Browse Items (16035 total)

By the fourteenth century "fin amor" was associated with "legitimate married love and...Christian charity." Thus, when the God of Love in the Prologue to LGW refers to "fyn loving," Chaucer's meaning (whether ironic or not) is that of an ideal love.…

Treats GP as a record of social history, focusing on the economic information available in the descriptions of the pilgrims, particularly as it is evident in the work they do and the status they hold in relation to land, the Church, and trade. Treats…

In GP 6 "inspired" evokes the Vulgate Gen. 2:7, suggesting Lenten spiritual renewal and the natural regenerative effect of the west wind in springtime.

"Burdoun" as an obscene pun in Chaucer's description of the Pardoner in the GP is supported in Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona" and even more strikingly in Wyatt's poem "Ye Old Mule". The latter shows the ribald possibilities of the word as…

Nakao examines uses of gentil in TC, MerT, and FranT, gauging the level of subjectivity involved on the part of the character, the narrator, and/or the author, modified by the audience's subjective understanding. Poses a "double-prism" structure…

Describes the contents of a page in Nottingham University Library, MS ME LM 1, that includes a "genuine witness" to Gent and several English and Latin proverbs,; also shows that the version of Gent in Cambridge University Library Gg. 4.27.1b "has no…

"Chaucer's Ghoast," published in 1692, is a rendering of twelve stories from Gower; it has nothing to do with Chaucer.

Hende Nicholas of MilT and Frere N. Lenne, a source of "Astr," both refer to the Oxford astronomer and mathematician Nicholas of Lynne. This is borne out by chronological, local, and occupational similarities among the three.

Familiar with the "visual and verbal labyrinth traditions" and their metaphorical significances, Chaucer incorporates in HF a controlling labyrinthine uncertainty, chaos, and obscurity in its "disoriented turnings back and forth, its paradoxical…

In the first line of HF, "say," the reading of the better texts, is preferable to that generally adopted, "singen."

Chaucer's HF, an allegory, is his "one major excursion in the territory usually associated with Dante." Schembri explores Augustinian iconography in the poem, looking particularly at Chaucer's treatment of the Dido story, the Proem to HF 2, and the…

Argues that HF is organized and coherent: it is consistently concerned with poetic art, its tripartite structure is based on the "rhetorical doctrine of three styles," and the styles correlate with the "three principal works" of Virgil"…

Sketches several underlying principles of the "via moderna" or Ockhamist reasoning (limitless power of God and three-value logic) and argues that HF rejects this "mode of thought." In the dream vision, Geffrey finds himself in a "kind of parody of…

Without arguing that Chaucer was a "source" for Mann, Riehle discusses stylistic and thematic parallels between HF and the Joseph novels. The epic humor of both Chaucer and Mann "reflects their deep sympathy with human life."

Architectural details, including rows of pillars and statues in Fame's hall, are probably exaggerations of the Palais de Justice, which Chaucer had seen in 1377.

Argues that Chaucer's concerns in HF are metalinguistic by drawing an analogy between verbal inflation (high style) and monetary inflation (which was rampant in Chaucer's day). Both words and coins are arbitrary signs and mediums of exchange;…

The clash of realist Thomistic Christianity (Dante) and nominalism (Ockham) provides the basis of Chaucer's exuberant satire on philosophy, linguistics, classical tradition, the state of the Church, and other late-fourteenth-century issues. HF…

Chaucer transforms Bede's commentary on the symbolism in Saint John's vision. Chaucer twists the beryl, the eagle, the four beasts, the seven stars, and numerology, giving a sense that Lady Fame is an unlawful ruler. HF is purposely unfinished.

Elements of the poem--dream vision, narrator's self-mockery, genre, satire, absence of authority--contribute to uncertainty of interpretation. That the "mechanics of uncertainty" inhere in all of these elements reinforces skepticism as the poem's…

Reads HF as an example of science fiction, focusing on its presentation of acoustics and commenting on its recurrent use of "scientific or pseudo-scientific explanations."

The emendation of HF texts F and B, line 1709, to "for no fame nor (MSS "for") such renoun" may be preferable to Skeat's now-standard reading, "For fame ne for such renoun." Similarly, emendation of MSS "loo" (line 1909) to "looth" gives the line…

HF expresses the "unreliability" of authority, as evident in the "style and structure" of the poem. Defines "fame" as the "body of traditional information that confronted the educated fourteenth-century reader" and shows how and where HF manifests…

Traces Chaucer's uses of two rhetorical devices of compression throughout his poetic career, "praeterito" and "reticentia," arguing that he developed sophisticated uses of the devices for creating dramatic and emotional effects. The devices entail,…

From the "Roman de la Rose," Chaucer inherited a view of "janglerye" that implicated himself as a court poet. Throughout his career, and especially in CT, he explores the dangers of "janglerye" as an appetite.

Troilus's "kankedort" is an Anglo-Norman equivalent of the proverbial "chien qui dort" (sleeping dog); Troilus expects a rude rebuff, ending his love affair.