Bishop, Morris, ed.
Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1970.
An anthology of Latin, Continental, and English medieval narratives in modern translation, including RvT (pp. 305-09) in a section called "Merry Tales and Salty Fictions."
Explores the sexual connotations of "deth" (death) in TC (3.63 and 1577), both instances helping to characterize Pandarus as unscrupulous and the latter encouraging us to see incestuous relations between Pandarus and Criseyde.
Bratcher, James T., and Nicholai von Kreisler.
Southern Folklore Quarterly 35 (1971): 325-35.
Assesses narrative suspension and crossing motivations in MilT and three analogous U.S. version of the "misdirected-kiss and branding story," including two folktales and George Milburn's "Old John's Woman" (also titled "Julie"; 1956). Suggests that…
Svartvik, Jan, and Randolph Quirk.
English Studies 51 (1970): 393-411.
Studies the grammar and usage of non-finite clauses in five samples from Chaucer's works (GP, Mel, PF, Bo, and TC), each approximately 500 lines long. Focuses on the "conditioning" factors of grammatical function, source material, and elements that…
Spencer, William
Chaucer Review 4.3 (1970): 147-70.
Tallies evidence that the "twelvefold pattern of [zodiacal] signs and planets" of medieval astrology is the "hidden ground plan" of GP, underlying its sequence of characters and some details of their descriptions.
Snipes, Katherine
Discourse: A Review of the Liberal Arts 13 (1970): 240-50.
Compares Jean-Baptiste Clamence, narrator of Camus' "The Fall," with other literary characters, including Chaucer's Pardoner who is a manipulator of language and rhetoric, "acutely conscious of his own evil, yet arrogantly intent upon exploiting his…
Contrasts Chaucer's familiarity with and uses of astronomy and astrology with those of other Middle English authors, particularly John Gower. Indicates that 1380 is a turning point in Chaucer's uses of astral sciences, suggesting that he accepted the…
Schrader, Richard J.
Chaucer Review 4.4 (1970): 284-90.
Argues that the allusions in NPT to mermaids as sirens and to Burnel the ass help to indicate Chauntecleer's own culpability in his temporary downfall as well as contributing comedy to the Tale.
Observes parallels between the discussion of true gentility in WBT ("gentilesse"; 3.1109-1212) and fifteenth-century treatments of the subject in Latin (by Buonaccurso de Montemagno), French (Jean Mielot), and English (John Tiptoft), observing that…
Scheps, Walter
Leeds Studies in English 4 (1970): 1-10.
Argues that the rational absurdity of the plot of NPT and the inapplicability of the various morals applied to the Tale expose the ridiculousness of the fable genre; the Tale is an "anti-fable," as Th is an "anti-romance."
Rowland, Beryl B.
Chaucer Review 5.2 (1970): 140-46.
Reads Chaucer's reference to "game" in MilT 1.3186 as a reference to mystery drama and discusses allusions to cycle plays in the details and correspondences of the Tale, including aspects of the Fall, the Flood, the Annunciation, the Slaughter of the…
Ross, Thomas W.
Chaucer Review 5.2 (1970): 137-39.
Identifies bawdy double meaning in Pandarus's use of "al hool" in TC 2.587, signaled by Criseyde's embarrassed laughter and not apparent in Boccaccio's original.
Robertson, D. W. Jr., ed.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970.
An anthology of literature produced in Britain and Ireland in the Middle Ages: Celtic, Latin, Old English, French, and Middle English. The section pertaining to Chaucer (pp. 467-569) includes introductions to Chaucer's life and language, along with…
Richardson, Cynthia C.
Texas Studies in Literature and Language 12 (1970): 325-44.
Assesses the character and function of Harry Bailly, the Host in CT, as he represents the "forces external to the artist that press him to create." The Host embodies aesthetic attitudes and various aspects of Chaucer's audience; his concern with the…
Peterson, Joyce E.
Chaucer Review 5.1 (1970): 62-74.
Argues that SqT reflects its teller's unsophisticated "effort to dissociate himself and courtly love from the . . . crude caricature" evident in MerT, and contends that when the Franklin interrupts the Squire he is "'pretending' to think him…
Nist, John.
Tennessee Studies in Literature 15 (1970): 85-98.
Discusses apostrophe as speech (or writing) that is "'overheard' rather than merely heard," assessing it as a "powerful esthetic instrument for plumbing the emotional and emotive depths" of literary characters through "overheardedness." Comments on…
Macey, Samuel L.
Texas Studies in Literature and Language 12 (1970): 307-23.
Describes the five-act "pyramidal" structure, rising and falling action, clear-cut scene divisions, dialogue, three unities, courtly love conventions, balance and parallelism, and other dramatic elements in TC, commenting on similarities to classical…
Lenaghan, R. T.
Comparative Studies in Society and History 12 (1970): 73-82.
Treats GP as a record of social history, focusing on the economic information available in the descriptions of the pilgrims, particularly as it is evident in the work they do and the status they hold in relation to land, the Church, and trade. Treats…
Hoffman, Richard L.
Library Chronicle 36 (1970): 105-09.
Describes a copy of University of Pennsylvania MS Latin MS 231 which comprises three major works of Albertano of Brescia, including "Livre de Mellibee et Prudence," the source of Mel.
Cook, Robert G.
Journal of English and Germanic Philology 69 (1970): 425-36.
Surveys medieval ideals of friendship and their classical and biblical roots, arguing that Chaucer presents a double view in his presentation of Pandarus's friendship for Troilus: "both the world's notion of what a friend is and the moralist's notion…
Colmer, Dorothy.
Essays in Criticism 20 (1970): 375-80.
Argues that the Franklin as narrator presents the characters in FranT as both "living people and as standard types from courtly romance," not worrying excessively about consistency of characterization and revealing more wisdom than we expect from…
