In CYT, Chaucer's comic use of technical terms related to alchemy or to alchemists (e.g., "craft," "disciplyne," "emprise," "experience," "labour," "loore," "maistrie," "multiplicatioun," "philosophie," "science," "travaille," "wirkyng,"…
In Wom Nob, Chaucer introduces a psychology of love new to English poetry that derives from Machaut's "'realist' scholastic psychology" and that parallels the works of "stilnovisti" such as Dante, Cavalcanti, and Guinizella.
Tripp, Raymond P., Jr.
Geardagum 14 (1993): 89-110.
Assesses "St. Erkenwald" as hagiography, exploring in particular its orthodoxy and the relation of the Saint and the Judge. Also compares the "rationalism" of the poem with that of KnT and its elegiac qualities with those of BD.
Cecilia is a humanist who represents the changing medieval world view. Her religion is personal rather than evangelical and is grounded in the practical. She does not perform miracles, nor do any supernatural powers vanquish her enemies or save her…
Through the character of John the Carpenter, Chaucer parodies not the mystery plays but their credulous audiences, who conflated past and present and often confused illusion with reality.
To show that love for hunting does not preclude piety, the worldly Monk of GP invokes Edward the Confessor, who was often portrayed as a celibate Christian as well as a passionate hunter. Because of Edward's dual interests, the Monk's pursuit of…
Discusses references to the middle class in Arthurian literature and relates to SqT, Th, and ShT to the medieval "commercial revolution." Arcite, in KnT, is a type of Horatio Alger, beginning as a page, gaining status, and marrying into nobility.
In BD and HF, Chaucer uses the "symplegades" or "clashing rocks" motif, which is related to the "Cliff of Death" theme in Germanic literature, as identified by Donald K. Fry.
Awareness of narratological levels helps us understand differences in intent in Gower and Chaucer. Comparison of Gower's "Tale of Florent" and Chaucer's WBT illustrates these differences. Overall, Gower has a purpose and achieves closure; Chaucer…
The Miller is a stereotypical Celt, disparaged by society; Oswald the Reeve is an Anglo-Saxon who resents the Celtic Miller's "specialized trade." The Prioress is distanced from secular society by her profession and distanced from her profession by…
Troilus's "double sorrow" is actually a triple sorrow caused by Criseyde's betrayal; the inability of Pandarus, his intercessor, to bring Criseyde back; and the failure of the goddess Venus to reunite him with Criseyde.
Is PF realist or nominalist? Ultimately, the poem's debate and epistemological investigation of the two positions is more conducive to reader participation than a conclusive ending would have been.
When January shaves for his wedding night, he only makes himself like a "houndfyssh." Earlier, he would join "Oold fissh and yong flessh" (line 1418)--but with himself in the role of a sexually satisfying "pyk," not a disgusting dogfish. The…
Looking at BD, HF, and PF, Robinson examines Chaucer's relations to his masters and his dilemma in connecting books and imagination with actual life, in creating puzzles for the demands he felt "of the poetry of the poem." Chaucer's dreamscapes are…
Both Beowulf and Chaucer's Walter in ClT are "compulsive." Beowulf is obsessed with his heroic powers; Walter, with testing his wife. Walter is seen as a "monster," his treatment of his wife as inhuman.
Argues that the Reeve's efforts to represent himself as respectable are mirrored in the characterization of Symkin in RvT, and Malyne's "repressed subjectivity" reveals Symkin's over-simplified, patristic notions self-definition.
Contends that in SNT Cecilia's "sense of incongruity between inner self and social definition" is directed to a pious lay audience. Argues that the Second Nun's use of the word "bisynesse obfuscates" what the tale has to convey to her lay audience
Argues that both the structure and the content of ManT explore the relativity of truth and lie. Regarding the structure, the dependence on literature of practical wisdom raises a doubt as to the tale's authority as an exemplum. As for the content,…
Compares nine versions of the Griselda narrative (including ClT), exploring what virtues in addition to patience are emphasized in each and arguing that shifts in emphasis account for the story's medieval and early modern popularity. ClT emphasizes…
Compares MLT and the stories of Constance by Nicholas Trevet and John Gower. Argues that MLT points to the uncertainty of Rome as the center of ecclesiastical authority in the later fourteenth century.
Argues that Johnson's perfunctory references to Chaucer reflect the former's view of the latter not as an excellent "English" poet but as one who successfully transmitted literature from the Continent into Britain. Considers possible reasons Johnson…
Exploring details and multilingual and multidialectical puns and etymologies through a "Proustian lens," Surber discovers sustained attention to homosexuality in CT. Critical uncertainty about specific meaning in Chaucer enables a queer reading that…
