Criseyde's sexually charged endearments for Troilus in bk. 3 of TC provided amusement for Chaucer's contemporary audience, adding new dimensions to Criseyde's character.
Wack, Mary F.
Pacific Coast Philology 19 (1984): 55-61.
The medieval medical view of love as materialistic, deterministic, and ethically neutral shapes the thematic development of TC. In the first three books, Troilus, Pandarus, and Criseyde are patient, physician, and cure. In bks. 4 and 5, Troilus's…
Wallace, David.
American Notes and Queries 23 (1984): 1-4.
In his adaptation of Boccaccio in TC, Chaucer Latinizes his source, pretending to follow the classical "Lollius." The same tendency may be observed in vocabulary, as Chaucer adds several words of Latin origin to the lexicon, glossing them with the…
Wetherbee, Winthrop.
Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1984.
A study of literary allusion in the "Troilus," with specific reference to the "Roman de la Rose," Virgil, Ovid, Statius, and Dante. Suggests that the poet-narrator of the poem evolves from a writer in the tradition of courtly romance to a poet in…
Wetherbee, Winthrop.
Lois Ebin, ed. Vernacular Poetics in the Middle Ages (Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University Press, Medieval Institute Publications, 1984), pp. 153-76.
Parallels between the "Thebiad" and TC, particularly when viewed in light of the Christianized Statius in Dante's "Purgatorio," point to a pattern of engagement and transcendence that characterizes Chaucer's narrator. At the end of TC, the narrator…
Wood, Chauncey.
Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1984.
Asks for a "Gowerian" reading of TC--by which is meant "moral Gower," the poet of "honeste," married love. "What Chaucer Really Did to Il Filostrato" was to re-shape the story of the besotted Trojan prince as a warning to the inhabitants of "New…
Bremmer, Rolf [H.], Jr.
N. R. Arhammar et al., eds. Miscellanea Frisica: A New Collection of Frisian Studies (Assen: Van Gotcum, 1984), pp. 357-70.
In later medieval Latin and Middle English, Frisia had a negative reputation: "Frise" often means "Phrygia," while Latin "Phrygia" could mean "Frisia." Refutes the general acceptance of "Frise" (Rom 1093) as "Frisia" but accepts the usual…
Those who insist on reading historical allusions into For's concluding stanza miss C̀haucer's subtle plea that charity, and not Fortune's favor, be the motivating force in human affairs.
Eade, J. C.
New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
On the use of astrology from medieval times through the eighteenth century, the book is in three parts: an explanation of genuine astronomy and astronomical terms; an explanation of false premises in astrological schematics; and application of…
Despite opinions to the contrary, literal theory was practiced in the later Middle Ages. It appears in glosses and prologues of the Latin "auctores" studied in schools and universities and in biblical glosses, exegeses, and commentaries. This…
Knight, Stephen.
Sidney Studies in English 9 (1983-1984): 21-36.
Emphasizes the oral and dramatic nature of Chaucer's art as illustrated by the Pardoner, against the "socioeconomically based individualism" of the fourteenth century.
Olmert, Michael.
Arete: The Journal of Sport Literature 2:1 (1984): 171-82.
Briefly surveys the practice of drawing lots in ancient history, the Bible, medieval literature, and Chaucer's works, focusing on the GP "lottery" to select who will tell the first tale.
Galván Reula, J. F.
Epos: Revista de Filologia 1 (1984): 19-34.
Focuses on NPT as an example of Chaucer's combination of linguistic ambiguity and limited or unreliable narration, his "modern" features. Chaucer's works are classics because his techniques accord well with the narrative theories of modern critics…
Abbe, Elfriede, illus.
Manchester Center, Vt. : Press of Elfriede Abbe, 1984.
Illustrated, slightly modernized version (Globe ed.) of CYPT. Numerous monochromatic woodblock engravings (plates and marginal figures) illustrate the narrative and depict alchemical symbols.
Mehl, Dieter.
Deutsche Shakespeare-Gesellschaft West Jahrbuch 120 : 111-27, 1984.
TC inspired both Albert Brooke's The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare's play is a "more serious and comprehensive reading" of TC, particularly its fusion of comedy and tragedy, than is…
Halfim, Miriam.
Rio de Janeiro : Civilização Brasileira, 1984.
Halfim summarizes social conditions of Jews in early English society and assesses the depiction of Jews in PrT (pp. 22-34), Marlowe's "The Jew of Malta," and Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice." The authors of all three works reiterate Christian…
Brinton, Laurel J.
English Studies in Canada 10 (1984): 251-64.
Identifies three concerns in Mel: being reasonable in worldly affairs, sovereignty and proper cousel as themes, and the role of the tale in the sentence / solaas dynamic in CT. Includes a survey of criticism.
Peck, Russell A.
Mediaevalia 7 (1984 for 1981): 91-131.
Biblical Pauline notions of pilgrimage recur throughout CT, evident in imagery drawn from Paul's letters, although often in "parody and travesty": old men and new men, doctrine amidst enigma, iconography of wells, vessels, widows, musical…
