Nicknames for geometric propositions occur in TC ("dulcarnon," "flemyng of wrecches") and one seems to be at play at the end of SumT ("figura demonis"), where the squire's "natural" solution to the problem of dividing the fart opposes the…
Johnston, Andrew James.
Christoph Kleinschmidt and Uwe Japp, eds. Der Rahmenzyklus in den europäischen Literaturen: Von Boccaccio bis Goethe, von Chaucer bis Gernhardt (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag, 2018), pp. 41–57.
Examines features of CT that make it difficult to fit the work into the modern “frame” of teleological development, medieval to modern. Focuses on "postmodern" features of the work, its tensions between allegory and realism, and its game-like…
Examines the use of whiteness in a variety of medieval works, arguing that being "white" is a mark not merely of ethnicity but also of Christianity, "beauty," and rank. Examples include mystery plays, "Pearl," and BD.
Wolpers, Theodor.
Theodor Wolpers, ed. Der Sturz des Mächtigen: Zu Struktur, Funktion, and Geschichte eines Literarischen Motivs (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2000), pp. 105-47.
Traces the "fall of the mighty" (or "fall of princes") motif in "de casibus" narratives and its intersections with tragedy in works by Boccaccio and Chaucer and in the sixteenth-century "Mirror for Magistrates," with particular attention to Adam and…
Bauer, Renate.
Thomas Honegger, ed. Authors, Heroes and Lovers: Essays on Medieval English Literature and Language (Bern and New York: Peter Lang, 2001), pp. 47-71.
Bauer compares examples of anti-Jewish discourse in the "Ludus Coventriae" ("deicide"), PrT ("ritual murder"), and the Croxton Play of the Sacrament ("desecration of the host"). All three texts criminalize, victimize, and dehumanize Jews,…
Stemmler, Theo.
Fritz Peter Knapp and Manuela Niesner, eds. Historisches und Fiktionales Erzählen im Mittelalter (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2002), pp. 45-62.
Stemmler assesses representations of the Uprising of 1381 in several contexts: the "Anonimalle Chronicle," Henry Knighton's "Chronicon," Thomas Walsingham's "Historia Anglicana," Jean Froissart's "Chroniques," John Gower's "Vox Clamantis," Chaucer's…
Fischer, Andreas,and Roland Luthi.
Archiv fur das Studium der Neueren Sprachen und Literaturen 231 (1994): 44-58.
An annotated bibliography of thirty German translations of Chaucer's works published between 1826 and 1992, with additional commentary that notes patterns of reception.
Ullmann, Ingeborg Maria.
Bern: Herbert Lang, 1973.
Analyzes narrative aspects of CT and the readers' role in understanding the functions and significance of various structural features, the pilgrimage frame, and point of view; uses late-medieval illustrations to explore and illuminate reader…
Bergner, Heinz.
Xenia von Ertsdorff and Marianne Wynn, eds. Liebe--Ehe--Ehebruch in der Literatur des Mittelalters: Vortrage des Symposiums vom 13. bis 16. Juni 1983 am Institut fur deutsche Sprache und mittelalterliche Literatur der Justus Liebig-Universitat Giessen (Giessen: Wilhelm Schmitz, 1984),pp. 140-47.
FranT mirrors contemporary contradictory beliefs about marriage, criticizing standards and legal constraints that force paradoxical and confusing demands on married partners,and exposing the predicament of three moral characters who fall short with…
Analyzes the grammar and usage of the “man” and related locutions that convey independent agency in late Middle English and Early Modern English, considering pronouns, modals, and passive verbal forms as well as “man” and other generalized…
Pearsall, Derek.
Charlotte Brewer and Barry Windeatt, eds. Traditions and Innovations in the Study of Middle English Literature: The Influence of Derek Brewer (Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, 2013), pp. 18-33.
Reflects on the significance of Brewer's early writings on Chaucer and his importance as a "critic and literary and cultural historian." Discussion of Brewer's exploration of the "Gothic" in connection with CT.
In translating Bo from the original Latin and a French translation, Chaucer often adapts a word from the latter to create new concepts, especially with English gerunds.
Chaucer freely coins derivations, such as the Summoner's "preambulacion" from "preamble" (D837), for the sake of rhyme, rhythm, economy, and forcefulness.
Stanbury, Sarah.
New Medieval Literatures 12 (2010): 155-67.
Considers the cat in MilT as a device of demarcation between the domesticity of John's house and the privacy of Nicholas's "elite" study, observing links between this use of an animal as a device with Derrida's contemplations on his cat. Also…
Calin, William.
Deborah M. Sinnreich-Levi, ed. Eustache Deschamps, French Courtier-Poet: His Work and His World (New York: AMS Press, 1998), pp.73-83.
Contrary to earlier critical opinion, the "Ballade to Chaucer" demonstrates very little about Chaucer's renown outside court circles in southern England; it cannot necessarily be read as a sincere expression of Deschamp's opinion of Chaucer the poet.
Describes the "literary attitudes" evident in Eustace Deschamps' "L'Art de Dictier," focusing on its concern with the "natural music" of lyric poetry, a concern also found among troubadour poets and in Chaucer's ballades and complaints, even though…
Kendrick, Laura.
Marie-Francoise Alamichel, ed. La complémentarité: Mélanges offerts à Josseline Bidard et Arlette Sancery à l'occasion de leur départ en retraite (Paris: AMAES, 2005), pp. 203-19.
Contrasts Chaucer's Wife of Bath with Belle, who is constructed from the tradition of masculine discourse on feminine attractiveness.
Kendrick, Laura.
Cahiers de recherches medievales et humanistes/Journal of Medieval and Humanistic Studies 29, no. 1 (2015): 215–33.
Examines how Deschamps's balade 285 is a surprisingly generous recognition and glorification of Chaucer as a pioneering translator from Latin and French into English, and as an "illuminator" or enlightener of his native England. Reveals how this…
Hamada, Satomi.
Studies in Medieval Language and Literature 32 (2017): 17-35.
Places CT in the transitional period from oral to literal culture, and argues that the change of vocabulary from "herken" in Th's initial sections to "listen" in its third fitt indicates different functions of these sections in Chaucer's parody of…
Creates in reconstructed Middle English a description, prologue, and tale for an additional pilgrim, the warrener. The description and prologue are in couplets (including speeches by the Host and Prioress), and the prose tale is an adaptation of the…
Lipson, Carol S.
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 12 : 243-56, 1982.
Assesses Astr as a piece of technical writing, admiring Chaucer's use of a personal voice, everyday examples, devices of cohesion, and other indications of audience awareness.
Provides detailed background for Petrarch's ekphrastic descriptions of pagan gods in his "Africa" (iii.138-264), and argues that Chaucer's related descriptions in HF (131-39) and in KnT (1.1955-66) derive from the "Libellus de deorum imaginibus"…
Connolly, Margaret, and Linne R. Mooney, eds.
York: York Medieval Press, 2008.
Thirteen essays by various authors, with a brief introduction by the editors. The collection treats English scribes, manuscripts, and the production and circulation of texts from 1350-1600. Addressing design and CT, the first section contains three…
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…
Donaldson, E. Talbot.
Tennessee Studies in Literature 22 (1977): 1-16.
An analysis of evidence from CT, "Piers Plowman," and "The Divine Comedy" as well as from the writings of medieval saints and modern scholars indicates that generalizations regarding Christian behavior, the motivations of artists, and concepts of…
