Browse Items (16472 total)

Introduces Chaucer and his works; then provides a summary of plot, descriptions of style and themes, a character list, and a running commentary that identifies the salient points of GP, with bibliography.

Introduces Chaucer and his works; then summarizes the characters, plot, style, and themes of MilT, along with a running commentary on MilPT, with bibliography.

Introduces Chaucer and his works; then summarizes the characters, plot, style, and themes of WBPT, along with a running commentary.

Emphasizes the oral and dramatic nature of Chaucer's art as illustrated by the Pardoner, against the "socioeconomically based individualism" of the fourteenth century.

MerT is about limits and trangressions. January violates a limit marrying May; May violates moral limits; modes of parody and irony raze barriers between tragic and comic, making the tale its own anti-tale. The explicit cynicism and "realism" of…

Considers the ambivalent role of magic in FranT, arguing that vacillation "between belief and skepticism, truth and illusion, nature and sorcery" help Chaucer to create "a divide between perception and reality" and undermine the "purported moral…

Traces the Jewish and Christian understandings of crucifixion, arguing that the image underlies the "didactic nature" of PhyT where "repeated images of injustice" are "placed in dialogue with the symbolism of the cross," reminding the reader of…

Explores the alignment of "trouthe" and freedom in FranT, particularly as they relate to gendered honor, arguing that Dorigen's efforts to honor her marital "trouthe" limit her freedom.

Cole examines the "intricate relationship between sex, money, and power" in WBP, particularly as reflected in the sequence in which the Wife recalls her husbands.

Through its "aversion to binary opposites," NPT promulgates "an inclusive perspective that avoids fixed interpretations" of notions of poverty, gender, free will, and authenticity.

Uses details of the Pardoner's description in the GP and his interactions with other pilgrims to support the hypothesis that Chaucer depicts him as a castrato and satirize an aspect of corruption in the medieval Church.

Argues that MilT and RvT "revise the image of masculine chivalry constructed in" KnT, the first offering a model of "physical 'cherl' masculinity," the second "an image of masculinity that prizes internal desire over physical bravado." Through their…

Argues that the depictions of Emelye and Diana in KnT result from the Knight's objectification, ventriloquism, and patriarchal ideals.

Diachronic study of how the linguistic stress matches metrical strong positions in spoken poetry and songs of the Middle and early modern English periods, including discussion of Chaucer's works. Prominent mismatches are more frequent in earlier…

Although allegorical and historical justifications have been given for Griselda's suffering in ClT, the story is Chaucer's attack on the tyranny and injustice of her situation. In a different way, Webster condemns tyrannical persecution in the…

Surveys Chaucer's depictions of emblematic women in BD, HF, PF, and TC, and examines the Prioress and Wife of Bath as complex women who struggle with the roles imposed on them by male-dominated society. The GP description of the Prioress reflects a…

Presents the personal and pedagogical diary of Dr. John Panage, including his teaching career at John Brown University. The CD records a class session of October 9, 1972, conducted by Panage, that pertains to Chaucer's GP, including the teacher's and…

Giaccherini reads PhyT as an experiment in "collaboration"--Chaucer's adaptation of the plot from Livy and the Roman de la Rose--that develops a concern for the private realm while downplaying the public.

Assesses the influence of Chaucer and CT on Longfellow's poem, commenting on the poets' differences in sexual attitudes and concerns with mimetic realism and observing that Longfellow sought to become Father of American Poetry. Critical approaches to…

Examines postmodern elements in two pseudomedieval films, arguing that awareness of film theory and formal film analysis are more illuminating than comparison with medieval sources. Jerry Zucker's First Knight is a "star vehicle" and a "director's…

Considers ClT in light of historical context, particularly the events of Richard II's marriage to Isabel of France.

Briefly sketches the methodology of Nakao's 2004 study The Structure of Chaucer's Ambiguity, proposes a framework to describe how Chaucer's ambiguity may occur, and examines TC 5.1084 within that framework.

Examines Theseus as political hero in light of the literary history of KnT. The character combines wisdom and chivalry and reflects the Tale's narrator, including his attitude toward women.

Nakao assesses the use of "as she that" as it is applied to Criseyde, identifying the unusually high frequency of the phrase in TC, its various functions and semantic range, and the way that Chaucer exploits this variety "to hold in balance his…

Claims that line 11 is not parenthetical and that "so" is an adverb of degree, in "They sleep all night with their eyes open, nature pricks them so in their hearts." In line 176, "the space" means "in the meantime," and not the object of "held." As…