Browse Items (16381 total)

Meyer examines confessional discourse in John Gower's "Confessio Amantis," Chaucer's LGW, "The Book of Margery Kempe," and Robert Henryson's "Testament of Cresseid," assessing how this discourse "produc[es] truth" and conveys "textualized bodies."

Wadiak considers how Middle English romances focus on "giving and spending" as a questioning of the emergent capitalistic system, examining romances from "King Horn" through KnT and arguing that these works simultaneously shape and reflect the move…

Withers examines medieval writers' interest in the effect of medieval warfare, tactics, and technology on "the natural world," arguing that several works (including Lydgate's "Siege of Thebes," the "Alliterative Morte Darthur," and KnT) paid…

Examines the uses of memory and place to develop authoritative "ethos" in John Mandeville's "Travels," Margery Kempe's "Book," WBP, and WBT. The Wife relies on medieval commonplace texts and essentially turns her own experience into such a text.

Huber uses BD as a case study in a larger examination of depression and self-scrutiny (especially as embodied in confession) in Middle English texts.

Benton contrasts SqT and the work of the "Gawain"-poet with popular romances as a way of understanding how romances employ descriptive passages as an essential "formal and conceptual" element.

As part of an exploration of medieval efforts to understand a physical/spiritual dichotomy, the dissertation sets BD in conversation with Margery Kempe, with an eye toward development of a "unified selfhood."

In discussing Lydgate's "architectural-decorative" verses, the dissertation reflects on connections between literary and physical spaces in BD.

Using figures from Middle English literature (including Chaucer's Constance and Medea), Urban argues that the literature both dramatizes and "interrogate[s] the prevailing gender ideology."

Nakley uses postcolonial theory to consider a Chaucerian dialogue with ideas of "nationhood," examining GP, KnT, WBP, WBT, and MLT en route to arguing that CT presents England as nation, "community," and "homeland."

Considers Machaut's allusions to earlier works in his lays (e.g., "Roman de Fauvel" and "Remede de Fortune") and gauges Machaut's impact on English court poetry, using Chaucer and Froissart as examples.

Suggests that Ret should be considered as a rhetorical appeal for the prayers of readers, who are encouraged to reflect on their own readings of CT and to engage in the self-scrutiny that Ret exemplifies.

Analysis of the two fundamental CT manuscripts indicates "that the organization and theme of the individual tales affected" copy quality; for example, scribes copied moral tales more conscientiously than they copied bawdy ones, and prose tales were…

Knutson examines medieval ideas of innocence associated with penitential forgiveness in CT, "Pearl," and medieval pageant plays, suggesting that a later concept of innocence--a lack of "knowledge or experience"--shaped William Godwin's and Mary Eliza…

Considers Astr and CT within a larger analysis of the formation of intra- and extra-familial kinship bonds. Such bonds are rooted in education and common experiences.

Smith posits feminine and masculine modes of the transmission of power and culture from the ancients to the medieval, using "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," the "Alliterative Morte Arthure," and TC to demonstrate the existence of "a feminine means…

Arguing that medieval thought links disability with the feminine, Pearman examines "medieval female disability" in works of Chaucer (WBPT, MerT), Marie de France, Henryson, and Margery Kempe, among others.

Argues that Lydgate's allusions to HF are part of a larger effort to deny the accessibility of truth through language, which the author describes as a "Chaucerian poetics of ambiguity and skepticism."

Discusses dream visions (including HF and "Pearl") and dramas of the period to explore ideas of a "feminized" Christ in the medieval period, ultimately contending that any such feminization is problematic and "no simple affirmation of female bodies…

Explores Western medieval accounts of the Mongols in the context of historic antipathy between "agricultural" societies and their "pastoral"/nomadic rivals. Includes comparative assessments of hunting practices (as seen in BD, "Sir Gawain and the…

Considers writers such as Chaucer, Robert Mannyng, John Mirk, and, most extensively, William Langland in examining the medieval understanding of the parish and its associated individuals and phenomena. As a traditional center of religious practice,…

Through a close reading of various Ricardian texts, Williams examines the building of what appears to be a contemporary anti-Ricardian rhetoric. Astr implies loyalty to English monarchy, rather than personal loyalty to Richard; KnT and Mel offer a…

Considers how "quyting" ("paying back or balancing") among the pilgrims enforces comic harmoniousness and balance in CT, despite the work's fragmentary structure. In addition, CT invites the reader to "'quyt' the author."

Investigates various characterizations of Greeks in Old French and Middle English, including that of Diomede in TC, a depiction "informed by classical ideas and Chaucer's depictions of Jews and Saracens in other works." Troilus, in contrast, is…

Examines Chaucer's declarations of "entente" and their uses in his works, concluding that Chaucer's deployment of the term compels the reader to interpret the texts as "intentional acts"--rather than an arrangement of "exemplary narratives"--thereby…