Browse Items (16364 total)

Contends that the characterizations of Arveragus, Dorigen, and Aurelius in FranT suffer from inconsistency or incompletion--touches of psychological realism unfulfilled--and suggests that these seemingly faulty characterizations can best be…

Investigates Chaucer's treatment of astrological imagery, gauging him to be "quite high among the skeptics on the mediaeval scale of belief in astrology" and explicating the tone and meaning of his astrological passages, their comic or satiric…

Considers CT among other medieval pilgrimage narratives, distinguishing them from other journey narratives and emphasizing what makes CT unusual: "concretization, fragmentation, and emphasis on the human." Comments on pilgrimage as the "dynamic…

Argues that January's foolish fantasy is MerT "is a version" of the Merchant's own, tracing the teller's "increasingly ambivalent attitude" toward his character "from detachment to attack." In January, the Merchant "tries to destroy his former self,"…

Describes Chaucer's and Gower's uses of the present, preterit, perfect, and pluperfect verb tenses, considering them in various syntactical contexts and identifying similarities and differences in their usage. Includes a bibliography and author and…

Reads MerT as an "intensely bitter story," dilating upon the "central juxtaposition of the seemingly, or potentially, beautiful with the unmistakably ugly," examining the nuances of several words, discussing the "vacuity" of the marriage encomium,…

Textbook edition of MerT, with brief introduction and notes, accompanied by ten selections from previously published criticism of the Tale by various authors, all from the twentieth century. Includes suggestions for student essay topics and "General…

Twelve essays by Donaldson, eight of them previously printed, with a comprehensive index. For the four newly published essays, search for Speaking of Chaucer under Alternative Title.

Explores suggestive ambiguities in the characterizations of Emily in KnT, May in MerT, Criseyde in TC, and the Prioress in GP, considering narrative techniques, points of view, and ways that Chaucer adapts and manipulates the ideal of a romance…

Shows how the narrator's "wildly emotional attitude" toward Criseyde contributes to her characterization in TC, describing how and where nuances of style and point of view raise questions for the reader despite--even because of--the narrator's…

Focuses on the single use of the word "sin" in MilT (1.3589), suggesting that the Tale and, more generally, the "best medieval literature" do not "necessarily have anything to do with sin," but offer "joy to the reader."

Edits MilT with notes and glossary, an introduction, a discussion of Chaucer's language, a brief bibliography, and a translation of the Flemish analogue to MilT, "The Three Guests of Heile of Bersele." The introduction considers the date of…

Explains why the phrase "In termes," in the description of the Man of Law in GP (1.323), means "in Year Books," i.e., in a collection of "medieval law reports."

Argues that Chaucer "was deeply influenced by the Platonism of the School of Chartres," focusing on how he and Alanus "treated the figure of Venus." Alanus presents Venus as "the efficient cause of creation," and while this view is mediated for…

Examines Troilus's love malady in TC in terms of medieval psychology, arguing that his fixation with Criseyde produces melancholy, a "lack of contact between mind and reality," and a loss of the desire to live. Focuses on Troilus's dream of Criseyde…

Twenty-five essays, by various authors, on medieval literature and medieval and modern folklore. For five essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Medieval Literature and Folklore Studies under Alternative Title.

Surveys the suggestiveness of first names in Middle English poetry, exploring connotations, denotations, name-play, and the implications of form in the uses of such names. Includes comments on names used by Chaucer, especially in CT.

Argues that Chaucer amplifies Boccaccio's "Filostrato" in order "to expand our awareness of both the values and limitations . . . of idealized human love," using brief and long expansions as well as lengthy additions. Complexly presented, the love in…

Explicates a "series of four scenes" in TC (2.596-931) that enable readers to "know what it feels like to 'be' Criseyde," establishing a fundamental empathy with her by, unusual in the age, seeing "into the mind of a woman." Examines the passage as a…

Comments on the "impediments" to determining the order of CT with certainly, focusing on manuscript evidence, especially the problems evident in MLE and the "Rochester-Sittingbourne contradiction" in the Ellesmere order of the Tales. Suggests…

Contends that MilT differs from both KnT and RvT in its presentation of a world that lacks rational order or poetic justice. Alison escapes punishment and John is punished unfairly so that behind the jollity and illusion of order in the MilT lies…

Describes parallels in plot and structure between BD and Boethius's "Consolation of Philosophy," arguing that Chaucer depicts a partial glimpse of full consolation. Identifies how "numerological composition" underlies the structure of BD and how…

Examines the imagery and irony of FrT, RvT, ShT, MerT, SumT, and MilT, focusing on how in each tale Chaucer achieves "organic" unity through transformation of the "conventional formulae" of medieval rhetorical handbooks. Summarizes the practices…

French translation of selections from TC (Book 1: 155-230, 268-322, 400-504; Book 2: 289-490, 596-812; Book 3: 239-343, 694-798, 841-952, 1065-1148, 1184-1211, 1226-53, 1275-1323; Book 4: 1128-1281, 1534-96, 1640-1701; Book 5: 197-266, 295-321,…

Twenty-two excerpts from previously published Chaucer criticism, from John Dryden and Matthew Arnold to twentieth-century approaches.