Browse Items (16110 total)

Chaucer's "open-endedness" and "lack of an ending" relate to the fact that he was writing in a "time of crisis" (the Black Death, the corruption of the church). He sought to confront conditions of his time through pluralism, and his lack of closure…

Discusses the many frustrated or incomplete endings in the tales of CT, and argues that "Chaucer's formal work with endings demonstrates all the many ways that things might remain unresolved." Traces endings from several different tales, including…

Challenges "dramatic" criticism of CT, arguing that "realistic illusion" is not sustained but rather "undermined" in ways that call attention to aesthetic concerns, limiting the kinds of psychological projections that some critics have imposed upon…

Chaucer frequently uses familiar words or phrases that at first seem insignificant or trivial; examined closely, however, they reflect unexpected humor. Chaucer excels at molding new science out of old books.

Examines details from GP (in particular the description of the Friar) and ParsT, arguing that Chaucer held the "orthodox view" that the poor should be protected because they were precious to God. Yet Chaucer also indicates that "there is nothing…

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."

In chapters on Adam, TC, LGW, MLT, WBT, ClT, and PardT, Dinshaw argues that Chaucer's writing constructs and engages a sexual poetics. She contends that "whoever exerts control of signification, of language and the literary act, is associated with…

Provides context for the Parson's image of a she-ape in the "fulle of the moon" (10.424), showing how the image deprecates the "purpose as well as appearance" of the "fashionably-dressed man."

Clarifies nuances of the title "shipman" and the seriousness of the Shipman's lack of conscience about his cargo (GP 1.396-98) in light of late-medieval English maritime law.

Examines books of medieval maritime law (e.g., the "Oakbook of Southhampton," the "Tavola Amalfitana," and the "Consulat de Mar") to argue that the Shipman of GP knew the law, "worked the system," probably engaged in smuggling, and exploited…

The proverb "to be as glad of something as 'fowel of day'," or variant, is used in KnT, CYT, TC, and ShT. The character associated with the fowl is deceived by appearances or by another character. In ShT Don John represents the fowler interpreted…

When seen in light of probable sources in Decameron 8.1-2 and contrasted with Chaucer's other fabliaux, ShT is an "elegantly sophisticated comedy of bourgeois values [written] by a socially and intellectually elevated vintner's son."

Lines 138-41 are authorial commentary and should be punctuated as such. The revised reading makes more immediate sense, adding parallelism and a touch of Chaucerian irony.

Studies the :speaking face" depicted in Chaucer's works (TC, Buk, BD, and ClT), discussing the trope as a subset of facial expression in the history of emotions. The first writer in English to do so, Chaucer has his characters and narrators translate…

Offers a "new description of Chaucer's interaction with Italian poetry," focusing on how he avoids borrowing several of its most innovative features: the "presence of a beatific lady," the tendency to elevate the poet's poetry to high authority, and…

Provides critical analysis of Chaucer's "ABC," examining in turn its genre, plot, two characters, style, and reception, and comparing it to its source.

Gives examples of the traditional humor that derives from exaggeration in depictions of giants in Middle English romance, and argues that, in Th, Chaucer goes "one step further" in making Oliphaunt ridiculous, largely because this giant is seen from…

Locates a satiric pun on "doghty" as either "valiant" or "dough-like" in Th 7.724-25.

By confining his version almost entirely to observable details, Chaucer achieves more in MilT than do writers of analogous stories. He does not interpose his narrator between the reader and the narrated events, and he spares the reader the glib…

A companion volume to "Music in the Age of Chaucer." Fourteen of Chaucer's lyrics on the French model are presented in a performing edition with musical settings derived from contemporary songs by Machaut, Senleches, Solange, Andrieu, and the…

Comments on Thomas and Lewis as Chaucer's sons and explores Astr as a didactic treatise, part of Chaucer's "Macrobean" development from "literary study to moral inquiry."

Maintains that in Anel, a poem about the faithless lover Arcite, the poet narrator is also false both in specific details and in reference to his putative sources. Argues that Chaucer emphasizes "the deception inherent in his poetic process" in a…

The narrator establishes a relationship with the audience to give the impression that they are jointly and empirically exploring human nature. His continuous presence and the mode of oral delivery enables the narrator to impose his views on the…

Offers a technical linguistic analysis of STR (speech and thought representation) in TC, theorizing a hierarchical "structure of subjectivities" to examine samples from the poem, attending to nuances latent in diction, situation, point of view,…

Analyzes the structure and function of reporting verbs, such as "seyde" and "quod, "in representing speech and thought in TC from a variety of viewpoints, including syntactical position of the reporting verbs, balance of direct and indirect…