Argues that Chaucer favors the popular idea that Brittonic literature and history are primarily oral. By doing so, Chaucer distances his contemporary England, with its reliance on Latin textual and cultural authority, from the political reality of…
Explores three kinds of love in PF (transcendental, lustful, and natural), arguing that their deployment in the poem constitutes gentle mockery of courtly love.
Hennedy, Hugh L.
Chaucer Review 5.3 (1971): 213-17.
The summoner in FrT is "damned if he does and damned if he doesn't" repent because the old lady's curse (3.1628-29) condemns him if he fails to repent and his own self-curse (3.1610-11) condemns him if he does.
Hennequin, M. Wendy.
Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching 24, no. 1 (2017): 121-40.
Justifies the use of historical re-creation assignments in university classrooms, offering in appendices a sample assignment and a grading rubric. Describes examples of more and less successful student projects, with commentary and illustrations,…
Fifteen essays on topics related to sacred and secular English manuscripts of the late Middle Ages. For two essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Tributes to Kathleen L. Scott under Alternative Title.
Henning, Standish.
English Language Notes 3.1 (1965): 1-4.
Attributes the reference to Taurus in NPT 7.3194-95 to the medico-astrological tradition of associating Taurus with necks and throats, part of a pattern of imagery in the Tale that may reflect the influence of Bartholomeus Anglicanus's "De…
Henningfeld, Diane Andrews.
Dissertation Abstracts International 55 (1995): 1945A.
Medieval anatomical, religious, and legal ideas about rape appear in medical texts, religious rules, saints' legends, romances, and WBT. These works reveal cultural attitudes toward rape and women in general.
Henry, Avril, ed. and trans.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987.
Critical edition of a fifteenth-century manuscript of a Middle English translation of "Speculum humanae salvationis," written between 1310 and 1324. The work is a compilation for both laity and clergy, a handbook or compendium of images and stories…
"The Pilgrimage of the Lyf of the Manhode," the ME translation of de Guilleville's "Pelerinage de la vie humaine," leads to an emendation of Chaucer's lyric, which should probably read (lines 38-39): "So litel shal thanne in me be founde / That but…
Viewed in light of Jean Baudrillard's "Simulacra and Simulation," the Pardoner's relics are simulacra, which allows Chaucer to question their "realness." The textuality of PardT (and CT as a whole) is to be read as a hyperreality.
Heor, Woo Ree.
Ph.D. dissertation (City University of New York, 2023), Dissertation Abstracts International A84.11(E). Freely accessible at https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5372 (accessed January 31, 2025).
Identifies a "dichotomy of fascination and revulsion towards Troy" in several Middle English narratives, and argues that in TC and Henryson's "Testament of Cresseid," Criseyde "signifies the repeated theme of loss and treachery inherent in the…
Anthologizes in four volumes oral accounts by asylum seekers and immigrants detained in Britain and elsewhere, recorded by various poets and novelists, and modelled on the CT, with an opening Prologue in each volume, followed by narratives with…
Herdan, G.
Language: Journal of the Linguistic Society of America 32.2 (1956): 254-59.
Tabulates the percentage of romance words in the works of Chaucer against the overall length of these works, suggesting that, in terms of its romance vocabulary, Equat "is to be regarded as a work by Chaucer." Establishes a logarithmic formula for…
An anthology of readings from medieval sources--literary, political, religious, etc.-- translated into modern English. Includes GP (translated by Frank E. Hill), titled "Chaucer's Picture of Medieval Society," with a brief descriptive introduction.
Herman, Jason Michael.
Dissertation Abstracts International A70.04 (2009): n.p.
Suggests that Ret should be considered as a rhetorical appeal for the prayers of readers, who are encouraged to reflect on their own readings of CT and to engage in the self-scrutiny that Ret exemplifies.
Argues that the language of Ret should not be understood as a modern retraction would be; expresses skepticism that Ret is actually meant to retract works like CT.
Herman, Peter C.
Chaucer Review 25 (1991): 318-28.
According to the rules for infidelity in the Middle Ages, Phebus's wife is guilty of both adultery and high treason since she commits adultery with a person of lower birth and social class.
The death of England's Prince Henry sparked a "sense of near-nihilism" and prompted Shakespeare and Fletcher to question chivalry in The Two Noble Kinsmen. This interrogation anticipates modern readings of KnT--the source of the play--as a…
Hermann, John P.
Chaucer Review 19 (1985): 302-37.
The theme of dismemberment initially voiced in the metaphor of the "forstraught" hare (line 1295) reverberates throughout the tale, giving rise to secondary themes of exchange of roles and dissemination of vows, underpinned by references to saints'…
Hermann, John P.
Studies in the Age of Chaucer 7 (1985): 107-35. Reprinted in R. A. Shoaf, ed. Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde: "Subgit to alle Poesy: Essays in Criticism. MRTS, no. 104 (Binghamton, N. Y.: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1994), pp. 138-60.
In Pandarus's seduction of Criseyde in book 2 of TC and in Diomede's seduction of her in book 5, the gestures invite plural interpretations.
Hermann, John P.
Laura C. Lambdin and Robert T. Lambdin, eds. Chaucer's Pilgrims: An Historical Guide to the Pilgrims in the "Canterbury Tales" (Westport, Conn.; and London: Greenwood, 1996), pp. 69-79.
Summarizes the history, ideals, and practice of medieval monks as background to understanding the GP sketch of the Monk and the monk of ShT. The Monk is preoccupied with the diversion of monastic administration, while the Shipman's Daun John is more…
Hermannson, Casie.
Studies in American Fiction 25: 57-80, 1997.
Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby rehabilitates the Chaucerian treatment of the love story of Troilus and Criseyde (TC) and counters the less positive depictions of Henryson and Shakespeare.
Hernández Pérez, M. Beatriz
Santa Cruz de Tenerife: La Página Ediciones, 2003.
Compares varied uses of narrative voices in CT and Juan Ruiz's "Libro de buen amor "in light of the tradition of prologue writing. Chaucer and Ruiz employ satire and ambiguity to elicit a variety of questions from their audience - enough to arouse…
