Browse Items (16472 total)

TC reveals on a serious level a sexual pattern similar to that of the ludicrous MilT. In spite of disparity of social status, Alisoun and Criseyde offer the same promise to a would-be lover; Absolon and Troilus suffer in similar ways; the same kind…

Explores Ret, the ending of TC, the claims of accurate reporting in GP 1.730-43, and Chaucer's comments on poetry and the rhetorical arts in HF, LGW, and PF, arguing that Chaucer's "seems to have conceived of the poet" as a "moral realist" who writes…

Assesses Criseyde's character in light of Carl Jung's theory of the nature of love as a "result of the incomplete human soul seeking its complement"--the "anima" seeking its "animus." Troilus's failure to act disappoints Criseyde's courtly…

Argues that medieval connections between stories of the sieges of Thebes and of Troy make the reference to Thebes at TC 2.83-84 a "masterstroke of supreme irony": directed at both Criseyde and Pandarus, the irony complicates aspects of predestination…

Identifies three "predominant" characteristics shared in the characterizations of Pandarus in TC and of "the slave Spurius, who plays the part of a pander for a young lover in Guillaume de Blois' Latin farce 'Alda,' written somewhat before 1170:…

Explores similarities of Chaucer's description of women's hair (KnT 1.1048-50, PF 267-68, and TC 5.808-12) and Apuleius's "Metamorphoses" II.10, suggesting a similar aesthetic rather than a source relationship, and noting that all resonate with…

Charts the charactonyms of Lydgate's "Seige of Thebes" with those used in two analogues, possibly sources--the "Roman de Edipus" and the "Ystoire de Thèbes--comparing them with names and spellings used by Chaucer. When Lydgate departs from Chaucer's…

Considers writers such as Chaucer, Robert Mannyng, John Mirk, and, most extensively, William Langland in examining the medieval understanding of the parish and its associated individuals and phenomena. As a traditional center of religious practice,…

Argues that San Marino, Huntington Library, MS HM 64538, a short Middle English defense of women attributed to Solomon, appears to derive from Chaucer's Mel, specifically Mel, 1103-9. Suggests that "scholars ought to continue thinking about the…

Classifies some thirty English medtrical romances according to several categories of friendship or love: tales of masculinefrinedship, of male/female mutual love, of marriage, and of the advances of forward fairies, heroines, or heroes. These…

MilT's reference to Absalom's "having moore tow on his distaf" (I, 3774) adds another significance to its long recognized proverbial one when we realize that carrying a distaff with tow on it to the pillory was statutory punishment in Chaucer's…

Examines the contents and provenance of MS Digby 86 (Bodleian); MS Harley 2253 (British Library); MSS fr. 837 and 19182 (Bibliothque Nationale); and Carmina Burana MS (Munich), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek CLM 4460 and 4460a. The literary techniques…

An Anglo-Norman piece in BL MS Harley 2253 copied about 1340 is analogous to WBP in tone, wit, and "outrageousness." Chaucer might have known this story of two women discussing the virtues of chastity versus sexual license. Includes text and…

Proposes that "fade" is an "Anglicized form of Occitan "fado"/"fada" and therefore further evidence that the "Gawain" or "Pearl" Poet served in Aquitaine, associated with military and/or diplomatic exploits, as did Chaucer. Proposes several possible…

In the opening poem of "Fables Ancient and Modern," Dryden draws a parallel between himself and Chaucer. The "fairest Nymph" in that parallel should be identified as the Duchess of Lancaster, as proposed by Walter Scott in 1808, rather than Joan of…

By the choice of the colors coral and green, Chaucer has turned a respected religious ritual into one of earthly desire.

The Prioress's childishness places her among the "children of a hundred year" who live in folly and are cursed by God. Her tale is a pastiche, its ironies reflecting the teller's false humility and lack of charity even as she extols charity as a…

The reference at the end of the tale to the offending Jews being drawn by wild horses and hanged (not in the tale's analogues) points out the cruelty of the Prioress. Reserved for traitors, equine quartering was rare in England.

Explicating WBP 418, Rex rejects Skeats's interpretation ("the common food of rustics") and Hoffman's ("harmony in marriage") and decides, on the basis of Old and Middle French slang meanings attested to in riddles and fabliaux, that the obscene…

Cites evidence from medieval theology, sermon literature, etc., to show fourteenth-century religious tolerance of Jews and the belief that they could gain salvation. PrT is Chaucer's ironic comment on the Prioress, religious prejudice, and common…

The reflexive "maken" ("to pretend") is studied in a discussion of the conscience of the Prioress, the Parson, the Pardoner, Griselda, Friar John, and the Wife of Bath. "Spiced conscience" means "tender feeling," or "hypocritical religiosity."

Among the hitherto unrevealed examples of subtle bawdy humor in Chaucer's poetry are many in KnT. These provide suggestive commentary on the Knight's character. The Miller's values probably come closer to Chaucer's own sentiments than do those…

Evidence from several sources indicates that "susters" in NPT 7.4057 may be a triple-entendre: sibling sisters, nuns, and paramours. This heightens the implied parallel between Chauntecleer and the Nun's Priest.

When applied to eyes in Middle English literature, the adjective "grey" is best seen as synonymous with "bright" and "clear."

An anthology of nine essays by Rex, four of which pertain to PrT, revised from previous publications. For five essays that pertain to Chaucer, first printed here, search for Sins of Madame Eglentyne under Alternative Title.