Browse Items (16471 total)

Medieval iconography of the monkey physician examining a urinal reflects concern about contemporary physicians but may also evoke associations with Christ as salvific doctor. Hardwick briefly considers aspects of Phy-PardL and the Ellesmere portrait…

Far from being rambling, hasty, or incoherent, Dorigen's lament on faithful and faithless wives is a careful working out of the solution to her own dilemma. Starting with stories from Jerome's "Against Jovinian," she develops a favorable, Augustinian…

In light of speech-act theory and the conventions of courtly literature, Dorigen's playful promise to Aurelius in FranT is not binding. Aurelius's own interpretation of the promise is willfully self-interested.

FranT raises problems rather than providing a solution in the Marriage Group. Like ClT, it poses "a problematic marriage agreement" at the outset; like MerT, it shows that disastrous consequences can result from introducing non-marital love into a…

In its concerns with social rank and professional distractions, the marriage of Arveragus and Dorigen in FranT mirrors that of Chaucer and Philippa. The theme of the Tale (that true love cannot be maintained without outside considerations) might…

"Kayrrud," the home of Arveragus in FranT, refers not to a "red fort," as Tatlock suggested (1914), but to "Kairiud," a fishing village "one mile east of Penmarch Head." Chaucer's knowledge of Middle Breton was more precise than commentators have…

Similarities between magic and tale-telling and between the clerk of Orléans and the Franklin recur in FranT, despite the Franklin's attempts to distance them. As the clerk seeks to educate Aurelius, the Franklin tries to teach the Squire.

Bleeth surveys critical responses to SqT for the ways they reflect assumptions about and attitudes toward the East as a cultural Other. Considers criticism from Thomas Warton (1778) through recent efforts to come to terms with and go beyond Edward…

Furrow surveys medieval verbal and visual depictions of the love-tryst beneath the tree, focusing on the duping of Mark by Tristan and Isolde. Adaptations of the scene in romances include MerT and its analogue, "The Comedy of Lydia."

Building on three generally acknowledged biblical motifs in MerT, Fumo suggests "the presence, indeed the dominance, of a fourth": the Crucifixion. Januarie's pain in marriage is associated with "Christ's suffering on the cross"; however, the…

Sanok assesses the urban performances of virgin martyr and Marian plays and the "exemplarity" of female saints' legends, examining how authorities sought to contain or appropriate the subversive potential of female piety. Considers SNT and how the…

Chaucer treats NPT in his characteristically ambiguous manner--transcending his sources, denying, or transfiguring them. The Nun's Priest loses control of his argument, but the poet does not. In reducing the Fall of Man to a literal episode, Chaucer…

The calming of an "urban rabble" in Aeneid 1.148-56 was a topos in reports and rumors that surrounded the uprising of 1381 and in reports of similar conflicts at Lynn and London in 1377. Baswell explores the "anxieties, hopes, and tensions" of the…

Bowden defines "sentence," "sawe," and "proverbe" in relation to terms used in the French and Latin sources of Mel, comparing Mel to pedagogical proverb collections to explore Chaucer's "creative interaction with oral tradition."

The high reputation for fine Jewish artistry in Chaucer's lifetime contributes to the humor of Th.

Unlike the isolated narrative of Jews in CT (PrT), various narratives in the Vernon manuscript investigate the Jew in markedly different ways, going beyond demonization of Jews to debate their essential nature.

Examines traditional depictions of Jews; points to a parallel between the murder of the clergeon in PrT and ritual murder; links the clergeon with Christ and the Prioress with the Virgin; and concludes that PrT functions as a divinely inspired…

Focusing on the relationship between images of violence in PrT and real history, critics seek to redress history's ills. Recent readings reflect professional and institutional assumptions. While not "de-historicizing" PrT, critics may…

Examines books of medieval maritime law (e.g., the "Oakbook of Southhampton," the "Tavola Amalfitana," and the "Consulat de Mar") to argue that the Shipman of GP knew the law, "worked the system," probably engaged in smuggling, and exploited…

Although critics often criticize the monk and wife of ShT for their lack of morals, the merchant's own dealings are not without blame. His bill of exchange may be illegal, and it parallels the arrangement between monk and wife. All three characters…

When seen in light of probable sources in Decameron 8.1-2 and contrasted with Chaucer's other fabliaux, ShT is an "elegantly sophisticated comedy of bourgeois values [written] by a socially and intellectually elevated vintner's son."

The Pardoner's "altercation" with the Host "reveals how queer power disarms heteronormativity." In GP and PardPT, the Pardoner does not fit modern categories of "gay" or "bisexual"; his queerness is aligned with several forms of verbal and social…

Characterizations of Grendel, the Green Knight, and Chaucer's Pardoner can be used for a "queer pedagogy" based on the theories of Henry Giroux and Stanley Aronowitz. Zeikowitz suggests discussions and written assignments that encourage analysis of…

Examines the framing narratives and the relics in PardT to demonstrate that Chaucer achieves dramatic closure at the end of the Tale with the pilgrims' rejection of the relics.

The metaphor in Eph. 4:22-24 of putting off old clothes and donning new ones influenced the use of this image in PardT, "King Lear," "Gulliver's Travels," and "The Brothers Karamazov." As the Pardoner's alter ego and a representation of human…