Browse Items (16350 total)

Identifies Ovid's "Amores" 3.4.41-42 as a possible source for the "incompatibility of beauty and marital fidelity" that underlies the choice offered by the loathly lady to the knight in WBT 3.1219-27.

Argues that until the temple-prayer scene of KnT, Palamon is more the warrior than Arcite, and Arcite more the lover than Palamon.

Examines translations of Chaucer's name in light of Chinese traditions, specifically with regard to a family's values and wishes revealed through name choice.

Identifies several previously unnoticed biblical allusions in SumT: "narratives of divine wrath against false prophets, gift giving in apostolic ministry, and miraculous healing, all of which enrich the tale's comic irony and sharpen the satiric…

Reports that two Taiwanese "translations" of CT (by fabricated translators) were actually reprints/adaptations of Fang Zhong's translation from mainland China.

Observes the presence of "symmetrical numbers" in the dates mentioned in Chaucer's poetry, e.g., third day of the third month equals May 3 when the annual calendar began in March rather than January. Comments on HF, TC, KnT, MerT, and FranT, as well…

Suggests that in making the Black Knight 24 years old in BD (rather than 29, the age of John of Gaunt), Chaucer "assigned his own age to his patron."

Interprets the allusion to Pygmalion in PhyT (6.7-18) as an indication of Apius's "concupiscence," drawing on depictions of Pygmalion in Ovid's "Metamorphoses" and Jean de Meun's "Roman de la Rose."

Explores the ambiguities of betting terminology and suggests that Pardarus's use of such terminology in TC 4.622 means that he is urging Troilus generally to "take his chances."

Identifies the sexual and medical implications of several details in the GP description of the Monk, including his association with venery and food, his baldness, and his being fat "in good point" (1.200).

Explains Criseyde's comment about Troilus in TC 3.88 in light of the Feast of Fools, suggesting that it means she considers him neither a fool nor "too bold or irreverent."

Suggests that -- in light of details of Chaucer's career and of medieval chess-playing -- the significance of "fers" in BD 741 may be "threefold," referring to Blanche, to the chess piece, and to "Chaucer himself, the commoner promoted from pawn to…

Surmises that, as a satiric response to the anti-Semitism of PrT, NPT may reflect Chaucer's possible knowledge of a twelfth-century "Anglo-Jewish collection of 107 animal fables," the "Mishle Shu' alim," generally attributed to Berechiah Ben Natron…

Observes that Chaunticleer's mistaken reference to Macrobius as the author of the "Somnium Scipionis" (7.3124) may suggest that NPT predates PF (i.e., "no later than 1386"), where Macrobius is accurately identified as the author of the "Commentary"…

Observes that carpenter John's sense of worldly instability in MilT is established in 1.3423-30 and 1.3449-50, anticipating his ready acceptance of Nicholas's prediction of the Flood later in the Tale.

Suggests that "oon" in BD 47 follows a parallel reference in Jean Froissart's "L'Espinette Amoureuse."

Suggests that three meanings of "sekte" obtain in LGW: sect, sex, and (law)suit.

Identifies a "possible pun" on the name of the mythological Wade in MerT 5.1684 ("waden"), arguing that, followed by a reference to the Wife of Bath, the pun recalls January's allusion to Wade in 5.1424 and deepens Justinus's warning against…

Some sexual connotation seems to attach to many "qu-" words in Chaucer, Shakespeare, and modern usage.

Haydock examines poetic authority in Henryson's "Testament" as it simultaneously affirms and seeks to replace TC, in effect treating Chaucer's poem in Chaucerian fashion. One of Henryson's three major works, "Testament" is part of his effort to…

Defends the "depth of thought and the diversity of expression that characterized the Middle Ages" through an examination of "philosophical treatises, memoirs, letters, tales, romances, and epics that drove the medieval search for wisdom." The chapter…

Two exercises deal with passages from CT (1.28-45 and 1.477-84)

For eight essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Mélanges de langue, littérature et civilisation under Alternative Title.

Traces the textual and iconographic history of the Reynard stories from twelfth-century Flanders to nineteenth-century England. The combination of text and picture was a particular success for Caxton, who translated the Dutch stories and printed them…

Forty-five selected papers on courtly literature. For an essay that pertains to Chaucer, search for Courtly Literature: Culture and Context under Alternative Title.