Browse Items (16376 total)

Traces the development of English "central government control over local institutions," discussing the emergence of local groups and mentioning the GP Guildsmen.

Describes several "difficulties" in the close reading of medieval poetry, and then examines complex "interplay between the real and apparent plots" of "Pity," reading the addressee as both a Lady and as an abstract emption, and tracing shifting…

Argues that January's foolish fantasy is MerT "is a version" of the Merchant's own, tracing the teller's "increasingly ambivalent attitude" toward his character "from detachment to attack." In January, the Merchant "tries to destroy his former self,"…

Characterizes the Physician of GP as "inscrutable," although "smelling mildly of hypocrisy," and argues that the "narrative uneasiness" of PhyT is well suited to this "man of the world [who] seeks to mask his worldliness in affected piety." The…

Gauges the implications of the wide range of musical images in GP, exploring the exegetical roots of Chaucer's uses of these images, and assessing concord, discord, and silence as indicators of moral approval or censure. Chaucer's uses are not…

Imitative indirect discourse in the portraits of the Monk, Friar, and Parson presents attitudes not Chaucer's in language not his. Examining personae in early tales may alter the pilgrim's portrait or the tone, as when the Merchant's ironic praises…

The interpretive problems with ClT--our ambivalence between human sympathy for Griselda and recognition of the poem's stern moral import--stem largely from the teller himself, whose additions to the source in Petrarch indicate that he does not fully…

The primary mode of discourse, conversation, emphasizes the difficulty of communication. BD oscillates between two opposing views: the existence and dissolution of the self and the other. Chaucer gives the reader an awareness of the conditions…

The Franklin is a gentleman with old-fashioned but praise-worthy standards. FranT treats the fourteenth-century interdependent virtues of "trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie" (A46)--moral values in ambiguous wrappings.

Characterized by shortcomings and privation, the Reeve succeeds in his villainy as ruler of darkness.

Treats the motif of wish-fulfillment in WBT, KnT, FranT.

Presents evidence of a coherently conceived allegory in ClT: God is to Man as Perfection is to Imperfection, a hierarchy based not on rank but on virtue. Thus God is to Man as Griselda is to Walter.

Interpretations of ClT that rely on the genre exemplum are often subverted through trope irony.

ManT expresses ambivalence about verbal signification and asserts the power of poetry. The role of Phoebus (a figure of poetry), imagery of caging, the figure of the crow, and violations of poetic decorum affirm humanist poetics, despite the…

Examines how "some popular moral lyrics based upon traditional proverbs were modified and reworked" through manuscript transmission in late medieval England, commenting on materials found in the Findern manuscript (Cambridge University Library MS…

Accepts that the first eighty-eight lines of WBP are a late addition, and argues that they reflect comic awareness of the unorthodox movement, the Brotherhood of the Free Spirit, echoing its valorization of sexual activity and multiple marriages,…

Maintains that the characterizations of the Monk in GP and in MkPT are consistent, and attributes their differing tones to the Monk's decision to "change his image" in the eyes of his fellow pilgrims while requiting the Host's derision with the…

Explores the relationship between reality and romance in KnT, comparing the Tale's presentation of details and ideals with those found in Froissart's "Chronicle," and arguing that the Knight operates with the "assumptions of chronicle history" and…

Distinguishes between the "clerical" and "non-clerical" traditions of "de casibus" tragedy in medieval tradition, observing the emphasis on the goddess Fortuna in the latter, and claiming that MkT "belongs to the non-clerical tradition." In ignoring…

Challenges the universal applicability of the "organic" ideal (form equating to content) of New Criticism, arguing that it is applicable to modern novels but not earlier narratives. Explores Chaucer's and his audience's "lively consciousness of his…

Identifies alchemical puns and their thematic/metaphoric potential in CYPT, focusing on "multiplie," "fire," and the figure of the "cosmic furnace" in 8.1407-8. Provides conceptual and contextual backgrounds from alchemical commentaries and suggests…

Discusses medieval manuscripts that combine materials from Walter Map's "Valerius," the "golden book" of Theophrastus, and excerpts from Jerome's "Adversus Jovinianum," focusing on the seven manuscripts that include the latter two, and showing how…

In CYPT, one finds a "rhetorical demystification of alchemy's textual mystification of work and material production" and a commentary on counterfeiting and the impotence of alchemy as a "projection of masculine fears of sexual impotence."

Describes C. S. Lewis's formulation of courtly love and applies it to TC, arguing that Chaucer exaggerates certain of its features to show its "weaknesses" (particularly through humor, Pandarus, and the narrator) and to replace it with divine love.

Studies several versions of the story of PardT, identified as tale type AT 763 ("The Treasure Finders who Murder One Another"). Assesses the functions of the characters, the genres in which it has been written, and the purposes of the story…