Browse Items (16320 total)

Studies Chaucer's uses of Ovid in Mars, Ven, Pity, Anel, BD, HF, and TC, focusing on complaints and depictions of women, and providing lists of observed parallels between Chaucer and Ovid, work by work. This dissertation was completed in 1963.

Argues that Ovid's "Tristia" and "Ex Ponto" influenced the ideas of Fame, Fortune, and Rumor in HF, along with several details in the poem.

Translates a potion of the "Roman de Thebes" into modern English; the Introduction to the translation includes discussion of Chaucer's uses of the work in KnT

A discursive review of Chaucerian scholarship and research published in 1964.

Explores the roots of medieval poetic theory in medieval rhetorical handbooks, and examines MilT, PrT, PhyT, MerT, and ClT) for evidence that Chaucer was influenced by the "received medieval poetic," even though his "narrative procedure . . . may be…

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Surveys medieval and Renaissance accounts and allusions to Julius Caesar as background to analysis of Shakespeare's depiction of him in "Julius Caesar," including commentary on Chaucer's several references to Caesar and analysis of the Caesar section…

A discursive review of Chaucerian scholarship and research published in 1965.

A discursive review of Chaucerian scholarship and research published in 1967.

Provides context for understanding Chaucer's references to Wade and to his boat (TC 3.614 and MerT 4.1423), summarizing medieval narratives and allusions to the hero in order to outline his "salient characteristics" and the deceptive (although…

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…

Observes shifts in tone in NPT 7.2888-2907 (a conversation between Chanticleer and Pertelote), commenting on how these shifts contribute to characterization and drama.

Anthologizes twenty-three short prose narratives by English and American writers, with a brief, appreciative literary biography for each, and an introductory essay on the nature of anthologies. Includes an excerpt from PardT (pp. 3-8) in Percy…

Observes the presence of "symmetrical numbers" in the dates mentioned in Chaucer's poetry, e.g., third day of the third month equals May 3 when the annual calendar began in March rather than January. Comments on HF, TC, KnT, MerT, and FranT, as well…

Tabulates the plots and motifs of twenty-one modern Irish tales purported to be analogues of the pear tree episode in MerT, suggesting that those accounts which include the motif of optical illusion (rather than blindness) should not be considered…

Explains errors in the biography of Chaucer that is included in John Urry's edition of 1721, particularly those associated with the poet's spurious flight to the Continent in 1384 in the face of an accusation of treason. Attributes these errors to…

Considers theories of the nature of the Old Man in PardT, suggesting that he might be thought to combine feature of the Good Angel and the Bad Angel of medieval mystery and morality plays insofar as he seems to be "extra-human," advising and…

Argues that Chaucer's characterization of the lovers in TC is marked by their relationships with public opinion, especially with that of "the impersonal mass of Trojans and Greeks" who are the "anti-characters" of the poem. As fortune turns against…

Suggests that in making the Black Knight 24 years old in BD (rather than 29, the age of John of Gaunt), Chaucer "assigned his own age to his patron."

Distinguishes between the "clerical" and "non-clerical" traditions of "de casibus" tragedy in medieval tradition, observing the emphasis on the goddess Fortuna in the latter, and claiming that MkT "belongs to the non-clerical tradition." In ignoring…

Edits twelve of Lydgate's poems, with end-of-text notes, glossary, and other apparatus. Includes "On the Departing of Thomas Chaucer," a selection from the "Troy Book," and "The Temple of Glas," among others. The Introduction (pp. ix-xii) and the…

Judges ClT to be "more successful than it has been thought" because it is a tale of "idealized obedience" in which Griselda's submissiveness is an "imitation" of Christ's Passion and Resurrection and a demonstration that the human will can achieve…

Suggests that SqT 5.393-94 (description of the sun) may have inspired a detail in Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner," line 180.

Confronts the "deliberate obscurity" of HF, seeking to resolve its apparent disjunctions and disunities by reading it as a "poetic allegory" on the "subject of fame," influenced by scriptural tradition, by the dual aspects of Venus (secular and…

Compares the Wife of Bath's version of the Midas exemplum with Ovid's original in "Metamorphoses," suggesting that the divergences exemplify the Wife's penchant for misquoting and/or misunderstanding authorities and align with her deafness, a…