Chaucer's use of the Ovidian source of ManT, insisting on the tale of the crow--and not the connecting tale of the raven--allows him to argue for the "potentially treacherous nature of language" and to lead smoothly into Ret. The influence of Ovid is…
Saunders, Corrine.
Hilary Powell and Corinne Saunders, eds. Visions and Voice-Hearing in Medieval and Early Modern Contexts (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), pp. 91-116.
Exemplifies ways in which medieval "romance writing takes up the notion that physiological processes and exterior influences can interweave to produce powerful psychological experiences," showing how the "creative possibilities of interweaving the…
Tops, A. J.,Betty Devriendt and Steven Geukens,eds.
Leuven : Peeters, 1999.
Thirty-five essays by various authors on English and comparative linguistics, arranged in four groups: geographic and diachronic variation, "Synchronic Description and Theory, "Grammars from the Past," and "Language Contrast and Teaching." For two…
Rogers, William, and Paul Dower.
Robert G. Benson and Susan J. Ridyard, eds. New Readings of Chaucer's Poetry (Rochester, N.Y., and Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2003), pp. 119-38.
Rogers and Dower review considerations of money and its circulation in ShT, questioning whether Chaucer praises or blames money or whether the topic was as mixed for him as it is today.
Harrison, Thomas P
Austin: University of Texas, 1956.
Describes birds mentioned by four English poets, one chapter apiece. An opening chapter surveys classical backgrounds for zoological and interpretive ornithology, along with the uses of birds in medieval encyclopedias. The Chaucer chapter addresses…
Neuse, Richard.
Studies in the Age of Chaucer 22: 415-23, 2000.
The tragedies of MkT resist any overarching "metahistorical paradigm" and thus reflect Jean-Francois Lyotard's definition of postmodernism. The Monk is a "serious-minded humanist with a bent toward postmodernism."
Sanders, Barry.
Barbara Lounsberry and others, eds. The Tales We Tell: Perspectives on the Short Story (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1998), pp. 55-62.
Considers the relations among jokes and short stories, focusing on MilT as a "well-made" short story and regarding the Reeve's response as evidence of the social balance accomplished through jokes and fiction.
Nicholson, R. H.
Chaucer Review 22 (1988): 192-213.
The public ceremonies--the triumph, trial by battle, and the state funeral--underlining the Knight's conversion of romance into figurative narrative suggest that the public personality of Theseus, the ruler, is the dominant personality in KnT.
Examines various possible sources for Shakespeare's play, including KnT, arguing that such sources must be considered in light of the audience's perception.
Doob, Penelope Reed.
R. F. Yeager and Charlotte C. Morse, eds. Speaking Images: Essays in Honor of V. A. Kolve (Asheville, N.C.: Pegasus Press, 2001), pp. 167-84; 4 b&w figs.
Surveys relations between female literary characters and labyrinths from mythic accounts to Lady Mary Worth's "Pamphilia to Amphilanthus," commenting on Virgil's "Aeneid," Boethius's "Consolation of Philosophy," Dante's "Commedia," WBPT, and the…
Yamanaka, Toshio.
Sophia English Studies 4 (1979): 11-22.
The keywords to determine Theseus's roles in KnT are "lord," "governour," "conquerour," "hunter," "servant," and "judge." Theseus is analogous to Mars, Venus, and Diana, as "conquerour," "servant," and "hunter," symbolized in his construction of the…
Van, Thomas A.
Studies in the Literary Imagination 4.2 (1971): 83-100.
Assesses Theseus in KnT as a character who is capable of anger, self-centeredness, pity, reason, restraint, and charity, considering him in light of Boethian philosophy and Boccaccio's characterization of Teseo in the "Teseida." Central to Chaucer's…
Greenwood, Maria.
Colette Stévanovitch, ed. L'Articulation langue-littrature dans les textes médiévaux anglais. Collection GRENDEL, no. 5. Nancy: Association des Médiévistes Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur, 2005, pp. 157-75.
Greenwood examines the meaning of "manly" as applied to the character of Theseus in KnT.
Schulz, Andrea K.
Dissertation Abstracts International 56 (1996): 4765A.
A universal theme of metamorphosis, compelled or voluntary, relates to both the natural mutability of human life and the boundaries and hierarchies set by society, as shown in four texts ranging from KnT (Actaeon) through Gower's Ovidian passages,…
Hourigan, Maureen.
Laura C. Lambdin and Robert T. Lambdin, eds. Chaucer's Pilgrims: An Historical Guide to the Pilgrims in the "Canterbury Tales" (Westport, Conn.; and London: Greenwood, 1996), pp. 38-46.
Briefly surveys the history of medieval nunneries, the typical responsibilities of a prioress, and critical attitudes toward the Prioress and PrT.
Strohm, Paul.
Minneapolis and London : University of Minnesota Press, 2000.
Includes thirteen New Historicist essays as examples of "practical theory," discussing how various historical and literary texts can be seen to reveal more than they say. Topics include legal proceedings, various aspects of Lollardy, John Capgrave's…
Nakamura, Tetsuko.
Roger Ellis and Rene Tixier, eds. The Medieval Translator/Traduire au Moyen Age, 5 ([Turnhout, Belgium] : Brepols, 1996), pp. 322-33.
Surveys eighteenth-century translations of portions of Chaucer's CT, examining Ogle's translation of ClT as an example in which the translator adapted the original to contemporary taste. Ogle's Walter and Griselda are a couple with human feelings…
Surveys recent discussions of the editing of medieval texts, calling for a consistent and sensitive concern for authorial intention, however evasive. Shows how manuscripts of CT and TC reflect Chaucer's likely revision of his works and how such…
Recent critical theory emphasizes reading from the margins to interrogate problematic "master narratives." When one teaches Chaucer to undergraduates, however, such interrogation may become "naturalized" as a new master narrative for…
Boboc, Andreea D., ed.
Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, 2015.
Collection of essays exploring "legal personhood vis-à-vis the jurisdictional conflicts" of late medieval England. For an essay pertaining to Chaucer, search for Theorizing Legal Personhood in Late Medieval England under Alternative Title.
Hadley, James Luke.
Ph.D. Dissertation. University of East Anglia, 2014. Fully accessible via https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/48683/ (accessed April 3, 2026).
Uses "abductive logic" to infer "translators' probable understandings of their own actions, and compares these with the reasoning" provided by various theories of translation, assessing as case studies Chaucer's use of translation in CT (especially…
