Reads Dryden's version of WBT (from his "Fables") and his comments on the tale as reflections of his sensitivity to Chaucer's wit, humor, "genial irony," "gentle sarcasm," and especially his clever juxtapositions--the "imaginative setting of one…
Clark, Roy Peter
Annuale Mediaevale 17 (1976): 48-57.
Developing from the Pentecostal parody in the poem, Chaucer's use of the word "wit" in SumT 1789, 2291 may suggest a submerged allusion to the contemporary controversy surrounding the Wycliffite translation of the Bible.
McVeigh, Terrence A.
Classical Folia 29 (1975): 54-58.
Tradition relates the sin of simony to leprosy and sodomy, as evidenced by John Wyclif's "Tractatus De Simonia." The physical abnormalities of the Pardoner and Summoner in CT can thus be seen as symbolic of their simony.
Benson and Andersson's discussion in "The Literary Context of Chaucer's Fabliaux" (1971) fails to account for the complexity of folktale derivation. A tale may have two sets of analogues, one set related through surface structure (detail, character,…
Beall, Chandler B.
English Language Notes 13 (1975): 85-86.
The famous descriptive epithet of the Clerk, "And gladly wolde he lerne and gladly teche" (GP, 308), may have been suggested by a sentence from Seneca's epistle to Lucilius (VI,4): "Ego vero omnia in te cupio transfundere, et in hoc aliquid gaudeo…
Although allegorical and historical justifications have been given for Griselda's suffering in ClT, the story is Chaucer's attack on the tyranny and injustice of her situation. In a different way, Webster condemns tyrannical persecution in the…
The people's and Griselda's agreements with Walter, the agent of testing, are analogous to the Old and New Testament covenants, respectively. The lower-order civil bond, governed by the letter of the law, is weak; the higher-order marriage bond,…
Chaucer used allegory to create a teleological statement of ideal behavior as an apologia for the most repressive aspects of ruling-class dominance and male chauvinism of the world in which he lived, and which he depicted on the literal level of ClT.
Bradwardine's concept of God's "potentia absoluta" serves to reconcile the literal and allegorical meanings of Walter in ClT. Griselda must accept Walter's actions, though she cannot comprehend them. This parallels man's relationship to God, but,…
Wallace, Kristine Gilmartin.
Rice University Studies 62.2 (1976): 99-110.
For Walter and Griselda clothing has both "political/social" and "spiritual/personal" meanings which symbolize stages in their relationship. When Walter sees that Griselda remains virtuous beneath the array of fine clothing and social status which…
Burnley, J. D.
Yearbook of English Studies 6 (1976): 16-25.
The wording of MerT has many echoes, some heretofore unidentified, of medieval marriage services. Suggestions of the Christian ideal are thus juxtaposed to the characters' perverse misunderstandings of marriage throughout the tale, providing an…
Frost, Cheryl.
Literature in North Queensland, Australia (James Cook University, North Queensland) 5.1 (1976): 37-45.
Jungian psychological analysis of the character of January, arguing that he shows the characteristics of the introverted type--capacity for abstraction, extreme subjectivity, and a resultant poor grasp of the outside world. January has trouble…
Gates, Barbara T.
Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 77 (1976): 369-75.
The references to the licentious god Pluto and the rich and lecherous Solomon that Proserpina talks of contribute to the notion of covetousness in MerT. The language of trade, commercial values, and the references to Solomon's prosperity in commerce…
Beauty and cynicism co-exist in MerT: we feel the characters capable of tenderness and right self-affirmation as well as nastiness; January's abandoning the knowledge his recovery brings shows that we see more truly by rejecting "knowing" on the…
Wurtele, Douglas J.
Proceedings of the Third Annual Symposium of Ottawa-Carleton Medieval-Renaissance Club 1 (1976): 56-74.
The "sponsa" of the "Song of Songs" is traditionally interpreted as Mary, and thus through January's aubade (4.2138-48) May becomes an ironic echo of the Virgin. The deep ironies of this association reflect the more straightforward presentations of…
SqT may originally have been written for a Northern English audience, which could appreciate its echoes of Mandeville's "Travels" and "Gawain and the Green Knight."
Kee, Kenneth.
English Studies in Canada 1 (1975): 1-12.
The Franklin, not to be identified as Chaucer's spokesman regarding marriage, frequently intrudes into his story in order to present a favorable self image before his listeners. His intrusions also divert his audience from serious moral issues his…
The Host's reference to the "yiftes of Fortune and of Nature" is the thematic basis for Group C (Fragment 6). PhyT shows how Grace can sustain those injured by Nature's gifts; PardT shows the wretched fate of those who, blinded by Fortune's gifts,…
PhyT treats appearance and reality, fraud and honesty at the individual, familial, political, and cosmic levels of governance. Virginius' pardon of Claudius can be seen as an act that, on the cosmic level, affirms God's charitable governance and…
The Old Man of PardT, wretched because of his inability to die, embodies a lesson of "contemptus mundi" that should correct the rioters' "rash wish" to overcome physical death,but due to their spiritual blindness, they fail to heed his warning.
Jungman, Robert E.
Philological Quarterly 55 (1976): 279-81.
The theme of the Pardoner's sermon, "Radix malorum est cupiditas," comes from 1 Tim. 6:10. Appropriately, the dispute between the Pardoner and the Host following the sermon illustrates Paul's assertion in 1 Tim. 6 that teaching based on "cupiditas"…
Morgan, Gerald.
Modern Language Review 71 (1976): 241-55.
Modern psychological exploration of individual consciousness is not applicable to medieval literature which, as in "Cliges" and the "Romaunt of the Rose," assumes unity between action and intention. Hence the issue of the closing of PardT is not,…
Patterson, Lee.
Medievalia et Humanistica 7 (1976): 153-73.
Confessional literature illumines the Pardoner's performance by explaining the motives which lie behind it. Parallels with the "false confession" and an analysis of the pitfalls of despair and presumption suggest that the Pardoner is suffering from…
