Cahn, Kenneth S.
Studies in the Age of Chaucer 2 (1980): 81-119.
Demonstrates that the Merchant engages neither in usury nor in illegal speculation. Selling "sheeldes" (imaginary coins "of accounts" employed in Flanders) is simply a means of "borrowing" English sterling through foreign exchange. The Merchant is…
The Merchant's language snares the reader into displaying bad taste. It accomplishes this by making May a sympathetic character and by allowing the reader to belong to a select group which sees through the deceptions of the tale. However, the…
Rosenberg, Bruce A.
Chaucer Review 14 (1980): 344-52.
Among the oral-tradition analogues for FranT is the story of the Bari Widow, similar to it in ways that Boccaccio's version is not. Analysis of Chaucer's adept use of it and other oral-tradition stories demonstrates the mastery of his creation.
In Chaucer's famous line "I trowe he were a geldyng or a mare" the word "mare" is best glossed "homosexual," and the description of the Pardoner fits all three medieval confusions with homosexuality: effeminacy, eunuchy, and hermaphroditism.
Th contains a covert similarity to PrT. If, by means of the lily, the elf-queen is identified with the Virgin Mary, the structure of Th may be seen to parody that of PrT. Both protagonists have gemlike chastity, are born "in fer contree," and are…
NPT's "my lord" (VII, 3445), generally taken as referring to a bishop or archbishop (by J. H. Fisher to Jesus or God) may refer to St. Paul, thus resembling the conclusion of a homily for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul in the 15th-century…
NPT illustrates the alternation of sexual dominance in CT. The Priest among his nuns is like Chanticleer, "paragon des phallocrates," among his wives. But neither maintains dominance. Moreover, in NPT, as in CT as a whole, questions of sexual…
Wentersdorf, Karl P.
Studia Neophilologica 52 (1980): 31-34.
Line 7.3217--"By heigh ymaginacioun forncast"--means not that the fox's attack was predestined, or foretold in the cock's dream, but that the fox had carefully planned his act of high treason against the royal Chauntecleer.
Chaucer uses 636 proper names (excluding about 300 additional topographical and geographical names). They fall into four categories: astrological, Biblical, classical, and mythological. Names from Latin and Greek appear in the oblique case (e.g.,…
Ikegami, Yoshihiko
Key-Word Studies in "Beowulf" and Chaucer 1 (1980): 67-104.
The article, which follows essentially the same theoretical line of approach as the same author's "Semological Structure of English" (Tokyo, 1970; originally a Yale dissertation), presents a description of the meaning of verbs of motion in Old and…
Takamiya, Toshiyuki
Key-Word Studies in "Beowulf" and Chaucer 1 (1980): 59-65.
Examines Chaucer's use of "sad" in his works. The manuscript reading in ROM A211 makes it clear that he probably did not bear in mind the modern meaning of "sorrowful" or "mourning."
Terasawa, Yoshio.
Key-Word Studies in "Beowulf" and Chaucer 1 (1980): 17-22.
The article analyses and describes a Chaucerian key-word "danger" and its derivative "dangerous" in respect of etymology, semantic development, frequency of occurence, form, riming structure, grammatical and semantic collocation, association, and…
Chaucer's audience influenced his familiar material and subjects to convey his points. Their ability to evaluate and judge must have figured in his manipulation of truth and seeming in the stories. We must use their intended presence in responding…
Johnston, Mark E.
Mid-Hudson Language Studies 3 (1980): 25-38.
The artistic purpose of SNT is clarified by examining the tale in the thematic and dramatic context of CT. The saint's legend of Cecilia broadens the themes of the Marriage Group, contrasting secular with spiritual union; together with CYT, it also…
The eldest version of the Cecilia story is the "Passio S. Caeciliae," extant mss of which date from the eighth century. Its central meaning involves an ideal of perfection close to Augustine's teachings. Chaucer translates the version of the story…
Argues for a pun on nonce-word "ape-ese." The Cook has drunk "wyn ape." If appease (ad pacem) is merely ape-ease, then clearly wine is no real remedy for the pilgrims' dis-ease ("whan that they were seke").
Correale, Robert M.
Notes and Queries 225 (1980): 101-02.
The Parson's quotation from St. John Chrysostom (10.109-10) is translated from St. Raymund of Pennaforte's "Summa Casuum Poenitentiae." Its ultimate source, however, is a Latin homily (not in the modern editions of the fathers), the "Sermo de…
Luengo, Anthony E.
Revue de l'Universite d'Ottawa 50 (1980): 223-32.
Chaucer's treatment of "sententiae" in ParsT is best understood in terms of the schema provided by Thomas Walleys in his 14th-century "De modo componendi sermones." The Parson adopts many of Walleys' 14 methods of linking "senteniae" to control…
Kaminsky, Alice R.
Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1980.
Evaluates some 500 items of TC criticism considered under the headings Historical, Philosophical, Formalistic, and Psychological. In addition to illuminating the poem, the book provides a trenchant critique of modern critical theory and practice.
Stokes, Myra.
Studia Neophilologica 52 (1980): 287-97.
The repeated rhymes "trouthe"/"routhe," "serve"/"disserve," and "mente"/"entente" accentuate the poem's development. The first two pairs underscore the perversion of "fin amours." Troilus asks for his lady's "routhe" in exchange for his "trouthe,"…
Ainsworth, Jeanette Therese.
Dissertation Abstracts International 40 (1980): 4015A-16A.
The dramatic Welsh work written in Shakespeare's time is a unique and important contribution to the Troilus-Cressida tradition. The author eliminates any elements of plot, theme, or character from his sources (Chaucer's TC and Henryson's "Testament…
Dulick, Michael George.
Dissertation Abstracts International 40 (1980): 5852A.
Chaucer and Rojas shared common sources and concerns, and their works are most alike in their use of sophisticated dialogue, but Rojas' vision is more destructive. Troilus and Calistro are both "courtly" lovers, but Calistro is a debased version of…
The verb "troiledest" ("deceived"; "Piers Plowman," C, xxi, 321), a "hapax legomenon" introduced in 1393 when TC was at its most popular, may be a reference to the treachery recorded in Chaucer's poem. Langland uses it to refer to Satan's temptation…
