An abstract of a paper that considers ClT and Petrarch's version of the Griselda tale in comparison with "Laxdaela Saga" and Marie de France's "Le Fresne". In all, the central female figure "possesses a greater value than may at first appear."
Newton, Allyson.
John Carmi Parsons and Bonnie Wheeler, eds. Medieval Mothering (New York and London: Garland, 1996), pp. 63-77.
Classical and medieval theories of sexual reproduction privilege the male role as active and occlude the female as passive. This occlusion is paralleled by the plot and language of ClT, in which mothering is subordinated to paternalistic concerns…
Saito, Isamu.
English Studies in Doshisha University 67 (1996): 1-25.
Compares the old man and the three rioters in PardT, reading the old man as an Everyman figure with the problem of old age as he searches for permission from God to be penitent.
Bevan, E. Dean.
Ulrich Müller and Kathleen Verduin, eds. Papers from the Fifth Annual General Conference on Medievalism 1990 (Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1996), pp. 435-41.
Comments on Bevan's efforts to represent in a film script various aspects of Chaucer's art in TC: Chaucer's sense of history, the subtleties of his diction, and his "world view."
Lucas, Angela.
Brian Cosgrove, ed. Literature and the Supernatural: Essays for the Maynooth Bicentenary (Blackrock, Ireland: Columba, 1996), pp. 11-32.
Assesses FranT in light of the conventions of the genre of the Breton lay: prologue, setting, rash promise, magic, impossible task, love triangle, and love. According to Lucas, the distortion of these conventions indicates that the Franklin does not…
Fayne, Gwendolyn D.
Ulrich Müller and Kathleen Verduin, eds. Papers from the Fifth Annual General Conference on Medievalism 1990 (Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1996), pp. 73-82.
In his modernization of WBT, John Dryden diminishes the "egalitarian" views of Chaucer's original and presents an outlook that is distinctly less feminist.
Marino, John B.
Essays in Medieval Studies 13: 121-29, 1996.
Explores the imagery of oxen, stalls, and yoking in Boethian and Christian traditions, arguing that they underlie Chaucer's allegorical uses of the imagery in Truth, ClT, NPT, and the CT at large.
Thirty-four essays--half in German, half in English--by various authors. Topics range from general discussions of the reception of the Middle Ages in traditional art and literature to medievalism in architecture and modern and postmodern film,…
Ellis, Steve.
Plymouth, U.K : Northcote House, in Association with the British Council, 1996.
An introduction to Chaucer that surveys critical issues and concentrates on how oppositions are posed in his poetry rather than resolved. Topics include the following: The Chaucer Business; Life, Works, Reputation; Dream, Text, Truth; Society,…
A descriptive approach to Chaucer's language, including the syntax of his progressive and perfect verbal forms and the functions of his present and past participles. Also includes lexical analysis of MilT (focus on "pryvetee"), RvT ("bigylen"), and…
Gutiérrez Arranz, José María.
SELIM: Journal of the Spanish Society for Mediaeval English Language and Literature 6: 85-102, 1996.
Surveys classical concepts of authority and Chaucer's uses of classical authorities, arguing that although Chaucerian allusions reflect medieval continuity with Stoicism and Epicurianism, the poet uses classical authorities, especially Ovid, in…
Kohl, Stephan.
Ulrich Müller and Kathleen Verduin, eds. Papers from the Fifth Annual General Conference on Medievalism 1990 (Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1996), pp. 179-87
Characterizes the treatment of Chaucer in the critical journal Scrutiny as a "deliberate fragmentation" of his works in an effort to convey upon the poet an ahistorical and timeless sense of value and authority.
Osborn, Marijane.
Vistas in Astronomy 39: 605-14, 1996.
When read "astrolabically" rather than astrologically, the "chronographia" of ParsP is accurate and ripe with spiritual meaning. It was inspired by Dante's presentation of the stars in the "Divine Comedy" and indicates the imminence of Easter.…
Strohm, Paul.
Asa Briggs and Daniel Snowman, eds. Fins de Sicle: How Centuries End, 1400-2000. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1996), pp. 7-37.
Explores how late-medieval English people regarded their age: as a time growing old and verging on cataclysm, especially as reflected in social unrest and the deposition of Richard II. Includes a number of references to and quotations from Chaucer…
Kobayashi, Ayako.
Tokyo Kasei Daigaku Kenkyu Kiyo 36: 161-71, 1996.
Tabulates scribal variants recorded in Barry Windeatt's edition of TC, particularly changes in vocabulary. Characterizes such changes as the result of carelessness and misunderstanding; the scribes did not attempt to improve the poem.
Chaudhuri, Supriya, and Sukanta Chaudhuri, eds.
Calcutta : Allied, in collaboration with the Department of English, Jadavpur University, 1996.
Eleven essays by various authors, on topics relating to Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Petrarchan tradition, Renaissance ballads and drama, and George Herbert. For two essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Writing Over under Alternative Title.
Mukherji, Sajni.
Supriya Chaudhuri and Sukanta Chaudhuri, eds. Writing Over: Medieval to Renaissance (Calcutta: Allied, in collaboration with the Department of English, Jadavpur University, 1996), pp. 1-10.
Reads the dreams of Criseyde and of the Wife of Bath as "counter discourse" to the male dominant discourse of prophetic dreaming. The dreams of the women are more complex and without clear directives.
Kaplan, M. Lindsay.
David Lee, ed. Signs of the Early Modern 1: 15th and 16th Centuries. EMF, Studies in Early Modern France, no. 2 (Charlottesville, Va.: Rookwood, 1996), pp. 101-28.
Kaplan explores medieval and early modern legal discourse about slander and defamation. Though HF is concerned with the relation between poetry and slander, in Chaucer's time "defamation was not understood as having temporal consequences for the…
Sanyal, Jharna.
Supriya Chaudhuri and Sukanta Chaudhuri, eds. Writing Over: Medieval to Renaissance (Calcutta: Allied, in collaboration with the Department of English, Jadavpur University, 1996), pp. 11-22.
Compares Criseyde of TC with her analogues in Henryson's "Testament," Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida," and Dryden's "Truth Found Too Late," arguing that in Chaucer's and Shakespeare's versions she is a victim of predatory males and is left open…
Cable, Thomas.
C. B. McCully and J. J. Anderson, eds. English Historical Metrics (Cambridge and New York : Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 7-29.
Cable traces a pattern of development in English stress "clashing," affected by stress subordination and stress spacing. Chaucer's "alternating metre has frequent stress subordination, but it is less clear that it makes systematic use of stress…
Hirsh, John C.
John C. Hirsh. The Boundaries of Faith: The Development and Transmission of Medieval Spirituality. Studies in the History of Christian Thought, no. 67 (Leiden: Brill, 1996), pp. 78-90.
Revised version of "The Second Nun's Tale," first published in C. David Benson and Elizabeth Robertson, eds. Chaucer's Religious Tales (Cambridge: Brewer, 1990).
Woolf deleted a description of Chaucer and one of the Pointz Hall library when revising materials for "Between the Acts," reflecting her growing belief that books were no longer the center of culture in 1939-40. Traces references and allusions to…
Guardia Massó, Pedro.
Mercedes Brea, ed. Marginales e marginados en la Época Medieval. Cuardernos del CEMYR, no. 4 ([La Laguna, Canary Islands]: Universidad de La Laguna, Centro de Estudios Medievales y Renacentistas, 1996), pp. 107-24.
Guardia Massó examines ecclesiastical and sexual suppression in Lollardy, "Piers Plowman," and CT (especially in WBP).
