Browse Items (16459 total)

The ambiguous social and legal status of franklins in fourteenth-century England makes it difficult to know whether Chaucer's Franklin was a member of the gentry or an aspirant to the gentle class. Sembler surveys critical opinions about the…

Describes medieval medical education and explains the theory and practice of medieval physicians and surgeons as background to the GP sketch of the Physician. Some details of the sketch accord well with typical medieval medical activities, while…

Considers Chaucer's two tales set in ancient Rome--PhyT and SNT--maintaining that each is "particularly concerned with political corruption"; "the depravity of those who wield the state's power has quite undermined it." Hirsh notes a possible…

Discusses manuscript drolleries that represent physicians, commenting on the conventional clothing of Chaucer's Physician and the flask or jordan the Physician holds in the Ellesmere illumination.

Surveys the kinds of irony and humor in PardPT for the ways they characterize the Pardoner.

Briefly describes the history of confession and the granting of indulgences in church tradition. Also explicates details of PardPT.

An exemplum in Oxford Bodleian Library MS Bodley 859, from "Distincciones," no. 118--attributed to John Bromyard (ca. 1350)--is the earliest analogue to PardT.

It is impossible to determine an exact modern value of the 100 francs in ShT, but internal, economic, and comparative literary evidence indicates that {dollar}5,000 is "a specific lower limit to the value of that amount in 1990's U.S. dollars." …

Double-entry bookkeeping, which Chaucer could have learned in Italy, contains "a system of rhetoric as well as a technique." The plot of ShT can be seen as a series of parallel accounts, with the ending as the "closing of the books" on the final…

The GP description of the Shipman depicts him as a typical privateer, one modeled, perhaps, on the historical John Hawley and Piers Risselden. ShT reflects a cynical attitude, aimed especially at the merchant of the "Tale."

Examines details of the GP sketch of the Prioress and the sensibility of PrT for the ways they clash, exploring their details in light of medieval convent learning and practice. The Prioress may have learned her courtliness as a devotee of Queen Anne…

Briefly surveys the history of medieval nunneries, the typical responsibilities of a prioress, and critical attitudes toward the Prioress and PrT.

Based on medieval religious rules and regulations, particularly those related to orders of nuns, the medieval norm of nuns is revealed in Chaucer's depiction of the Prioress, a depiction that is not negative.

A reading of PrT in the mode of Julia Kristeva reveals it to be the narrative of the "litel clergeon's" entry into self-hood and subjectivity by a traumatic passage from the maternal "chora," represented by the singing of "Alma redemptio mater,"…

The naive, heavily repetitive, oratorical style of PrT appears to be influenced by late-medieval devotional prose written by men for women. Broader patterns of recurrence signal oppositions in the "Tale" that subvert its feminine voice and its…

Surveys the medieval mythographic accounts about Little Hugh (e.g., Matthew Paris, Chaucer's PrT); transformation into popular ballads, nursery rhymes, and Romantic verse (Child, Arnim, Brentano, Heine); and modern appropriations in A. Zweig's…

MkT is not fragmentary, although the Knight misunderstands its common fourteenth-century technique of closure. Boenig provides parallel examples from Chaucer and Machaut.

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…

Explicates the Ugolino episode of MkT as an instance of Chaucer's self-consciousness about borrowing from sources, especially Dante. Explores the courtly, Boethian, Boccaccian, and Dantean nuances of "langour" and argues that, as Ugolino passively…

Explores Chaucer's adaptation-translation of Jean de Meun's account of the fall of Nero. In MkT, Chaucer capitalizes on Boethian references to Nero and presents Nero as responsible for his fall in fortune.

The ethos of the Canterbury preachers reveals Chaucer's distinctive self-consciousness about medieval rhetorical issues. The Pardoner's emphasis on pathos contrasts the Parson's emphasis on logos. NPT is an act of self-display in which the narrator…

Describes the medieval ecclesiastical hierarchy and places Chaucer's Nun's Priest in the hierarchy, identifying the training and responsibilities of medieval priests and the particular activities of priests who ministered to cloistered nuns and…

Compares the structure and interpretive techniques of NPT with those of scholastic fable commentaries widely used in medieval classrooms, arguing that Chaucer capitalized on these similarities to encourage readers to recognize the inseparability of…

Lexical similarities and broad organizational strategies in Bokenham's legend suggest that his sources were SNT, the "Legenda," and the "Passio." Bokenham reveals an early fifteenth-century appreciation of Chaucer's skill as author and translator.

Summarizes the conventions of medieval monastic life and comments on the hagiography of SNT. In all except the fact that she speaks, Chaucer's Second Nun embodies the ideal of the medieval nun.