Koff, Leonard.
R. F. Yeager and Brian W. Gastle, eds. Approaches to Teaching the Poetry of John Gower (New York: Modern Language Association, 2011), pp. 83-90.
Comparative essay that includes commentary on Chaucer's "volatile response" to the story of Philomela in his LGW, suggesting that Chaucer's account may reflect anxiety about Gower's influence.
Edwards, A. S. G.
Takami Matsuda, Richard A. Linenthal, and John Scahill, eds. The Medieval Book and a Modern Collector: Essays in Honour of Toshiyuki Takamiya (Cambridge: Brewer; Tokyo: Yushodo, 2004), pp. 81-86.
Edwards comments on several features of Takamiya MS 32, which "provides the only significant narrative conjunction of the works of Chaucer and Gower": quire numbering and arrangement of materials indicate that the Gower material was "selected by the…
Oliveira, Maria do Carmo Correia de.
Teresa F. A. Alves and Maria Isabel Barbudo, eds. "And gladly wolde (s)he lerne and gladly teche": Homenagem a Júlia Dias Ferreira (Lisbon: Colibri, 2007), pp. 59-467.
Item not seen; reported in Encomia 32-33 (2010-2011): 206, with an abstract in French by Isabel de Barros Dias.
Axton, Richard.
Ruth Morse and Barry Windeatt, eds. Chaucer Traditions: Studies in Honour of Derek Brewer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp.21-38.
Dr. Johnson called Gower "Chaucer's master." But who is creditor and who is debtor? The two poets allude to each other's work and appear to be mutually indebted; also, they share a large body of common stories, themes, and forms in their works. …
Dimmick, Jeremy.
Review of English Studies 57 (2006): 456-73.
Greene uses Chaucer and Gower to represent licentious comedy and moral literature, respectively. In manipulating the debate between the medieval authors, Greene displays subtle awareness not only of his own literary persona but also of the authorial…
Kennedy, Edward Donald.
Mediaevalia 16 (1993, for 1990): 55-90.
Both Gower and Chaucer limit their use of Arthurian material to brief allusions, although Gower's allusions are more numerous, specific, and morally serious than are Chaucer's. Chaucer's allusions in WBT, PF, HF, LGW, SqT, Th, NPT, and Ros suggest…
Dean, James.
Studies in Philology 88 (1991): 251-75.
In his rhyme-royal poetry, Gower adapted Chaucerian techniques as well as techniques from his own French seven-line poetry. Dean reviews Cinkante balades, Traitie pour essampler les amantz marietz, In Praise of Peace, and Amans's "supplicacioun" from…
Kuczynski, Michael P.
Susannah Mary Chewning, ed. Studies in the Age of Gower: A Festschrift in Honour of R. F. Yeager (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2020), pp. 173-88.
Compares Genius of Gower's "Confessio Amantis" with Chaucer’s Parson of CT in order to disclose Gower's "views concerning priests," arguing that both characters are idealized models of "proper pastoral care" and, perhaps, the result of…
Scanlon, Larry.
Russell A. Peck and R. F. Yeager, eds. John Gower: Others and the Self (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2017), pp. 156-82.
Argues that "alone of the three ‘fathers of English poesy [Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate],' Gower openly grapples with an acute awareness of the cultural centrality of a concept that extends from a betrayal of love's intimacy to social, political,…
English political poetry of the 1380s and 1390s was deeply marked by the self-image of the monarch, which shifted about the time of the Merciless Parliament (1388), as Richard II became more experienced and less playful. Chaucer's PF and revision of…
Bennett, J. A. W.
J. A. W. Bennett. The Humane Medievalist (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura; Wolfeboro, N.H.: Boydell & Brewer, 1982), pp. 49-66.
Defends Gower's "Confessio Amantis," with brief allusions to Chaucer's BD, ParsT, GP, and TC.
Fischer, Olga C. M.
English Studies 66 (1985): 205-25.
The two tales have a common ancestor, but the very different motives of the Confessor and of the Wife are reflected in the language texture. Gower's style complements his vision of order and harmony; WBT is more vivid, dramatic, and suspensful.
Burrow, J. A.
Cristina Maria Cervone and D. Vance Smith, eds. Readings in Medieval Textuality: Essays in Honour of A. C. Spearing (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2016), pp. 157-68.
Argues that CT and Gower's "Confessio Amantis" take the form of French "dit" poems. Claims that both works fit the genre because they have "sufficient 'dit'-like features."
Gastle, Brian.
Elisabeth Dutton, with John Hines and R. F. Yeager, eds. John Gower, Trilingual Poet: Language, Translation, and Tradition (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2010), pp. 182-95.
All of the recensions of the Prologue to "Confessio Amantis"--especially the Ricardian recension--reflect Gower's economic concerns. His Tale of Florent also engages commercial concerns, particularly those of marital contracts, although to a lesser…
Kim, Chong-Ai.
Medieval English Studies 5 (1997): 59-82.
Compares the treatment of women in "Confessio Amantis" and LGW. In each case, the frame of the poem and the male-authored perspective disallow true praise of women.
Williams, Deanne.
Ananya Jahanara Kabir and Deanne Williams, eds. Postcolonial Approaches to the European Middle Ages: Translating Cultures (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 127-50.
Compares Nebuchadnezzar in Gower's "Confessio Amantis" with his depictions in Chaucer's HF and MkT.
Assesses Gower's virtues and achievements as a narrative poet rather than as a moralist in "Confessio Amantis," occasionally comparing and contrasting his techniques and accounts with analogous ones by Chaucer. Considers the frame of LGW to be…
Galloway, Andrew.
Annette Harder, Alasdair A. MacDonald, and Gerrit J. Reinink, eds. Calliope's Classroom: Studies in Didactic Poetry from Antiquity to the Renaissance (Dudley, Mass.: Peeters, 2007), pp. 245-67.
Chaucer and Gower compete in seeking to articulate political and moral ideals. Whereas Gower endorses "communal governance of the ideology of self-interest," Chaucer explores a less certain "ideal union" among political, moral, and personal forms of…
Correale, Robert M.
R. F. Yeager, ed. John Gower: Recent Readings. Papers Presented at the Meetings of the John Gower Society at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, 1983-1988 (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute Publications, 1989), 133-57.
Tabulates correspondences between Gower's Tale of Constance ("Confessio Amantis" 2.587-1598) and available manuscripts of Trevet's Anglo-Norman original, seeking to identify Gower's source manuscript. Includes recurrent attention to Chaucer's MLT,…
Ito, Masayoshi.
Studies in English Literature (Tokyo) 46 (1969): 29-44.
Analyzes "rime riche" (identical rhyme) in Gower's poetry, focusing on the "abundance" of rime-riche couplets in "Confessio Amantis," and discussing a number of points of comparison and contrast with Chaucer's practice in his verse.
Yeager, R. F.
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. 144-53.
Primarily discusses medieval humor in Gower, yet addresses how Gower's and Chaucer's humorous characters are female. Looks at Criseyde in TC, Alison in WBT, the merchant's wife in ShT, and Alisoun in MilT.
Wetherbee, Winthrop.
Susan Yager and Elise E. Morse-Gagné, eds. Interpretation and Performance: Essays for Alan Gaylord (Provo, UT: Chaucer Studio Press, 2013), pp. 13-22.
The key rhyming pair place and grace appears several times in TC, notably at the center of the poem. Up to the moment of the lovers' consummation, both words have a positive, sometimes spiritual connotation and intensity, but after that passage each…
Laskaya, Anne.
Claire Vial, ed. 'Gode is the lay, swete is the note': Résonances dans les lais bretons moyen-anglais / Echoes in the Middle English Breton Lays (2014): n.p. (web publication).
Includes the argument that the material context of FranT must be considered as a relevant framework for reading Middle English Breton lays.
Wheeler, Bonnie.
Poetica: An International Journal of Linguistic Literary Studies (Tokyo) 44 (1995): 13-22.
Chaucer and Murasaki Shikibu, author of "Genji Monogatari," share a number of literary features: a commitment to vernacular expression, grammatically and stylistically open texts, celebration of generic variety, and preoccupation with the female…
