Browse Items (16376 total)

Describes and compares Chaucer's use of adverbs ending in -e, formed from adjectives, and those ending in -ly/-lice.

Characterizes the Franklin in light of his social status, administrative and judicial offices, his "Epicurean concern for externals," and his association with the Sergeant at Law. Then reads FranT as an ironic indictment of the narrator's foolish…

The Man of Law in his Prologue, in his characterization of Custance, and in his concept of Christ's "prudent purveiaunce" consistently revises his sources, especially Nicholas Trevet, into the materialistic terms of the world governed by Fortune. …

Argues that the Merchant's attitudes are reflected in the views of Justinus (not January) in MerT.

Argues that CT reflects "astrological schema" and traces the evidence of a single cycle of the twelve signs in GP (Aries and Taurus), KnT (Gemini), MilT (Cancer), RvT (Leo), CkT (Virgo), MLT (Libra), WBPT (Scorpio), FrT (Sagittarius), SumT…

Coins the phrase "liminal transactionalism" to characterize the late medieval combination of gift-exchange and commercial economies, arguing that a similar combination extends forward to Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations," challenging traditional…

Explores "links between gender ideology and money in the late Middle Ages," arguing that Chaucer's "depiction of his purse as a faithless female lover" in Purse reflects the "cultural imaginary around money before the emergence of
political…

Examines relations between theology and economics in FrPT and SumPT (with glances at WBP and PardPT), focusing on the polysemous implications of debt, and suggesting that these tales are "key source texts" for modern "economic theology" (Weber to…

Considers relations between PardPT and the Museum of London's carved wooden panel that depicts details of the tale. Calculates the "absurdity of the hoard" in the tale, and explores possible responses of the "London economic elite" to the differing…

Examines the "unresolved ending" of the "Legend of Philomela" in LGW.

Considers the hermeneutic value of Spearing's concept of "experientiality" in KnT. Defines "roaming" as "an investigation of the relation between bodily experience and language."

Argues that CT and Gower's "Confessio Amantis" take the form of French "dit" poems. Claims that both works fit the genre because they have "sufficient 'dit'-like features."

Proposes to resituate Pity within a "medieval mode of metaphysical poetry" because of its "collective subjectivity." Reveals how Pity, because of its allegorical and lyrical metaphysical aspects, deserves closer attention as an "example of medieval…

Examines the lexicographical meaning of the word "experience" to gain an understanding of Chaucer's meaning and intent in WBP.

Explores ways that Chaucer plays with the "work of makyng" in Adam and Pr–ThL. Reinforces that Chaucer's "middleness," or ability to remain in the "process of making," is revealed in these rhyme royal works.

Reexamines own earlier writings about Troilus's metaphysical "philosophizing response" and journey in TC, in response to a critique from Spearing from March 25, 1989.

Reviews canon, allusion, and literary influence in English literature. Refers to Chaucer as the head of the English canon, discusses Matthew Arnold's thoughts on Chaucer, and reveals limited attention to Chaucer in the 1909 "Harvard Classics"…

Focuses on how protocol, a term for systems of rules allowing communication and behavior, is frequently used in digital environments, and builds on Alexander Galloway's comparison of internet protocol to chivalry in "Protocol: How Control Exists…

Suggests that in medieval literature generally the "motif of crossing a body of water was regularly perceived as an epistemological operation of a physical and a spiritual kind," and explores the notion in several narratives, including MLT, examining…

Observes points of similarity and difference between WBP and Martha Moulsworth's poetic autobiography, "Memorandum" (1632). The Wife serves as Moulsworth's "stylistic and rhetorical precursor."

Scriptural allusions in ClT challenge the patriarchal views traditionally found in it.

Cast as a discussion among four participants (Reductio, Thea, Ceres, and Cassandra), this closet drama explores relations among power, gender, trade, religion, and their representation in MLT. The characters are, loosely, representatives of…

Cautions that familiarity can blunt readers' awareness of the subtleties of satire in GP, recommending renewed attention to the characterization of the pilgrim narrator and differences between this character and "Chaucer the poet" as aspects of…

Comments on stylistic and tonal aspects of GP 1.1-18, focusing on their harmonious energy and "generalized vocabulary." Also comments Chaucer's sympathetic irony elsewhere in GP.

Review article.