Harig, Sister Mary Labouré, S.N.D.
DAI 32.08 (1972): 4465A.
Surveys the rise of the garden topos in western literary traditions--classical and medieval, idealized and courtly. Then assesses Chaucer's uses of the traditional iconography of garden conventions in Rom, BD, PF, LGWP, HF, TC, and CT.
De Weever, Jacqueline Elinor.
DAI 32.08 (1972): 4559A
Provides historical and literary background to names used and mentioned in Chaucer's works, identifying their Arabic, Greek, and/or Latin equivalents, exploring the relations of the names to their contexts in Chaucer's works, and commenting on…
Examines the significance of astrological allusions to the "form and meaning" of CT, particularly how they reflect and contribute to the work as a "dramatic allegory" of human pilgrimage through worldly sorrow.
Identifies thematic concerns in Mel that it shares with other narratives in CT (WBPT, ShT, Clerk's Envoy, MerT, and NPT), exploring how pedantry, suspect counsel, the struggle for "maisterie," and antifeminism convey humor in Mel, especially in…
Traces Chaucer's reputation in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and examines the impact of his works (including apocrypha) and reputation on the poetry of John Keats--structure and form, characterization, realism in balance with…
Explores three kinds of love in PF (transcendental, lustful, and natural), arguing that their deployment in the poem constitutes gentle mockery of courtly love.
Proposes an "integration of the 'historical' and 'archetypal/esthetic' schools" of criticism of medieval literature, based on Ernst Cassirer's theories of symbol and the "evolutionary scheme of human self-consciousness," exemplifying the critical…
Approaches political, social, and marital sovereignty as prominent concerns of CT: the Host's authority in GP and elsewhere, Theseus as ideal sovereign in KnT in contrast with the tyrants of PhyT and MkT, Mel as an allegory of a ruler's moral…
Summarizes debates about the relative importance of logical explanation (authority) and practical experience in medieval medical theory, an opposition between doctors and surgeons. Presented as both doctor and surgeon, Chaucer's Physician embodies…
Surveys anti-chivalric sentiment in literature, including polemics and sermons as well as satires and "anti-romances." Includes discussion of Th, among other works.
Proposes a method for classifying noun-plus-noun compounds and compiles all such compounds in Chaucer's works, showing that, with one exception, modern types of compounds were already in use in Chaucer's Middle English.
Reads LGW as a "double palinode" in which Chaucer explores the "variety and complexity of the feminine psyche" as expressed in his sources, Ovid and Boccaccio, and his own TC. Compares LGWP-F and LGWP-G to show that Chaucer increases the comedy and…
Traces the theme of the decline of the world in biblical and medieval tradition, examining three literary texts: Bernard of Cluny's "De Contemptus Mundi," John Gower's "Confessio Amantis," and ClT, where the virtues of "steadfastness and patience"…
Outlines the "kinds of ambiguities in Chaucer's verbal and narrative technique" based in his commitment to epistemological "indeterminacy." Then examines MLT and its changes to its source in Nicholas Trevet to show that the "theme of the limitation…
Studies the "imaginative dimension" of medieval anti-fraternalism in many manifestations, including SumT; in it, traditional anti-fraternalism is affiliated with Pentecost because the Franciscan General Chapter was held on this feast day.
Describes the presentations of selections from CT in nineteen fifteenth-century manuscripts, and explores what these presentations indicate about understandings of the tales.
Argues that the unity of PF is anchored in the principle of the hierarchy of love, an aspect of the Great Chain of Being. By exploring a wide and interconnected range of kinds of love, Chaucer achieves humor and thematic richness.
Studies aspects of style in understanding medieval literature, examining features of the "Roman de la Rose" as well as the "moral imbalance at work" in KnT, particularly as evident in the visual rhetoric and movement in the Temple of Diana and…
Divides Chaucer's allusions to Jove into two groups: those that present him as dream-like or fantastic and those that present him as actual or historical. Chaucer consistently presents Jove in allegorical ways even when he does not relegate him to…
Surveys criticism of ClT in order to show the "inadequacy" of this criticism and reads the Tale as a "typological allegory" even though it goes steps beyond its sources in depicting the plot realistically.
Studies the historical underpinnings of the GP descriptions of the Knight and Squire and discusses KnT and SqT for the ways they reflect the development of the Squire's "Romantic Chivalry" out of the Knight's "Religious Chivalry," questioning the…
Hatcher, Elizabeth Roberta.
DAI 33.05 (1972): 2327A.
Defends the notion that TC presents an ambivalent view of human love, grand yet transitory, arguing that this ambivalence is rooted in Chaucer's treatment of love as mythic material.
