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…
Taylor, Ann M.
Nottingham Medieval Studies 24 (1980): 51-56.
Chaucer's presentation of a Trojan parliament unanimously resolving, despite the reasonable objections of Hector, to exchange an innocent Criseyde for a wicked Antenor (TC IV, 141-217), makes allusions to the trial of Christ before Pilate; Chaucer's…
Andrews, Barbara Hakken.
Dissertation Abstracts International 40 (1980): 5855A.
The central issue for interpretation in TC is the nature and source of human value. The two primary ways in which values are established and tested in the poem are through the use of a significant amount of philosophical material relating to the…
Newman, Barbara.
Stephen A. Barney, ed. Chaucer's Troilus: Essays in Criticism (Hamden, Conn.: Shoestring Press, 1980), pp. 257-75.
The dichotomy between "trouthe" (fidelity) and truth (actuality) marks TC from the outset. "Trouthe" in love is linked to "routhe" and "kyndenesse," and on every level is compromised by the characters' feigning.
Taylor, Karla.
Stephen A. Barney, ed. Chaucer's Troilus: Essays in Criticism (Hamden, Conn.: Shoestring Press, 1980), pp. 277-96.
In conflating love and poetics in TC, Chaucer uses proverbs both to validate truth and to express the limitations of traditional language. The attempt to secure stability through this language and the failure of the attempt are part of Chaucer's…
Toole, William B., III.
Jack M. Durant and M. Thomas Hester, eds. A Fair Day in the Affections: Literary Essays in Honor of Robert B. White, Jr. (Raleigh, NC: Winston, 1980), pp. 25-35.
In developing the theme that Troilus values too highly love and beauty in this world, Chaucer throughout TC intertwines imagery of Fortune and of religion to describe Troilus' experiences and to characterize Criseyde. Although the depiction of…
Wetherbee, Winthrop.
Stephen A. Barney, ed. Chaucer's Troilus: Essays in Criticism (Hamden, Conn.: Shoestring Press, 1980), pp. 297-317.
Chaucer is concerned with showing the consequences of the consummation of the love of Troilus and Criseyde as it concerns both characters and narrator. The events following this consummation scene also broadly parallel those in Dante's "Purgatorio"…
Boyd, Jessie Mary Heather.
Dissertation Abstracts International 40 (1980): 4585A.
For Chaucer, a poem was an imaginative focus for the representation of a larger pattern of experience. The patterns created by the opposing figures of speech in his poetry (the concrete and empirical/the archetypal) reflect a complex sense of…
