Poteet, Daniel P., II.
Notes and Queries 217 (1972): 89-90.
Connects John's separation from Alison in the tubs of the MilT with enjoinders to remain sexually separate in the Noah mystery plays and Mirk's "Festial."
Samuels, M. L.
Notes and Queries 217 (1972): 445-48.
Argues that pronounced Chaucerian final -'e' is generally conservative and grammatical (rather than rhetorical or colloquial), identifying parallels in Old English usage and Middle English scribal practice, and commenting on the loss of final -'e'…
Argues that the characterizations in Willa Cather's "Death Comes for the Archbishop" were influenced by Chaucer's GP descriptions, particularly those of his ecclesiastical characters. The two authors also share a tendency to avoid rigid schemata of…
Wood, Chauncey.
Texas Studies in Literature and Language14 (1972): 389-403.
Examines the characterization of Chaucer's pilgrim-narrator in CT, focusing on the scene in ThP where the Host requests a tale from this narrator and exploring the ironies of the Host's expectations, the readers' knowledge of earlier Chaucerian…
Wilson, G. R., Jr.
Texas Studies in Literature and Language14 (1972): 381-88.
Charts the development of the dreamer in BD from concern with abstract grief to concern with real grief and from selfishness to concern for others; this progress effects "a detailed anatomy of compassion" that encourages compassion in Chaucer's…
Wawn, Andrew N.
Yearbook of English Studies 2 (1972): 21-40.
Revises and adds to Henry Bradshaw's discussion of the origins of the "Plowman's Tale," examining chronological and regional features of vocabulary, allusions to contemporary fashion and events, and Lollard ideology to argue that the poem was written…
Culver, T. D.
Yearbook of English Studies 2 (1972): 13-20.
Traces the artistic development of the Constance story from its roots in the accused queen legend through Trevet's adaptation, Gower's version, and MLT, arguing that only in Chaucer does the narrative achieve "comprehensive artistic unity" of…
Bawcutt, Priscilla.
Yearbook of English Studies 2 (1972): 5-12.
Discusses various topoi of the lark (including its etymology in Latin) to explore and explain details in a variety of medieval and Renaissance poems, including KnT where the lark is "bisy" and a welcomer of dawn (1.1491-92).
Surveys the roots of analogical thinking and late-medieval critiques of its methods and assumptions, exploring the background to understanding "Chaucer's curious neglect of the allegorical mode." As with nominalists, Chaucer is consistently concerned…
Wawn, Andrew N.
English Language Notes 10 (1972): 15-20.
Describes the extract/summary of the "Plowman's Tale" in Henry Vaughn's "The Golden Fleece" (1626, under the pseudonym "Orpheus Junior") and explores his claim that Chaucer influenced Wycliff through this spurious tale.
Hira, Toshinori.
Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Humanities 13 (1972): 53-66.
Surveys Chaucer's uses of courtly notions in his poetry, focusing on courtesy, service, connections with feudalism and Christianity, and the lady's grace and mercy; also comments on the negative qualities of somnolence and gluttony. Draws examples…
Discusses Chrétien's "Knight of the Cart," including several points of comparison with TC: the poems as command performances, their inclusion of songs of love, and the possibility that the heroes are presented as humorous.
Bloomfield, Morton W.
Harry Levin, ed. Veins of Humor. Harvard English Series, no. 3 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1972), pp. 57-68.
Describes Chaucer's comic perspective as one that "takes all things lightly because fundamentally they are too serious . . . a way of faring the universe bravely." Exemplifies the poet's narrative device of offering rhetorical "defence of the…
Brewer, Derek S.
Studies in English Literature (Tokyo), English Number (1972): 3-15.
Comments on the ambiguities and implications of the ages of the protagonists in TC, considering evidence that indicates Troilus is "twenty or less," Criseyde, "several years older," and Pandarus, a "middle-aged trendy."
Gardner, Helen, ed.
London: Faber and Faber, 1972.
Includes four selections of Chaucer's verse, in Middle English: Truth, ["Love Unfeigned"] (TC 5.1835-48), ["A Wanton Merry Friar"] (GP 1.208-68), and ["A Poor Parson"] (GP 1.476-97 . . . 507-28). Published in New York by Oxford University Press as "A…
Includes selections from Chaucer's poetry, in Middle English with editorial titles: "The Complaint of Troilus" (TC 5.547-53, 561-81, 638-44, 1688-1901), "Love Unfeigned" (TC 5.1835-48), "Ballade" (LGWP F249-69), and "Madame Eglantine" (GP 1.118-62).
Analyzes the literary treatment of alchemy from Chaucer's CYT through works by John Donne and Ben Jonson; presents CYT as the foundational text in the "long tradition of alchemical satire."
Rogers, William Elford.
Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger, 1972.
Prints the text of ABC along with its source, i.e., lines 10,893-11,168 of Guillaume de Guilleville's "Pélèrinage de la Vie Humaine." Discusses ABC as a "direct paraphrase," considering how deviations from the source, particularly in imagery,…
