Basquin, Edmond A.
Technical Communication 28 (1981): 22-24.
Summary description of Astr that describes Chaucer's "admirable textbook method" and comments on his "rules of good technical writing," including simple diction and syntax, awareness of audience, repetition for emphasis, and copious illustrations.
Nohara, Yasuhiro.
Journal of Human Sciences (Momoyama Gakuin University) 17.3 (1981): 33-69.
Line-by-line, phrase-by-phrase commentary on the grammar and lexicon of CkPT, presented as a series of notes to a reprinting of the text from F. N. Robinson's 1957 edition.
Alexander, Michael.
London: Longman York Press, 1981.
Summary (without text) and commentary on the GP description of the Knight and on KnT, arranged in sections, accompanied by glosses to Middle English words and phrases. Also includes a brief introduction to Chaucer and his literature; commentary on…
Argues that medieval allegory and "much of science fiction" share a common "presupposition" of conveying an "abstract message" or "vision of truth," comparing various themes and devices of science fiction with examples drawn from medieval…
Burton, T. L.
Essays in Criticism 31 (1981): 282-98.
Argues that internal evidence (meter, repetitiveness, exaggeration, etc.) is sufficient to establish that "The Fair Maid of Ribblesdale" is a parody, comparing examples drawn from the poem to similar ones in Chaucer's MercB, MilT, and, especially,…
Summary (without text) and commentary on WBPT, arranged in sections, accompanied by glosses to Middle English phrases. Also includes a brief introduction to Chaucer, CT, and medieval antifeminism; commentary on characterization, the Wife's horoscope,…
Garrison, James D.
SEL: Studies in English Literature 21 (1981): 409-23.
Fire imagery and the theme of order in Dryden's adaptations of Homer, Ovid, Boccaccio, and Chaucer (KnT, WBT, NPT, and Parson) evince that his "Fables" centers thematically on "natural order characterized by the paradox of constant change."
Summarizes medieval attitudes toward dreams and traces their roots in the Bible and classical tradition, emphasizing their prophetic qualities. Then discusses dream vision conventions and their uses in "Pearl," "Piers Plowman," and several shorter…
Maule, Jeremy.
H. S. Cobb, ed. Parliamentary History, Libraries and Records: Essays Presented to Maurice Bond ([London]: House of Lords Record Office, 1981), pp. 9-16.
Describes various kinds of "parliament-poems" in Middle English, focusing on PF as a model for others, and commenting on the depiction of the parliament scene in TC, Book 4, and its concern with "voting by voices" or assent. Summarizes Chaucer's…
Modeled on Chaucer's BD, although reshaped "radically," Spenser's "Daphnaida" is less a "traditional lament" than a "warning against grieving too much." Compares and contrasts the two poems to clarify their similarities and differences, and discusses…
Purdy, Dwight H.
Texas Studies in Literature and Language 23 (1981): 197-213.
Surveys Joseph Conrad's allusions to Chaucer and to the Bible, and argues that in the novel "Victory" Conrad expresses his "sense of radical modern otherness." In Conrad's novel, "Jones's sexual anomaly mirrors a spiritual malaise," as does the…
Rowland, Beryl.
Perspectives on Earle Birney (Downsview, Ontario: ECW Press, 1981), pp. 73-84.
Tallies Birney's contributions to Chaucer scholarship, particularly his studies that pertain to irony and close reading, and assesses their importance in the tradition of twentieth-century Chaucer criticism.
Shenk, Robert.
Journal of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association 2 (1981): 69-77.
Assesses "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell" with recurrent glances at its analogues, Gower's "Tale of Florent" and Chaucer's WBT. The life question in the "Wedding" and in WBT "speak directly to a perennial feminine plight" (69), and in…
Woods, Phil, and Michael Bogdanov.
North Shields, U.K.: Iron Press, 1983. Previously published by Ivor Press, 1981.
Modern English, two-act drama that presents abbreviated, modified versions of KnT, RvT, CkT (a song), WBT, NPT, PardT, MerT, and MilT, framed as an annual tale-telling contest rather than a pilgrimage. The Miller and the "M.C." are focal characters…
Lorenz, Lee.
Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1981.
Bowdlerized version of MilT, adapted and illustrated by Lorenz for children. Carpenter John is Alison's grandfather in this version, and Nicholas connives to steal money. Absolon is eliminated.
Surveys the presence of Arabic culture in CT, focusing on the plots and sources of SqT and PardT, the frame-tale structure of CT, allusions to Arabic personages, and uses of words that derive from Arabic.
Prose adaptations of GP, WBT, PardT, and CYT, designed for children, accompanied by brief Introduction, a biographical note, and illustrations by Dan Hubrich.
Medcalf, Stephen.
Stephen Medcalf, ed. The Later Middle Ages (London: Methuen; New York: Holmes & Meier, 1981), pp. 1-55.
Seeks to bridge the intellectual and emotion distance between modern readers and medieval literature, addressing the nature of semantic change and changing ideas about human personality. Includes commentary on a range of medieval works, with extended…
Capacious anatomy of Middle English literature, with a variety of essays by individual authors; a selection of lyrics, narrative poems, and dramas; suggestions for further readings, and comprehensive index. The selection includes no works by…
Steiner, Wendy.
Wendy Steiner. The Colors of Rhetoric: Problems in the Relation Between Modern Literature and Painting (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982), pp. 221-26.
Congeries of word and image in FranT relate to truth, figuration, and creativity, foregrounding the polysemy of artistic language.
Bennett, J. A. W.
J. A. W. Bennett. The Humane Medievalist (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura; Wolfeboro, N.H.: Boydell & Brewer, 1982), pp. 89-103.
Bennett, J. A. W.
J. A. W. Bennett. The Humane Medievalist (Rome: Edizione di Storia e Letteratura; Wolfeboro, N.H.: Boydell & Brewer, 1982), pp. 67-88.
Like various English poets, James I of Scotland was imprisoned in the Tower, where he read Chaucer and wrote poetry influenced by Chaucer, especially KnT, TC, PF, and BD.
