Meech, Sanford B.
[Syracuse, N.Y.]: Syracuse University Press, 1959.
A close reading of the structure, themes, and rich characterizations of TC, examined in comparison with its primary source, Boccaccio's "Filostrato," and with sustained attention to ancillary sources and Chaucer's particular emphases, especially the…
Aligns details of GP 1.361-78 with historical evidence to argue that the five tradesmen or "Burgesses" described by Chaucer belonged to a "craft fraternity [rather than a parish fraternity] and that the Drapers' Fraternity (or Brotherhood of St. Mary…
McCall, John P., and George Rudisill, Jr.
Journal of English and Germanic Philology 58 (1959): 276-88.
Argues that Chaucer's personal experience of the 1386 Parliament influenced his depiction of parliamentary activity in TC (4.141ff.), detailing events of the historical parliament, Chaucer's likely feelings about it, and changes and additions Chaucer…
Manley, Francis.
Modern Language Notes 74 (1959): 385-88.
Traces backgrounds to the coral beads held by the Prioress (GP 1.158-59), both as an amulet against evil and a charm for earthly love, also found in John Donne's "Sonnet. The Token," lines 10-12.
Madden, William A.
College English 20 (1959):193-94.
Challenges Paul Ruggiers' essay, "Some Philosophical Aspects of 'The Knight's Tale'" (1958), maintaining that the critic fails to distinguish between Chaucer's views and those of the Knight, and disagreeing with his interpretations of several points…
Lumiansky, R. M.
Tulane Studies in English 9 (1959): 5-17.
Focuses on the opening section of BD, arguing that it depicts a "Narrator suffering excessive grief resulting from bereavement, who within the poem moves toward a means of consolation based chiefly upon a conception of Nature as Life, and whose…
Lloyd, Michael.
English Miscellany 10 (1959): 11-25
Argues that Arcite is as much a romantic hero of KnT as is Palamon, both as a "Chaucerian idealization of love" and as a representative of humanity's "proper relationship to Fortune." Includes comparison of Arcite with Boccaccio's analogous Arcita in…
Koonce, Benjamin G., Jr.
Mediaeval Studies 21 (1959): 176-84.
Describes the "traditional Christian" symbolism that underlies the fowler/bird and winter/spring imagery in LGWP 125-39, identifying biblical roots, exegetical commentary, and literary examples that precede Chaucer, suggesting that the "alert…
Observes that references to Elijah and Elisha in SumT 3.2116-18 evince "Chaucer's awareness, if not endorsement, of the widely held belief that the 'earliest anchorite' Elijah was the founder of the Carmelite Order," and provides various features of…
Compares a horoscope and its accompanying Latin text found in Equat with two analogous versions, showing that it has closest relations with the Nürnberg version printed in 1659.
Kellogg, A. L.
Notes and Queries 204 (1959): 190-92.
Disagrees with editorial explanations of FrT 3.1314, arguing that the subject of the sentence, a "composite sinner," is the recipient of "pecunyal peyne." Offers supporting evidence from several contemporary sources.
Kaske, R. E.
Modern Language Notes 74 (1959): 481-84.
Identifies biblical and patristic resonances in GP 1.634, suggesting that they help to "deepen an already ugly picture of spiritual as well as physical deformity."
Examines the "apparent momentary tenderness between Aleyn and Malyne" in RvT 1. 4234-48, reading the passage as a parody of the "dawn-song," variously known as the "aube," "aude," "aubade," or "tageliet," an "established form in the medieval poetry…
Hitt, Ralph E.
Mississippi Quarterly 12 (1959): 75-85.
Describes how, as protagonist of NPT, Chauntecleer is the "mock-hero" of Chaucer's burlesque, engaging in three "battles" and failing because of his own vanity, the target of Chaucer's satire. His "avisioun" was no vision at all, a result of…
Friedman, William F., and Elizebeth S. Freidman.
Philological Quarterly 38 (1959): 1-20.
Introduces literary acrostics and anagrams as examples of "unkeyed" transposition ciphers, clarifying some terminology of cryptography, and applying technical analysis to invalidate Ethel Seaton's claims (1957) about "so-called double acrostic…
Evans, Lawrence Gove.
Modern Language Notes 74 (1959): 584-87.
Explicates the "striking instance of Chaucer's use of word-play and Scriptural allusion" in TC 4.1585 to "enrich his presentation of the lovers' predicament" and emphasize differences between earthly and divine happiness.
Ethel, Garland.
Modern Language Quarterly 20 (1959): 211-27.
Examines the characterization of the Pardoner as the "wretchedest and vilest of the ecclesiastical sinners" among Chaucer's pilgrims in CT, arguing that "not covetousness, but wrath against the Divine was the Pardoner’s prime motivation." Tallies a…
Dunn, Charles W., reader.
New York: Folkways, 1959.
Includes various readings by Dunn that illustrate changes in the English language and English literary style, among them, a reading of Book III.m9 of Bo (Side 1, band 9; 41 sec.). Text from F. N. Robinson's edition of Chaucer complete works (1957).
Dent, A. A.
Proceedings of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society 9 (1959): 1-12.
Investigates the "equestrian vocabulary" used by Chaucer, with particular attention to GP, but including his other references to horses, their tackle, colors, names, conditions, movements, etc., clarifying the denotations of the terminology. Includes…
The first two in a series of essays Dédéyan published on Dante in England in Les Lettres Romanes, volumes 12-15 (1958-1961). The first surveys references, allusions, and uses of Dante in TC, PF, and HF. The second continues the discussion of HF, and…
