Elliott, R. W. V.
A. P. Treweek, ed. Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association 1969. Proceedings and Papers of the Twelfth Congress Held at the University of Western Australia, 5-11 February 1969 ([Sydney]: AULLA, 1970), pp, 417-34.
Shows by multiple examples from various works that Chaucer "used oaths not only to give poignancy to character but to add irony, to give a touch of local colour, [and] to create atmosphere and background." Oaths in Chaucer's works tend to be…
Includes three essays that pertain to Chaucer and brief synopses of three additional ones that are not included in the volume: Stephen Knight, "Rhetoric and Poetry in 'The Franklin's Tale'''; H. E. Hallam, "The Throne of Chaunticleer"; and Brian…
Woo, Constance and William Matthews.
Comitatus1 (1970): 85-109.
Comprised of two related essays. The first, by Woo, assesses the pilgrimage frame of CT, its ecclesiastical pilgrims, ParsPT, and Ret, emphasizing the contrasts between the Pardoner and the Parson as religious figures. The second, by Matthews,…
Discusses seven examples of the influence of the "Ovide Moralisé" on Chaucer: HF 957ff., Anel 1-6, TC 5.1464-84, WBP 3.733ff., MLT 2.633-35, ParsT 10.261ff., and the recurrent phrase "alone, withouten any compaignie" (KnT1.2779, MilT 1.3204, and…
Suggests that when referring to St. Peter's sister in MilT 1.3486 and to Thomas's combination of wrath and frigidity in SumT 3.1825-31 Chaucer was influenced by Robert Grosseteste.
Argues that Anel is "more a stylized emotional history than a series of meaningful events." In its plot, mode, and formal features, it is more akin to French love narratives ("'dits' of complaint and comfort") than other models that have been…
Defines the medieval literary modes/genres of personification allegory and mirror, using them to analyze various works of Middle English literature and their models in Latin, French, and Italian. Treats HF as a personification allegory; aspects of…
White, Robert B. Jr.
English Language Notes 7 (1970): 190-92
Identifies an allusion to the final couplet of CkT in an issue of the "Female Tatler" (12 September 1709) which presents the wife in the Tale a seamstress as well as a prostitute. Observes that several other near-contemporary allusions to the Tale…
Watts, Ann Chalmers.
Chaucer Review 4.4 (1970): 229-41.
Posits that the "distance" between Chaucer and his various speaking personae is difficult to define because it "fluctuates" within individual poems and because a reader's sense of a given narrator is modified by the "fantastic" setting of the poem…
Tripp, Raymond P. Jr.
Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association 24 (1970): 51-59.
Contends that Chaucer's adaptation in HF of Virgil's "Aeneid" "anticipates his development away from medieval conventions toward modem, psychological people."
Topliff, Delores E.
Journal of English Linguistics 4 (1970): 78-89.
Tabulates and analyzes the "positive, comparative, and superlative adjectives in Chaucer's works," challenging the notions that in Middle English only monosyllabic adjectives that end in a consonant are inflected and comparative and superlative…
Thro, A. Booker.
Chaucer Review 5.2 (1970): 97-111.
Shows that "in Chaucer's comedy the triumph of wit is often a 'creative' act, an act of imaginative invention and ingenious construction," commenting on the division of the fart in SumT, demonstrating the prevalence of creative, constructive…
Suggests that the placing of the "greyn" on the tongue of the clergeon in PrT (7.622) is a reflex of the ubiquitous folk motif of the soul-as-bird being held, lured, or released from the body.
Sisam, Celia and Kenneth, eds.
Oxford: Clarendon, 1970.
Selections from Chaucer (pp. 257-316) include excerpts from HF, LGWP, TC, GP (Prioress, Clerk, Wife of Bath, and Reeve), WBP, and PardT, along with the complete RvT, Form Age, the rondeau from PF, Truth, Purse, and MercB. All are in Middle English,…
Shinsuke, Ando.
Studies in English Literature, English number (1970): 63-74.
Adduces examples of formulaic phrasing, diction, and rhymes in fragment A of Rom as evidence of Chaucer's familiarity with native English literature; also shows where such evidence appears in his later works.
Discusses the concerns with suffering and pity in BD as aspects of universal nature that binds together everything and thereby makes possible the consolation in the poem for the Black Knight (John of Gaunt), the Dreamer (Chaucer), and the audience.…
Reiss, Edmund.
Papers on Language and Literature 6 (1970): 115-24.
Explicates the "Gerveys scene" of MilT, focusing in particular on the meaning of "viritoot," the implications of "seinte Note," the demonic and infernal associations of blacksmithing, and Absolon's transformation of character from lover to wrathful.
The entry for Chaucer (pp. 168) includes brief biographical information, critical bibliography, a list of editions, and a tally of individual works with dates of first publication. Accompanied by a b&w plate from Thynne's 1532 edition, the first page…
Finkelstein, Dorothee.
Archiv für das Studium der Neueren Sprachen und Literaturen 207 (1970): 260-76.
Identifies the allegorical traditions that underlie the mysteriousness of alchemy in Arabic and Latin writings, focusing on the sources, nomenclature, and descriptions mentioned at the end of CYT (8.1428-65) especially the comments on mercury,…
Considers evidence that January's knife-image ("Ne hurte hymselven with his owene knyf"; MerT 5.1840) when commenting on sexual relations with his wife may have indicated to some members of a medieval audience that he was "a sexual pervert of the…
Although of "no use to chaucerians," the fragmentary text of John Rastell's version of PF reflects the humanist's admiration of Chaucer's works even though he mangled the text.
Delasanta, Rodney.
Modern Language Quarterly 31 (1970): 298-307.
Presents the Host as the figure of Judge in CT and identifies the judgment imagery in ParsP and elsewhere in CT, along with its Biblical and iconographical roots. This theme of judgment anticipates the concern with penance in ParsT.
Chapter four (pp. 89-127) treats together Chaucer, Gower, and "Piers Plowman," presenting Chaucer in his time but arguing that, as an artist, he transcends it. Introduces Chaucer's life and offers summary comments on each of his major works,…
