Harwood, Britton J.
Modern Language Quarterly 33 (1972): 257-73.
Analyzes the Wife of Bath's sense of guilt for her life of lust and rapaciousness, reading details of WBP as evidence of this guilt and WBT as a reflection of her "thirst for innocence" which has not been satisfied. The characterization is a rich…
Assesses the likelihood of Chaucer's familiarity with Peter Abelard's "Historia Calamitatum" and his knowledge of the story of Heloise and Abelard via Jean de Meun, arguing that the "Historia" has parallels with Chaucer's treatment of virginity…
Suggests that details of ShT may reflect historical incidents involving Pedro I ("the Cruel") of Castile, his various marital scandals, and a Spanish-English naval battle near Bruges. Comments on Chaucer's connections with Spain.
Edwards, A. S. G.
Book Collector 21 (1972) 380-85.
Recounts the details of various transactions involving the theft, acquisition, and sales of the Cardigan manuscript (now University of Texas Humanities Research Center MS 143), focusing on information derived from the papers of Henry Noble…
Delasanta, Rodney.
Essays in Criticism 22 (1972): 221-25.
Critiques James Smith's essay "Chaucer, Boethius, and Recent Trends in Criticism," while admiring his sensitivity to nuance in Chaucer's quotations of and allusions to Boethius in KnT and TC; argues that Smith mistakenly attributes the attitudes of…
Carruthers, Mary (J.)
Journal of Narrative Technique 2 (1972): 208-14.
Argues that FrT and SumT "explore the question of true meaning in far-reaching ways." Concerned with "externals" only, the Friar's summoner ignores intention, while the Friar himself (a "false glossator" though described as worthy) "cannot properly…
Carpenter, Nan Cooke.
Explicator 30.06 (1973): Item 51.
Comments on the portentousness of the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn and on the moon as the cause of the rainstorm in TC 3.624-28, when Criseyde decides to stay at Pandarus's home.
Eliason, Norman E.
Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger, 1972.
Evaluates the "style and structure" of Chaucer's poetry, exploring the interaction of pronunciation and versification and the limitations of medieval and modern rhetorics for describing and gauging Chaucer's techniques. Includes scansion of lines and…
Surveys critiques of court culture in English writing from John of Salisbury to Edmund Spenser; includes discussion of (pp. 124-36) of NPT as a moral-satirical narrative.
Stevens, John.
London: Hutchinson University Library, 1973
Describes the plots and concerns of medieval romances, especially those produced in France and England, seeking to characterize the genre and demonstrate its "pervasiveness" in medieval culture. Identifies a number of recurrent motifs, including…
Quennell, Peter
Springfield, Mass.: Merriam, 1973.
Surveys English literature produced in Britain from the late Middle Ages to the modern period. The chapter entitled "The Age of Chaucer" includes a section (pp. 24-32) that surveys Chaucer's life and works, emphasizing Chaucer's dexterity with…
Opie, Iona and Peter, eds.
Oxford: Clarendon, 1973.
An anthology of samples of English verse for children, ranging from selections by Chaucer and Lydgate to works by A. A. Milne and T. S. Eliot. Includes one sample from Chaucer: "Controlling the Tongue" (i.e., ManT 9.319-42), in Middle English, with…
Leonard. Frances McNeely.
Ph. D. Dissertation. University of Kansas, 1972. DAI 33.11 (1973): 6316-17A. Fully accessible via https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/entities/publication/0f8d3fe5-47a1-4a74-92f4-a04a137a986d (accessed April 12, 2026).
Despite the apparent clash between comedy and moral allegory, writers from Chaucer to Spenser combine the two, a fusion rooted in 'La Roman de la Rose.' Treats BD and HF as well as works by Gower, Dunbar, Skelton, and Spenser.
Merrill, Rodney
Eric Rothstein, ed. Literary Monographs, Volume 5 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1973), pp. 1-62.
Challenges traditional perceptions of Mars and Ven as separate poems, arguing that they are better recognized as a single work, "The Broche of Thebes." Traces the history of scribal, editorial, and critical receptions of the complaints, analyzing…
A critical description of Chaucer's major works (except LGW) that focuses on narrative techniques, genres, treatments of source materials, stylistic registers, varieties of audience, and the engagement of audiences through experimentation and the…
Kohl, Stephan.
Frankfurt am Main: Akadermische Verlagsgesellschaft, 1973.
Assesses Chaucer's knowledge of medieval sciences, especially astrology and medicine, arguing that CYPT and the Physician's materials indicate that Chaucer "had no expert knowledge of these sciences." Seeks nevertheless to gauge his attitude toward…
Knight, Stephen
Sydney: Angus and Roberstosn, 1973.
Argues that Chaucer's "poetic powers" are consistently evident throughout CT and that the formal qualities of his poetry are as important to his high reputation as are his wit and humane sensibility. Reads CT sequentially, tale by tale, focusing on…
Kennerly, Karen, ed.
New York: Random House, 1973.
An anthology of brief fables and fable-like poems, narratives, and literary selections from various cultures and epochs. Includes John Dryden's "The Cock and the Fox Or, The Tale of the Nun's Priest, from Chaucer" (pp. 191-217) as an example of a…
Surveys the influence of Petrarchan materials and traditions in European literature of various eras, including brief comments (p. 45) on Chaucer's uses of Petrarchan materials.
Hodapp, Marion F.
M. Criado de Val, ed. El Arcipreste de Hita: El Libro, El Autor, La Tierra, La Epoca (Barclona: S.E.R.E.S.A., 1973), pp. 285-308.
Tallies various similarities between Chaucer's works and that of Juan Ruiz, the Archpriest of Hita, comparing techniques and concerns of Ruiz's "Libro de Buen Amor" with CT, TC, and other Chaucerian works.
Gordon, Ida L.
W. Rothwell, W. R. J. Barron, David Blamires, and Lewis Thorpe, eds. Studies in Medieval Literature and Languages in Memory of Frederick Whitehead (New York: Barnes and Noble; Manchester: University of Manchester Press, 1973), pp. 117-31.
Tallies Chaucer's techniques of characterization in TC and explores how and where he "manipulates his characters in the interest of his theme," identifying differences between his major characters (especially Troilus) and their sources in Boccaccio's…
Utley, Francis Lee.
Chaucer Review 6.3 (1972): 198-228.
Explores how and where features of various genres inform the characterization, tone, atmosphere, and meaning of ClT, treating it as a scene in the "Canterbury drama," an exemplum of worldly and cosmic obedience, a fairy tale, a realistic novella, and…
Treats PhyT as an instance of Chaucer's use of "indirection" when applying a moral to an exemplary narrative. Like ManT in this respect (also ClT, NPT, and part of TC), and unlike its analogues in Livy, Gower, and the "Roman de la Rose," PhyT closes…
Miller, Clarence H., and Roberta Bux Bosse.
Chaucer Review 6.3 (1972): 171-84.
Examines the "distorted reflection or negative image" of the Christian mass in PardPT and in the GP description of the Pardoner, showing how the language, imagery, and details of the liturgy of the mass run throughout the Pardoner's materials,…
Shows that double entendre "invests the entire narrative action" of RvT, explicating individual puns and demonstrating the prevalence of the sexual implications of flour, milling, and grinding throughout the tale and in later works by John Heywood…
