Presents the text of the Middle English poem, "Lyarde," discussing it in light of Goliardic satire and identifying instances where the poem shares themes with parts of CT: the "sexual superiority" of clerics (the Monk in MkP and NPE), wives' control…
Reale, Nancy M.
Philological Quarterly 71 (1992): 155-71.
Compares the consummation scenes in Boccaccio's "Filostrato" and Chaucer's TC, focusing on Pandarus's role, and demonstrates how Boccaccio served as Chaucer's intermediary in a critical dialogue with Dantean assertions about language, love, and…
Reale, Nancy M.
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. 93-107.
Reads the Merchant's sketch in GP as a depiction of a duplicitous man and assesses January in MerT as a reflection of the Merchant's commercial outlook, which, in turn, reflects Chaucer's experience with the mercantile world of London.
Reale, Nancy M.
James J. Paxson and Cynthia A. Gravlee, eds. Desiring Discourse: The Literature of Love, Ovid Through Chaucer (Selinsgrove, Penn.: Susquehanna University Press; London: Associated University Presses, 1998), pp. 165-76.
In TC, Chaucer poses a tension between "Boccaccio's interest in the persuasive powers of linguistic skills to create private realities" and Dante's depiction of poetry as a means to transcendent enlightenment. This tension makes TC a poem "that…
Reale, Nancy M.
Kathleen A. Bishop, ed. "The Canterbury Tales" Revisited--21st Century Interpretations (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2008), pp. 256-80.
Chaucer's CT, particularly GP, offers "as its 'utilitarian' value or 'worth' exemplary lessons on constructing social identity in the context of an emergent market system." This "bold step paved the way for modern ways of understanding the self,"…
Reale, Nancy M.
Kathleen A. Bishop, ed. Standing in the Shadow of the Master? Chaucerian Influences and Interpretations (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2010), pp. 257-86.
Reale summarizes the versions of Chaucer's tales that abound on the internet, suggesting that each has its own agenda for re-presenting Chaucer.
Reale, Nancy M., and Ruth E. Sternglantz, eds.
Donington : Shaun Tyas, 2001.
Fourteen literary studies that range across Old English, Old French, Anglo-Latin, Middle English, and medieval Irish, Spanish, and Italian. For four essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Satura under Alternative Title.
Reames, Sherry L.
Modern Philology 87 (1990): 337-61.
A "Franciscan abridgment" of the Saint Cecilia legend, extant in two complete copies and numerous fragments, explains verbal details of SNT as well as omissions of episodes found in the "Legenda aurea" and Bosio's edition of "Passion S. Caeciliae."
The eldest version of the Cecilia story is the "Passio S. Caeciliae," extant mss of which date from the eighth century. Its central meaning involves an ideal of perfection close to Augustine's teachings. Chaucer translates the version of the story…
Reames, Sherry L.
Modern Philology 76 (1978): 111-35.
Combining Bosio's edition of the "Passio S. Caeciliae" and the "Legenda Aurea" accounts for all but eight discountable details of SNT and,independently, for the English analogues. Chaucer adapts rather than translates.
Reames, Sherry L.
Teresa Tavormina and R. F. Yeager, eds. The Endless Knot: Essays on Old and Middle English in Honor of Marie Borroff (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1995), pp. 177-99.
Retellings of the Cecilia legend exemplify the range and flexibility of Middle English hagiography.
Reames, Sherry Lee.
Dissertation Abstracts International 36 (1976): 8036A-37A
Comparison with its sources reveals that the changes in ABC destroy the unity but not the coherence. Chaucer's version comes closer than its source to fulfilling Augustine's recommendations. SNT falls short of its sources in conveying the ethical…
Reames, Sherry.
Helen Phillips, ed. Chaucer and Religion (Cambridge: Brewer, 2010), pp. 81-96.
Explores religious content of Marian prayers found in ABC, PrP, SNP, Ret and MLT. Argues that Chaucer does not attempt to "simplify moral issues and theological questions" in his tales of saints.
Recorded Books, pub.
New York and Prince Frederick, Md.: Recorded Books, 1992.
Nine audio cassettes of readings of GP, KnT, MilT, RvT, WBT, FrT, ClT, MerT, FranT, PardT, ShT, PrT, and NPT. Modern pronunciation, following the text in the edition of Michael Murphy.
Redford, Michael.
Paula Fikkert and Haike Jacobs, eds. Development in Prosodic Systems (Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2003), pp. 159-95.
Redford analyzes Chaucerian evidence pertaining to Middle English words that "appear to have initial stress" in certain contexts and "final stress in others." Examines several prominent theories and explanations, arguing that meter can be useful in…
Favorable descriptions of persons in heroic writings generally emphasize gross size, erect posture, and directness in approach, whereas courtly texts, such as Chaucer's, represent largeness as unattractive or unrefined. The latter clearly value…
Reece, Paula J., ed.
Logan, Iowa: Perfection Learning, 2002.
A pedagogical anthology of twelve short stories, each accompanied by exercises to improve reading comprehension. Includes PardT in modern English (pp. 23-28), excluding the sermon on the tavern vices, followed by questions about plot and vocabulary…
In her "Foreward" to this collection of Reece's poems (ix-xiii), Louise Glück comments on the theme of virtue in ClT as a "problem" for modern readers, "possibly because virtue unconvincingly disarms brutality." She also observes that Reece's book…
Argues that "in Chaucer's poetry women are consistently portrayed as seeking out a niche in the social (or religious) hierarchy which will permit them to serve in the subordinate position St. Paul insists they were intended to fill." Discusses all of…
Reed, Shannon L.
Journal x: A Journal in Culture and Criticism 5:109-16, 2000-2001.
Assesses critical responses to the Host's verbal assault on the Pardoner at the end of PardT, identifying the common assumption that the Host fears the Pardoner's sexuality. Such readings are complicitous in the "abjection" of the Pardoner and…
Reed, Teresa P.
Dissertation Abstracts International 57 (1997): 3930A.
Representations of Mary in medieval literature are paradoxical, often underscored by her opposition to Eve. MLT and the hagiography Seinte Marherete seek to present a unified view of Mary but ultimately fail; WBPT and Pearl are more sensitive to the…
