Besserman, Lawrence [L.]
Papers on Language and Literature 22 (1986): 322-25.
Several of Chaucer's worldly pilgrims (the Yeoman, the Man of Law, the Franklin, and the guildsmen) wear girdles, belts, or cords as symbols of wealth and opulence. None of the religious figures, however, is portrayed with a girdle. Since…
Besserman, Lawrence [L.]
David H. Hirsch and Nehama Aschkenasy, eds. Biblical Patterns in Modern Literature (Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1984), pp. 43-50.
Examines Chaucer's skeptical pose concerning theological and biblical controversies of the fourteenth century: "glosynge," parody, biblical allusion in PardP, PardT, GP, CT, and TC.
Besserman, Lawrence [L.]
David Lyle Jeffrey, ed. Chaucer and Scriptural Tradition (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1984), pp. 65-73.
Chaucer used the "Glossa ordinaria" in WBT and MerT; his use of the term "glosing" shows his awareness of fraudulent exegetes. ParsT is more literal than exegetical. Chaucer's attitude toward exegesis was shaped by the antifraternalism of the…
Besserman, Lawrence [L.]
Chaucer Newsletter 1.1 (1979): 15-16.
Argues that GP 259-62, 642-43, and TC II, 36-37 are allusions to the Great Schism: the Friar like a pope in his "'double' worstede"; the pope like a popinjay (of two voices?), and the proverb that more than one way leads to Rome.
Besserman, Lawrence [L.]
Sanford Budick and Wolgang Iser, eds. The Translatability of Cultures: Figurations of the Space Between. (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1996), pp. 68-84.
Augustine's emphasis on charity and cupidity in "De doctrina Christiana" and his discussion of the relations among gospel narratives in "De consensu evangelistarum" suggest that he equates secular and biblical poetics. Similarly, Chaucer justifies…
Thirteen essays originally presented as lectures at the Center for Literary Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem between September 1991 and January 1993. Each essay re-examines the relation of a major author, genre, or theme to traditional…
Besserman, Lawrence [L.]
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998.
Argues that the Bible is a far more pervasive influence on Chaucer than has been previously recognized. Chaucer uses the Bible or its glosses in most of his writings, responding--through quotation, paraphrase, or allusion--to traditional notions of…
Besserman, Lawrence [L.]
North-Western European Language Evolution 34 (1998): 99-153.
Historical assessment of Chaucer's multi-word (or phrasal) verbs, assessing the syntax and semantics of such verbs, the drift to post-positioning of the particles in these verbs (e.g., "wente forth" rather than "forth wente"), and the effects of…
Besserman, Lawrence [L.]
Studies in the Age of Chaucer 23: 181-224, 2001.
Various "titles, epithets, and images" in TC reflect Chaucer's "covert engagement" with political and religious contention. Pandarus and the narrator adopt priestly roles, Troilus is like an anti-Lollard zealot, and forms of address such as "madame"…
The original audience of TC would have read the decision of the Trojan Parliament in light of the 1385 Durham Ordinances, clause 3. Since this clause explicitly prohibits the imprisoning of unarmed women, the parallel suggests Criseyde's status as a…
The anti-Semitism of PrT is attributable to the Prioress, not to Chaucer, who would have known Jews through the courts of Castile (referred to in MkT) and who presents Jews as "renowned historians and transmitters of knowledge in the field of…
Besserman, Lawrence [L.]
Chaucer Review 41(2006): 99-104.
Given his interest in Chaucer and his ownership of a copy of TC, Dickens's "comic literary use of the motif of 'Christ-forgives-his-killers'" may be an echo of Chaucer's use of the motif, which is based on Luke 23.34, in TC 3.1577.
Besserman, Lawrence L.
Chaucer Review 12 (1977): 68-73.
Chaucer uses wordplay as a device for establishing the Nun's Priest's resentment of his subordination to the Prioress. The Priest disassociates himself from the anti-feminist sentiment of the tale with his final claim "I kan noon harm of no womman…
Besserman, Lawrence L.
Chaucer Review 36: 48-72, 2001.
Throughout the decades, Chaucer critics have argued their own biases in interpreting Chaucer's ideology--seeing Chaucer as a "Christian poet"; as a "poet first and foremost"; as an "atheist"; as a writer who was "politically incorrect." Eschewing…
Notes that the visual imagery of falling rocks and millstones Pandarus uses to convince Troilus of his future success is associated with death and destruction in the Bible, which actually undermines Pandarus's argument in TC.
Bessinger, J. B., Jr., reader
New York: Caedmon, 1967. (TC 1226)
A reading in Middle English of PF, MerB, Ros, Sted, Purse, Adam, and Scogan, accompanied by a companion booklet that comprises the text, notes, and glosses based on E. T Donaldson's "Chaucer's Poetry" (1958).
Bessinger, J. B., Jr., reader.
New York: Caedmon, 1967. (TC 1223)
A reading in Middle English of MilPT and RvPT, accompanied by a companion booklet that comprises the text, notes, and glosses based on E. T. Donaldson's "Chaucer's Poetry" (1958).
Bessinger, J. B., Jr., reader.
New York: Caedmon, 1962. (TC 1151). Available at archive.org; accessed June 29, 2024.
A reading in Middle English of GP, ParsP, and Ret., accompanied by introductory liner introduction and a 12-booklet that includes the text of the poetry from F. N. Robinson's 1957 edition, withour notes or glosses.
Bessinger, Jess B., Jr., and Robert P. Creed, eds.
New York: New York University Press, 1965.
Includes 26 essays on Germanic, Old English, Middle English, and Renaissance literary and linguistic topics, along with a dedicatory poem, a brief Introduction, and a list of Magoun's publications between 1924 and 1964, including reviews. For two…
Bessinger, Jess B., Jr., and Robert R. Raymo, eds.
New York: New York University Press, 1976.
Fifteen essays by various authors, commemmorating Hornstein's retirement. For four essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Medieval Studies in Honor of Lillian Herlands Hornstein under Alternative Title.
Gives examples of the traditional humor that derives from exaggeration in depictions of giants in Middle English romance, and argues that, in Th, Chaucer goes "one step further" in making Oliphaunt ridiculous, largely because this giant is seen from…
