Allen, Mark, and Bege K. Bowers.
SAC 35 (2013): 455-504.
Continuation of SAC annual annotated bibliography (since 1975); based on contributions from an international bibliographic team, independent research, and MLA Bibliography listings. 166 items, plus listing of reviews for 42 books. Includes an author…
Robinson, Ian.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972.
Treats Chaucer as a "great" poet and the "father" of English literature, commenting on the "wonderful" range of tones in his poetry, its relations with French and Italian works, its similarities with other late-medieval English works, and the…
North, J. D.
Scientific American 230 (1974): 96-106.
Describes the construction and functions of the astrolabe, an instrument "used for both astronomical and terrestrial observations," and an "analogue computer" for "determining the local time." Surveys historical descriptions of the construction of…
Defines "courtly love" and "parody" and examines three protagonists as parodic courtly lovers (Aucassin of the anonymous "Aucassin and Nicolette," Troilus of TC, and Calisto of Fernando de Rojas's "Celestina"), assessing them in light of Northrup…
Economou, George D.
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1972.
Traces the uses and development of personified Nature in classical and medieval traditions, focusing on Boethius, Bernard Silvestris, Alain de Lille, Jean de Meun, and Chaucer's relations with all of them in PF. Following tradition, Chaucer presents…
Howard, Donald R.
Medievalia et Humanistica 3 (1972): 99-115.
Gauges the value of historicist approaches to medieval literary study, compared with other approaches, suggesting that a phenomenological approach aligned with humanistic awareness of individual consciousness is desirable. Recurrent references to…
Clogan, Paul (M.)
Medievalia et Humanistica 3 (1972): 213-40.
Surveys criticism of SNPT, describes the genre of hagiography, and summarizes the popularity of the St. Cecilia legend. Then argues that SNP heralds SNT in "theme, pattern, and imagery," effectively functioning "to focus and epitomize" its "figural…
Textbook introduction to appreciating and analyzing poetry, with a chronological anthology of English and American verse which includes excerpts from GP: 1.1-34 (opening), 79-100 (Squire), 165-207 (Monk), and 445-76, (Wife of Bath). Expanded versions…
Saville, Jonathan.
New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1972.
Characterizes the "alba scene" of TC (3.1408-1533) as "in many ways the culminating point in the medieval development of the genre," even though Chaucer places the scene in the context of tragic mutability, a context unique for the genre. Considers a…
Rogers, William Elford.
Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger, 1972.
Prints the text of ABC along with its source, i.e., lines 10,893-11,168 of Guillaume de Guilleville's "Pélèrinage de la Vie Humaine." Discusses ABC as a "direct paraphrase," considering how deviations from the source, particularly in imagery,…
Oizumi, Akio.
Studies in English Literature (Tokyo) 48 (1971): 95-108.
Analyzes the variety of lexical doublets in Mel, comparing them with parallel collocations in the French source and commenting on stylistic and semantic implications.
Analyzes the literary treatment of alchemy from Chaucer's CYT through works by John Donne and Ben Jonson; presents CYT as the foundational text in the "long tradition of alchemical satire."
Includes selections from Chaucer's poetry, in Middle English with editorial titles: "The Complaint of Troilus" (TC 5.547-53, 561-81, 638-44, 1688-1901), "Love Unfeigned" (TC 5.1835-48), "Ballade" (LGWP F249-69), and "Madame Eglantine" (GP 1.118-62).
Gardner, Helen, ed.
London: Faber and Faber, 1972.
Includes four selections of Chaucer's verse, in Middle English: Truth, ["Love Unfeigned"] (TC 5.1835-48), ["A Wanton Merry Friar"] (GP 1.208-68), and ["A Poor Parson"] (GP 1.476-97 . . . 507-28). Published in New York by Oxford University Press as "A…
Brewer, Derek S.
Studies in English Literature (Tokyo), English Number (1972): 3-15.
Comments on the ambiguities and implications of the ages of the protagonists in TC, considering evidence that indicates Troilus is "twenty or less," Criseyde, "several years older," and Pandarus, a "middle-aged trendy."
Bloomfield, Morton W.
Harry Levin, ed. Veins of Humor. Harvard English Series, no. 3 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1972), pp. 57-68.
Describes Chaucer's comic perspective as one that "takes all things lightly because fundamentally they are too serious . . . a way of faring the universe bravely." Exemplifies the poet's narrative device of offering rhetorical "defence of the…
Notes that the account of the Princess of Apulia found in some versions of the "Gesta Romanorum" has parallels with the biblical account of Jonah and with MLT, which alludes to Jonah.
Gosselink, Robert
English Quarterly 6.1 (1973): 1-8.
Summarizes RvT and explores the characterization and motives of Symkyn's wife, suggesting the possibility that she intentionally hit her husband with the staff.
Social and legal history of violence against women in the medieval family, including discussion of case studies. Comments briefly on MerT and ClT, and discusses at greater length (pp. 230-36) WBP which indicates that "failure to internalise and…
Discusses Chrétien's "Knight of the Cart," including several points of comparison with TC: the poems as command performances, their inclusion of songs of love, and the possibility that the heroes are presented as humorous.
Conlee, John W.
Studies in the Humanities 3.1 (1973): 1-3.
Suggests that the Pardoner's specification of "eight" bushels of treasure at PardT 6.771 symbolizes betrayal and the irony of desiring to achieve ultimate happiness through worldly means.
