Silva, Chelsea.
Exemplaria 30 (2018): 49-65; 3 color illus.
Considers the medieval folding almanac as a tool to access information, examining British Library, MS Harley 937, the prologue of which uses Astr "to explain its intention to satisfy its uneducated reader," posing Astr as a "model for its…
Silver, Marcia H.
Dissertation Abstracts International 56 (1995): 1798A.
TC shows Chaucer's ambivalence about the language of courtly love; he uses it denotatively with romantic meaning yet reveals its duplicity through Troilus's idealism, Diomede's cynicism, Pandarus's manipulativeness, and Criseyde's combined sincerity…
Promotional materials indicate that this essay analyzes a cryptic mystery of the encomium on marriage in MerT (1267ff.), considers previous critical studies, and discloses a new interpretation.
Silverstein, Theodore.
Modern Philology 58 (1961): 153-73.
Characterizes the Wife of Bath through a sustained, appreciative summary of and commentary on WBP and, more extensively, WBT, showing that "Comic exaggeration is her forte, but tempered by delicate play and a fatal aim, the more precise for being…
Silverstein, Theodore.
Modern Philology 56 (1959): 270-76.
Reviews J. A. W. Bennett's 1957 book "The Parlement of Foules: An Interpretation," exploring the weaknesses and strengths of his critical methodology and application.
Silvia, D. S.
Revue des Langues Vivantes 33 (1967): 228-36.
Considers "gentilesse" (the "quality that makes human relationships most proper and ennobling") to be the main theme of the "Marriage Group" in CT, commenting on the virtue as it is presented in Mel, NPT, WBPT, ClT, MerT, and FranT, and exploring its…
Argues that details in WBP indicate that Jankyn, the Wife of Bath's fifth husband, is alive at the time of the Canterbury pilgrimage, even though the Wife is already "seeking for a replacement for him."
Silvia, Daniel S.
Beryl Rowland, ed. Chaucer and Middle English Studies in honour of Rossell Hope Robbins (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1974), pp. 153-63.
Distinguishes between two kinds of manuscripts of CT: those in which the entire poem is the sole item or the dominant one and those in which individual tales appear in anthologies. Focuses on the second kind, observing the moral or courtly nature of…
Silvia, Daniel S., Jr.
Studies in Philology 62 (1965): 28-39.
Argues that Chaucer himself is the "most reasonable choice" for author of the glosses to CT manuscripts that derive from St. Jerome's "Epistola Adversus Jovinianum." Discusses how the glosses to WBP indicate "Chaucer as glossator" and how two…
Silvia, Daniel S., Jr.
English Language Notes 1.4 (1964): 248-50.
Reads the noun "swan" as "swain" in the rhyming comparison with "Jovinyan" in SumT 3.1930, adducing logic, consistency of imagery, and source material.
Silvia, Daniel Shiver, Jr.
Dissertation Abstracts International 23.11 (1963): 4345-46.
Describes Chaucer's knowledge of and uses of Jerome's "Adversus Jovinianum" in CT, as well as his references to the treatise and glosses to his manuscripts that quote it, focusing on the tales of the Marriage Group. Includes an edition of ten…
Silvia, Daniel, Donald R. Howard, Beryl Rowland, E. Talbot Donaldson, and Florence Ridley.
Florilegium 3 (1982): 239-67.
Chaucer repeatedly depicts himself as a poet of love frustrated. Several critics look at the thwarted erotic elements in PF, TC, and CT, focusing on PardT, WBT, ShT, MilT, MerT, MkT, and PrT and the tellers of tehse tales.
Simeroth, Rosann.
Dissertation Abstracts International 66 (2005): 2207A.
Beginning with Boethius's feminine Philosophia, Simeroth examines "her" transformation in such texts as the "Roman de la Rose" (where she becomes Reason); Boccaccio's "Convivio" (where she is a gentle lady); and HF, where Chaucer merges Philosophia…
Simes, G. R.
Geraldine Barnes, John Gunn, Sonya Jensen, and Lee Jobling, eds. Words and Wordsmiths: A Volume for H. L. Rogers (Sydney: University of Sydney, 1989), pp. 91-112.
One of the most consistent strands of controversy has been Chaucer's reputation for the "bawdy" in CT. What has been objected to as "bawdy," "ribaldry," "wantonness," "scurrility," "incivility," and so on "has "shifted and changed over the…
Simmonds, James D.
Notes and Queries 207 (1962): 446.
Remarks on "several points of resemblance" between Nicholas in MilT and the Clerk in GP, suggesting that they may be attributable to the Miller's negative view of the Clerk.
Simmons-O'Neil, Elizabeth.
Dissertation Abstracts International 50 (1989): 135A.
Draws contrasts between Sir Gawain, who attempts to act the part of standard knight of romance, and the protagonists of WBT and MerT. The Wife sets her tale in the medieval antifeminist matrix; the Merchant, building on her insight, mingles romance,…
Simmons-O'Neill, Elizabeth.
Modern Language Quarterly 51 (1990): 389-407
Unlike its analogues, MerT develops themes and images associated with the myth of Proserpine's rape and Ceres's search for her daughter. As a result, both May and January are presented as culpable and victimized.
Frame-tale science-fiction novel. Among a number of literary allusions, the titles of its several parts recall the CT: "The Priest's Tale," "The Soldier's Tale," "The Poet's Tale," etc.
Simmons, J. L.
Modern Language Quarterly 27 (1966): 125-35.
Argues that the "ability of the poet to secure a just and enduring fame" is an important and unifying theme in HF, focusing on the poem's concerns with poetic authority and patronage, and suggesting that its "missing conclusion" was to entail the…
Proposes an "integration of the 'historical' and 'archetypal/esthetic' schools" of criticism of medieval literature, based on Ernst Cassirer's theories of symbol and the "evolutionary scheme of human self-consciousness," exemplifying the critical…
Simms, Norman Toby.
Lewiston, N.Y. : Mellen, 2004.
Reads details of Chaucer's life and works as evidence that he can be viewed as a "fuzzy Jew," who acquired some kabbalistic knowledge through his travels and contact with Jews in London and who disguised this knowledge in ways that anticipate the…
