Uses "thing theory" to posit that having things conferred subjectivity upon the holder in the Middle Ages. Applies this premise as a way to read Walter's treatment of Griselda in ClT, arguing that "Poor Griselda's selfless submission grows out of a…
Argues that Chaucer raises questions in ClT about relations between poverty and the nature of the self, gauging the extent to which Griselda's agency, selflessness, and lack of "things" are factors in Walter's "inhuman" treatment of her, and asking…
Examines the Summoner in GP in connection with representations of leprosy and discusses the limitations of the digital manuscripts used to research findings.
Describes Paul C. Doherty's seven murder mysteries based on CT, exploring them as deeply allusive appropriations rather than adaptations, and theorizing how Chaucer-adept readers of this fan fiction can achieve Lacanian jouissance as well as…
Cicero's ideal rhetorical style, which combined wisdom and eloquence, was redefined in Christian terms by Saint Augustine. Chaucer's Franklin, who pretends to follow Augustinian rhetorical ideals, in fact defines wisdom and eloquence in a worldly…
Argues that Dante in Canto XIX of his "Inferno," and Chaucer in SumT, "show essentially the same pervasive effects of simony in essentially the same manner," using similar "images of and parodic allusions to" the sin. However, the poets differ in…
Argues that TC "dramatizes" the relations among vision, imagination, reason, and intellect found in Bo, tracing the effects of the lovers' "faulty reasoning" in failing to progress from sight-based earthly pleasure to eternal good, emphasized in…
Analyzes the grotesque Bahktinian realism of inversions and bodily functions in medieval narratives; includes comments on the "prayer-belch" and farting in SumT and on ass-kissing and farting in MilT, compared and contrasted with analogous materials.
The Middle Ages provided two contrasting traditions in the characterization of Hector, one celebrating his heroism, the other viewing him as possessed of physical flaws and spiritual debilities. In TC, Chaucer combines the two traditions in his…
Although the prevailing code of honor was belligerent, Chaucer's dissatisfaction with this aggressive style is subtly indicated in Truth, Mars, Th, and KnT by presentation of "heroic" actions and martial "worshippe" as slightly ridiculous. In Mel,…
KnT offers a reflection of several problems in late fourteenth-century society and of a judge and commentator, Theseus, who is free because he can rationally interpret history. Through KnT and its inversion in MilT, Chaucer offers a mythos of peace…
The Franklin revises the law of the sacrament of marriage according to the medieval understanding of Epicurus. Ironically, echoing Amis and la Vielle from the "Roman de la Rose," the Franklin advocates the pursuit of "ese" and "delit" and the…
The parallel between Griselda and Mary, from preelection and marriage through maternal suffering to final coronation, is integral and pervasive in ClT. Mary embodies the canonical myth of the life of the Christian soul from baptism to heaven;…
The principle of contraries provides a method for relating pairs of tales. ManT and ParsT offer paradigms for improper and proper use of speech. The Manciple uses and misglosses the tale of Phoebus and the Crow, while the Parson speaks the truth…
The "partridge wings" at the end of the "pictura" of Fame result not from error but from Chaucer's following the commentary on the "Metamorphoses" in "Ovide moralise," where Perdix (partridge) represents a clever but deceitful craftsman and Daedalus…
Robertson, D. W.,Jr.
Mediaevalia 6 (1980): 239-59.
Aware of the ethics of "commune profit," Chaucer condemns the self-seeking Franklin, Miller, Reeve, and Wife of Bath, while commending the other-centered Parson and Plowman.
Peck, Russell A.
Mediaevalia 7 (1984 for 1981): 91-131.
Biblical Pauline notions of pilgrimage recur throughout CT, evident in imagery drawn from Paul's letters, although often in "parody and travesty": old men and new men, doctrine amidst enigma, iconography of wells, vessels, widows, musical…
Cowgill, Bruce Kent.
Mediaevalia 8 (1985 for 1982): 151-69.
Mel, MkT, and NPT are related by their concern with spiritual perception or its lack: Mel deals with the failure to listen to Prudence and the return of Sophia; MkT shows "the consequence of sacrificing both prudence and sapientia"; NPT reasserts the…
Benson, C. David.
Mediaevalia 8 (1985 for 1982): 337-49
The Pardoner should be read not as a real person but as an allegorical figure. Modern discussions overemphasize the Pardoner's sexuality and distort the fact that hints about his sexuality prepare for the more important concern with his…
Green, Richard Firth.
Mediaevalia 8 (1985 for 1982): 351-58.
The Pardoner is characterized not by signs of homosexuality, but by indication of effeminacy, thought in the Middle Ages to indicate carnality. Green offers parallels in works by Gower and Lydgate.
Donner, Morton.
Mediaevalia 9 (1986, for 1983): 125-44.
Chaucer was not an inept translator in Bo, as some contend, but an innovator who expanded the vocabulary of English ideological writing by some 500 constructions, anglicizing new Latin and Romance terms and extending the meanings of existing English…
Delasanta, Rodney (K.)
Mediaevalia 9 (1986, for 1983): 145-63.
Chaucer's narrative style--describing a host of particulars in minute detail--was influenced by nominalist denial of the ontological existence of universals. But Chaucer's preoccupation with Boethian themes indicates a continuing interest in more…
McGregor, James H.
Mediaevalia 9 (1986, for 1983): 181-203.
LGW's "Legend of Thisbe" paraphrases Ovid's story in "Metamorphoses," pt. 4, according to the rules of classical rhetoric. Chaucer's changes in Ovid's story resemble those of other medieval paraphrasers: his neutral narrative style is changed to…
