Browse Items (16470 total)

Compares the knights in "Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell" and Gower's "Tale of Florent" with the knight in WBT to show that the Wife of Bath is an antifeminist character.

January's comparison of looking for a bride to reflections in a mirror evokes associations of limited and distorted vision, of two-dimensional representations, and of reversals of left and right. This image of "imperfect vision" is reflected in…

Surveys approaches to FranT and discusses it as "an exemplum on a young man's learning of gentillesse, by way of serving an apprenticeship in love." Set against actions in other Breton lays, Aurelius's behavior reflects the gentillesse that the…

In seeking "blisse" and "prosperitee," Arveragus and Dorigen opt for a limited, worldly purpose for their marriage. The difficulties that arise stem primarily from Arveragus's and Dorigen's words to each other and from the nature of their…

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…

Analyzes ambiguity in the setting of FranT, suggesting that a distinction between the information given and what is revealed by it depends on the response of the audience. Textual clues open an ironic gap between the poet and his narrator.

Comments on the name "Dorigen." which is not a Breton woman's name, and speculates on why the Franklin presents it as a woman's name at all.

By Chaucer's time, it had become common for magnates to take their meals in privacy, not in the great hall. Such practice is criticized in "Piers Plowman" B 10.99-102 (Kane ed.). Hence, the Franklin may be being praised for retaining the ancient…

Argues that "it may well be" that Chaucer's use of the verb "take" in Thopas 7.795 is parodic, meaning "inclination or attraction (towards)" rather than "attach oneself (to)" in a "binding relationship"--the latter sense evidently intended in "Sir…

Reads the confusions, contradictions, and ambiguities of ClT and its Envoy in light of feminist critical discourse.

Summarizes medieval attitudes toward gender relations in marriage and comments on the diverse range of representations of marriage in CT.

Maintains that Chaucer corrected Boccaccio arbitrarily when he claims at MkT 7.2248 that Persians wrote about Zenobia.

In TC 5.1095, "publisshed" (contained in five manuscripts) is preferable to "punisshed" (in fourteen manuscripts) because the fourteenth-century sense of "denounced publicly" better suits the immediate context in the poem and the widespread bad…

Chaucer uses traditional religious language, especially Marian and celestial terms, in Purse.

Reprints twelve essays on BD published between 1934 and 2007. The introduction by Ludwig (pp. 1-4) summarizes the plot and characters of BD, and comments on its plot and sources, major themes, and critical reception. Includes a selected bibliography…

Reprints twenty essays on HF published between 1896 and 2006. The introduction by Ludwig (pp. 37-39) summarizes the plot and characters of HF, and comments on its plot and sources, major themes, and critical reception. Includes a selected…

Argues--with qualifications--that the Reformation did not have "any direct, significant influence on the changes in the discourse on female vices and virtues" in the early modern period. Focuses on social conditions, conduct literature, and fiction,…

Includes an introduction (pp. 58-61) to Chaucer and his works.

Chaucer's revision of the Saint Cecilia legend emphasizes her desire to act as a free agent. Her virginity and her aggressive activity on behalf of Christ assert a "freedom of action to do her work" that parallels the Wife of Bath's.

FranT, although a declared romance, has been judged almost universally by real-life standards of conduct in marriage. Two real-life women of Chaucer's period, Margaret Paston and Christine de Pizan, provide a standard of conduct in their own…

Chaucer's treatment of "sententiae" in ParsT is best understood in terms of the schema provided by Thomas Walleys in his 14th-century "De modo componendi sermones." The Parson adopts many of Walleys' 14 methods of linking "senteniae" to control…

The form and style of the Pardoner's sermon are affected by its two audiences. The moral tale is related for the benefit of the Pilgrims; the "ensamples" (the brief Biblical stories against various sins) are for the "lewed people" in his rustic…

The magic of the Orleans clerk is nothing but stage illusion achieved by natural means. The inability of the characters (and indeed of the narrator himself) to distinguish these harmless tricks from astrology and witchcraft reveal their cultural…

Offers "close analysis of the use of 'sententiae' and narrative 'exempla'," exploring NPT, WBT, PardT, SumT, and ParsT in light of "traditional and late medieval sermon theory and practice" evident in the "artes praedicandi" and in medieval…

Rejects a previous attempt to link Fitzgerald's Daisy Fay and Alceste of LGWP, arguing instead that, via imagery, Gatsby's love for Daisy in the novel resonates with the love of Chaucer's narrator for the daisy in the poem.