Browse Items (16381 total)

Explores Chaucer's attitude toward the Boethian notion that "right reasoning alone should guarantee rhetorical success." Mirrored in Chaucer criticism and inflected by issues of gender and point of view, "objectivity," effective persuasion, and…

Argues that Washington Irving was broadly influenced by Chaucer. Focuses on Irving's "Sketch Book" and its narrative personae in particular and, more generally, his attention to Chaucer, medieval literature, and poetic language in his process of…

Observes several points of similarity and difference between the marital relations depicted in WBPT and FranT on the one hand and in "The Taming of the Shrew" and "The Merry Wives of Windsor" on the other.

Cites Bo and quotes portions of "The Former Age" as evidence of medieval transmission of ancient ideas about "about the happy age before the coming of civilization."

Provides lexical and grammatical evidence to argue that the verbal form "last" in ClT 4.266 "more than likely" means "extend in space," a "loan-sense from the French" influenced by development of the similar meaning of "dure."

Maintains that Chaucer indicates that there is a "single theme" in HF, arguing that "Distrust of worldly felicity . . . is Chaucer's 'o sentence'," and hypothesizing that the poem "was written for a New Year's entertainment." Cites several…

Describes and critiques a number of the paratextual notes and hard-word glosses that Thomas Speght included in his editions of Chaucer's works, noting many inaccuracies, but also demonstrating Speght's efforts to clarify words and references for his…

Offers evidence (rhymes and phonetic patterns in English and French) to indicate "Chaucer having pronounced 'iu' in French loanwords, with the stress on the first element of the diphthong." Further this "'iu' coalesced with earlier 'ew', 'iw', and,…

Responds to critiques of two books previously published by the author--"Some Types of Narrative in Chaucer's Poetry" (1954) and "The Golden Mirror: Studies on Chaucer's Descriptive Technique and Its Literary Background" (1955)--seeking to clarify…

Offers evidence from Thomas Dekker's "The Bel-man of London" (1608) that supports reading "to pull a finch" as "having to do with extortion based upon a trumped-up charge of fornication," hence an accusation against the Summoner (GP 1.652) for…

Explores the "stylistic rationale" for Chaucer's uses of the historical present tense, identifying the fundamental "connotation of continuing action" of the grammatical form, and assessing its rhetorical, semantic, and tonal effects in various…

Reads George Meredith's novel "The Tragic Comedians" as "a modern version" of TC, an "adaptation of Princess Helen von Racowitza's 'Autobiography,' overshadowed by Chaucer's great work," particularly influenced by his characterization of Criseyde.

Commends Thomas Warton for his appreciation of Chaucer in his "History of English Poetry from the Twelfth to the Close of the Sixteenth Century" (1774-81), acknowledging that the critic largely ignored Old English, denigrated much Middle English…

Argues that in his "mature work" and in "the service of greater realism," Chaucer used rhetoric "dramatically rather than ornamentally." Then gauges the degree of appropriateness of tales to tellers in light of the percentage of rhetoric in a given…

Comments on the ambiguity of the phrase "a finch eek koude he pulle," a detail in the GP description of the Summoner (CT 1.652).

Observes that as the patron saint of prisoners St. Leonard was associated iconographically with chains and fetters, and contends that this deepens the irony and ambiguity of the motto on the brooch of the Prioress in GP 1.162, where "vincit" carries…

Argues that in PardPT the Pardoner "is parodying himself--deliberately magnifying his character and conduct in order to portray himself as a monster of evil" exaggerating so that the other pilgrims will interpret him comically, as a "charming rogue,"…

Scans two lines of GP (49 and 173), "usually felt to be awkward," arguing that in light of comparable Middle English examples the syllable counts and stress patterns of these lines are consistent with the "iambic-decasyllabic theory."

Challenges the putative "simple and even balance" of the Marriage Group in CT, discussing several factors that highlight Chaucer's "purposeful inconclusiveness" in the dramatic interplay among the Tales: 1) MerT and FranT are each an "attack" on the…

Shows that lexical and stylistic evidence supports reading "the May" in KnT 1.1037 as "hawthorn blossom," rendering Emelye lovelier than lily, rose or hawthorn in bloom.

Explores the meanings and implications of the phrase "spiced conscience" in Middle English and later English language history, arguing that in both the GP description of the Parson (1.526) and the Wife of Bath's admonition to her husband (WBP 3.435)…

Challenges Matthew Arnold's assertion that Chaucer's poetry lacks "high seriousness," considering the issue in light of game theory and Chaucer's attitude toward characterization. Because Chaucer's viewed character as performative role-playing…

Analyzes the symbolic import of the numbers used in lines 1-12 of ParsP (29, 4, 11, and 6), considering them in light of medieval number theory, time-telling, and the astrological sign of Libra. Together, the numbers "suggest the approaching…

Comparative analysis shows that several changes and emphases Chaucer introduces into Boccaccio's "Filostrato" produce richer characterization in TC. All three major characters "think as well as feel" in Chaucer's poem: Troilus with his fatalism;…

Describes Chaucer's use of "Thise" in PardT 6.661 as a marker of stylistic transition--from the "rhetorical tirade" about sins to the "more intimate and often colloquial" tale of the rioters. The usage anticipates modern English.