Browse Items (16391 total)

"Reviews work on Chaucer's language and its importance for the development of English literary language." Also suggests directions for future language studies.

Explores Edmund Spenser's adaptation of SqT in Book 4 of his "Faerie Queene," focusing on how he develops a theme of friendship. Spenser claims Chaucer as source, but it seems neither that he "completes" SqT nor focuses on the Cambel/Canacee plot. In…

Assesses the idea of Renaissance "medievalism," and reviews recent studies of the topic, focusing on Shakespeare and arguing that FranT is a "key source" of Cymbeline, which "resists the traditional borders and boundaries of periodization."

The successive deaths between 1810 and 1816 of several men associated with Thomas Strothard's "Canterbury Pilgrims" painting would seem to have executed a certain poetic justice, for Blake had dubbed himself "Death" in one Notebook poem and, in…

The poem's use of "rare variants" such as "peregal," which appears in Chaucer's TC (5.840) and in Lydgate's "Reson and Sensuallyte" (ll. 1738, 4384), exemplifies its "rather refined" language.

Discusses Scottish poets' uses of Chaucer, both to deepen their own works and to establish their own independent literary tradition. Instances include "Kingis Quair," which incorporates motifs from TC and KnT; Henryson's work; and Gavin Douglas's…

Analyzes the influence of medieval culture and Chaucer on Shakespeare. Reveals how Shakespeare relied on Chaucer's language and verse forms for "The Two Noble Kinsmen."

Examines pleasure, happiness, and enjoyment in late-medieval literature as it was influenced by Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics," mediated by commentaries and the "Roman de la Rose." Considers a balance of intellectualism and voluntarism, and an…

Considers the medieval interest in Boethius as a personal model as well as a literary influence, with particular regard to Usk's deployment of Boethius in an effort at self-justification and Hoccleve's connections between Boethius and Chaucer.

Proposes that Chaucer, Gower, Lydgate, and other contemporaries may have viewed Ovid's work not merely as a source of exempla, but as a rhetorical model for subversive stories.

Applies psychoanalytical analysis to Boccaccio's "Il Filostrato," Chaucer's TC, and Robert Henryson's "Testament of Cresseid," tying "literary neighbor relations to the social and political realities of the late Middle Ages."

Briefly surveys uses of Ovid in late-medieval England, and compares Chaucer's and John Gower's engagements with Ovid's works and moralized version of them. Focuses on creative uses of Ovid in Gower's "Vox Clamantis" (Book 1), in the Pyramus and…

Explores religious content of Marian prayers found in ABC, PrP, SNP, Ret and MLT. Argues that Chaucer does not attempt to "simplify moral issues and theological questions" in his tales of saints.

Contends that although BD, HF, and PF are secular poems, Chaucer's structure and wordplay in the dream poems "juxtaposes the secular and the spiritual, the classical and the Christian in complex tension."

Studies Chaucer's tales that revolve around miracles and saints. Maintains that SNT, PrT, and MLT reveal "Chaucer's artistry in deploying his understanding of medieval English piety."

Suggestions for using NPT and MLT for teaching the religious elements of Chaucer in secondary, undergraduate, and postgraduate MA level classes.

Discusses "non-Christian religion" represented in the CT and examines what it means to be a Jew in PrT or a Muslim in MLT. Argues that Chaucer's understanding of Judaism in PrT and Islam in MLT reveals the "ironies of self-identity and the patterns…

Contends that Chaucer's romances, including KnT, MLT, WBT, SqT, FranT, Th, and TC, "exhibit . . . interest in adversity, or philosophical or religious contempt" for suffering as a primary theme.

Discusses Chaucer's exploration of the relationship between churls and the Church in the GP, and in Chaucer's fabliaux, particularly MilT.

Offers approaches to teaching ethics and spirituality in CT. Provides models and suggestions for teaching CT, and for preparing seminars and conferences designed for new or experienced teachers.

Addresses issues of morality and moral perspectives by looking at the wording and structures within the CT, Chaucer's lyrics, and LGW.

Discusses how US students' "grasp of Chaucer's work is hampered by their lack of biblical and doctrinal background" and offers suggestions for teaching CT, including journal exercises that foster interaction among students.

Explains how medieval pilgrimages, including Chaucer's "temporary community" of pilgrims in CT, are influenced by a "series of concentric circles" of multiple communities.

Explores how "enquiry-based learning (EBL)" as a pedagogical approach can be used to help undergraduate students understand Chaucer's religious context in CT.

Explores Chaucer's "employment of Lollard ideas and motifs" in the CT, particularly in ParsPT and WBP, and in the G version of the LGWP. Argues that Chaucer's rhetoric and portrayal of Lollardy reflects how he wants readers to understand the…