argues that TC better…

Identifies allusions to Chaucer from the "Periamma Epidemion" of 1659: to the description of the Physician in GP 1.437-38 and to WBP 3.227-28

Contrasts the sorrows of the Dreamer and of Alcyone with that of the Man in Black in BD, arguing that the first two serve to elevate the intensity of the latter. Then examines the epideitic praise of Blanche/White as a form of personification that…

Describes the "intellectual milieu" of the Clerk in order to characterize him as "man of essentially humanistic temper, aware of so many complexities . . . that he found it difficult to rest in dogmatic assurance of anything." Traces the "movement…

Sketches the development of "Gothic humanism," Platonism, and naturalism in medieval "plastic arts" and theory, locating similar principles and practices in CT--the principles expressed at the opening of PhyT and the practices found in a variety of…

Describes Chaucer's "power and limitations as a stylist," offering examples, and tabulating more extensively examples of oaths and swearing in Chaucer's works, including strong and weak oaths, wishes, and imprecations.

Posits a "chronology of growth" for the CT, seeking "to follow the imagination of the poet and to recapture the dynamics of creation" evident in Chaucer's apparent changes in plan. Comments on earlier scholarly efforts to explain or understand…

Traces the unifying theme of joy after woe in KnT, "brought about both by the plot and by Boethian Destiny," focusing on Arcite's achievement of "welfare" and Palamon's "wele" after both start in sorrow. Theseus similarly replaces Egeus's saturnine…

Identifies three "predominant" characteristics shared in the characterizations of Pandarus in TC and of "the slave Spurius, who plays the part of a pander for a young lover in Guillaume de Blois' Latin farce 'Alda,' written somewhat before 1170:…

Explores similarities of Chaucer's description of women's hair (KnT 1.1048-50, PF 267-68, and TC 5.808-12) and Apuleius's "Metamorphoses" II.10, suggesting a similar aesthetic rather than a source relationship, and noting that all resonate with…

Anthologizes a wide range of selections from British and American literature--poetry, fiction, drama, and translations, with brief, appreciative introductions to individual authors and their works. Includes description of Chaucer as a "poet of…

Suggests that the "gate-metaphor" of PardT 6.729 derives from a Spanish proverb fused with Maximianus's "Elegy" I.

Examines the syntax, rhetoric, and emphases of GP 1.280 in comparison with similar locutions elsewhere in Chaucer (especially ShT) to argue that it means, emphatically, " If he [the Merchant] was in debt, the spectator would certainly never know it!"

Describes an "experiment in the use of oral reading as a means of teaching" TC that increased students' "critical appreciation" of the poem and Chaucer's art.

Considers Mars "as an exercise in describing human action and emotion in terms of a supposed astronomical event," with the planet/pagan god representing John of Gaunt in his affair with Katharine Swynford (Venus), Mercury representing Chaucer…

A facsimile reprint of the 1896 Kelmscott Chaucer, with Winterich's Introduction that summarizes the lives of Chaucer and of William Morris, the production of the original book, and its place in the history of Kelmscott publications. Includes a…

Identifies the rhetorical question in MilT 1.3747-49--unusual in low style--as a parody of those found in KnT 1.1414-16, 1970-71, and 2652-53.

A novel of family tensions, centering on death, possessiveness, and the legacy of a household estate. A central image is the sundial of the title, on display in the family library. Inscribed on the sundial is a half-line quotation of KnT 1.2777:…

Includes a brief biography of Chaucer and a lengthy chronological work-by-work introduction to his oeuvre. Also includes a chapter on Chaucerian apocrypha, relations with Gower, and influence on later poets.

Studies the use of pictorial imagery in neoclassical English poetry, its aesthetic effects, and the "tradition out of which it grew," from the classics forward. Includes discussion of the Chaucer's ekphrastic descriptions in HF, KnT, and Rom,…

Includes MilT in German poetic couplets (pp. 56-71), slightly abridged from Wilhelm Hertzberg's translation of 1866.

Tallies a number of images, expressions, and "notional similarities" that evince Chaucer's influence on Shakespeare, reviewing previous scholarship, adding several examples, and arguing that the influence is strongest when Shakespeare was about…