O'Reilly, William M., Jr.
Greyfriar 10 (1968): 25-39.
Argues that "there is an ironically complex relationship of the speaker to what he says" in CYPT, particularly in the way that the Yeoman's simplistic understanding of alchemy leads him to abandon the evils of alchemy while the Canon's intelligent…
Identifies various instances of irony in MerT, arguing that its "persistent irony" distinguishes the tale from Chaucer's comic fabliaux and aligns it with the "moral fable" of PardT. A poem of "clarity, critical observation, and disgust," MerT also…
Slade, Tony.
Modern Language Review 64 (1969): 241-47.
Treats WBT as an "expression of her personality," focusing on the "matter-of-fact" tone of the tale, its humor, and its "tolerant sexual irony." However, Chaucer undercuts "her views and reactions" ironically, particularly in the pillow lecture of…
Adams, John F.
Modern Language Quarterly 24 (1963): 61-65.
Observes a variety of astrological and sexual puns, allusions, and emphases in Troilus's address to Criseyde's house ("paraclausithyron"), distancing the reader from Troilus's grief and emphasizing sensual love.
Richardson, Lilla Janette.
Dissertation Abstracts International 24.03 (1963): 1176.
Shows that Chaucer uses "rhetorical figures . . . [to] produce imagery," analyzing the "use of imagery" in FrT, RvT, ShT, MerT, and MilT—in comparison with sources, where available—and focusing on how he uses imagery to create ironic effects…
Knoepflmacher, U. C.
Chaucer Review 4.3 (1970): 180-83.
Suggests that two allusions to Matthew's gospel in the GP description of the Prioress contribute to the "ironic stance" of the description, despite the narrator's "calculated evasiveness."
Nicholson, Peter.
Elisabeth Dutton, with John Hines and R. F. Yeager, eds. John Gower, Trilingual Poet: Language, Translation, and Tradition (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2010), pp. 206-16.
Nicholson asserts that critics' "willingness to detect irony at every turn" is appropriate in Chaucer studies, but not in Gower studies, arguing that paradox is a recurrent and sustained mode of thought and expression in Gower's "Confessio." Surveys…
Gutiérrez Arranz, José M.
Ana María Hornero and María Pilar Navarro, eds. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of S.E.L.I.M. (Zaragoza: Institucion Fernando el Catolico (CSIC), 2000), pp. 63-74.
Connects Chaucer's views in Astr with a scientific and philosophic tradition of the "Physis" that started in ancient Greece.
Th is told between PrT and Mel, two stories that feature violence. While Th is often read as an innocent parody of romance, there are suggestions of potential violence. In his encounter with the elf queen. Sir Thopas represents the threat against the…
Akahori, Naoko.
Bulletin of the Institute of Women's Culture (Showa Women's University) 34 (2007): 29-38.
Akahori analyzes characteristics of May in MerT, focusing on her presence in January's garden and nuances of the adjective "fressh." Exploring instances of the word throughout CT, the author shows that its use in MerT is sarcastic.
Boenig, Robert.
Notes and Queries 241 (1996): 261-64.
MkT is not fragmentary, although the Knight misunderstands its common fourteenth-century technique of closure. Boenig provides parallel examples from Chaucer and Machaut.
Murchison, Krista A.
Modern Language Review 115 (2020): 497-517.
Explores how writers and audiences in medieval England "approached textually constructed audiences," considering evidence from rhetorical theory, readers' comments, and "signs of adaptation undertaken by authors, correctors, and scribes."…
Murchison, Krista A.
Modern Language Review 115, no. 3 (2020): 497-517.
Argues that audience-based lines of interpretation are no more reliable than author-based loci of interpretation, and reviews the "ars predicandi", religious guides, and the "ars poetica" (literary works), analyzing "how writer and actual audiences…
Edwards, A. S. G., and Linne R. Mooney.
Chaucer Review 26 (1991): 31-42.
Equat is not a holograph. The careful preparation of certain aspects of the text indicates a final version, and certain deletions and corrections suggest that the copier did not always understand the material he wrote down. The scribe was likely an…
Saito, Isamu.
Doshisha Studies in English 52-53 (1991): 8-29.
Discusses whether the dubious Eglentyne of GP is the right person to tell the pious tale. Chaucer's genius makes her succeed in putting deep human and feminine emotion into the tale.
Robinson, Peter
Richard J. Finneran, ed. The Literary Text in the Digital Age. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996), pp. 99-115.
Argues that electronic editions are both archival and interpretive, enabling users "to find the one text they seek" and recording data that reflect reception history and provide linguistic information. Cites examples from the electronic WBP (SAC 20…
Corsa, Helen.
Literature and Psychology 16 (1966): 184-91.
Argues that Chaucer's characterizations of the three main actors in TC produce an "Oedipal triangle" that helps to explain the power of the feelings in the consummation scene. Considers the changes Chaucer makes to Boccaccio's "Filostrato," focusing…
The death of England's Prince Henry sparked a "sense of near-nihilism" and prompted Shakespeare and Fletcher to question chivalry in The Two Noble Kinsmen. This interrogation anticipates modern readings of KnT--the source of the play--as a…
Explores "the socioeconomic significance of the ugly, monstrous figures in the Gawain romances" and in WBT, arguing that Chaucer "bifurcates" the "ugly antagonist" of the romances into the "crude, social-climbing Wife . . . and the loathly lady of…
Bennett, Michael [J.]
J. S. Bothwell, ed. The Age of Edward III. (Rochester, N.Y.; and Woodbridge: York Medieval Press and Boydell Press, 2001), pp. 215-25.
Seeks to "reveal a little more fully the world" in which Chaucer was trained as a page, examining the household accounts of Isabelle (BL MS Cotton Galba E.14) in the context of better-known household accounts. Bennett comments on pageantry,…
