Browse Items (16472 total)

Assesses the textual history and canonicity of two ballads of a manuscript owned by John Shirley, now British Museum Additional MS 16165.

Argues that the name Eglentyne ("rose") connoted sexual dalliance to Chaucer's audience. Fourteenth-century property records indicate affiliations between property owned by the priory at Stratford-at-Bow and the Bankside brothel, the Rose.

Examines historical and literary backgrounds of details in the GP sketch of the Prioress to argue that Chaucer leads us to judge her harshly. In her dress, mannerisms,and actions, the Prioress "is characterized by false piety and hypocrisy,and she…

Identifies a medieval tradition in which singing through the nose is a "sign of weak faith and lack of devotion," contributing to the satire of the Prioress in her GP sketch.

Comprises appreciative discussions of sixty "classics" of world literature, from "Gilgamesh" to the plays of Chekhov, including a discussion of CT (pp. 141-45) that emphasizes Chaucer's skills of characterization and comments on relations between…

This anthology of international short fiction in Spanish translation is intended for classroom use, with a pedagogical introduction (pp. 9-105) and study questions (pp. 485-524). It includes PardT (pp. 123-31), without PardP, as well as tales by Don…

Explores the complexity of using literary translations, discussing Chaucer in relation to Dante, Petrarch, and Dryden in Chapter 15.

Uses HF, among other texts, to demonstrate a versatile permeability between "science and the humanities" in the medieval period, in contrast to current more isolated approaches to these disciplines.

Various legends, iconography, and etymology of Saint Veronica illuminate the "vernycle" emblem on the Pardoner's cap as a clue to his character and motives."

The complex relationships of Pardoner, audiences, and the Host reveal a character who simultaneously believes in the efficacy of pardon and in the foolishness of those who believe in it. The pilgrims laugh at him rather than being outraged, and he…

Suggests that Chaucer "creates a literary imitation of a real pilgrimage" in CT, exploring the extent to which this enables him to accommodate the sacred and social, a version of the medieval "earnest and game" topos. Focuses on WBPT and PardPT.

The Wife of Bath has served as an example of a medieval feminist. However, it would be more accurate to describe her as an androgyne--a person possessing both male and female characteristics. While it can be argued that she has liberated herself…

Surveys the relationships between theology and poetry in late-medieval writing, assessing how Robert Grosseteste, the Pearl poet, and Chaucer communicate a proto-humanistic perspective, "characterized by a semi-Pelagian, anthropocentric theology"…

Argues that leprosy was seen in the later Middle Ages as a "broad category of skin diseases rooted in sin." Suggests that Robert Henryson's Cresseid, Chaucer's Summoner, and Amiloun were questionable characters whose diseased skins can be viewed as…

Interprets the Reeve's conflict with the Miller and the sexual politics and violence of RvT in light of late-medieval agrarian economy and Marxist ideas of the inequities of economic exchange. Designed for pedagogical use, includes several questions…

Argues that an "ambivalent enterprise of simultaneous innovation and retrospection . . . structures Spenser's approach to the reform of Ireland" as well as his "engagement with Chaucer in his poetry." Analyzes Spenser's use and explanation of two…

Organizes the narratorial passages of TC into six groups, and examines them in light of this classification: occupation, courtly love, humor, characterization, Boethian philosophy, and "medievalization," finding that the narrator is most important to…

Covers 88 verse romances, including "Gamelyn," and 20 prose romances; equipped with an author index and preceded by general studies--definition, genre, Alexander romances, alliterative poetry, Arthurian literature, Breton lay, chivalry, convention,…

The mistaken belief that sin was connected with death and sexuality led to the need to find a scapegoat. The result was virulence against women, Jews, or other denigrated casts. The virulence of the dominant group against the Jews in PrT can be…

Rice studies late fourteenth-century vernacular prose devotional guides, with attention to their relationship with works by Chaucer and Langland. Wycliffite writings and changes in religious discipline affected notions of how to live the "best life,"…

Since chronicle accounts of St. Neot's habits are contradictory, three extant recensions of the saint's life provide the best explanation of Chaucer's allusion in MilT. These recensions suggest that the poet establishes an ironic parallel between…

Discusses the artistry of Chaucer's GP portraits: their relationship to contemporary literary expectations and the "conventional medieval portrait," their order, their importance in creating a "sense or 'reality,'" and their "interaction" with…

Introduces Chaucer and his works, with focus on CT, and provides commentary on context, themes, and critical approaches. The guide is aimed at high school students or students early in college.

Assesses the character and function of Harry Bailly, the Host in CT, as he represents the "forces external to the artist that press him to create." The Host embodies aesthetic attitudes and various aspects of Chaucer's audience; his concern with the…

Describes a group assignment for use in an undergraduate Chaucer classroom, designed to introduce students to basic principles and practice of medieval book production, including paleography and codicology.