Browse Items (15542 total)

Examines relationships between the roles of women in medieval society and the language used by women in Arthurian romances, especially interpersonal relationships as depicted in dialogue, forms of address, indicators of politeness, and the emerging…

Ogura examines the lexicon of emotion (anger, fear, joy, pleasure, sorrow, wonder) in translations of Boethius by Jean de Meun, Chaucer, and Elizabeth I. Chaucer effectively uses three levels of word pairs: native, foreign, and combinations of…

Seeks to explain how and in what ways illustrations affect reading, discussing the manuscripts of the Harley Psalter, the Old English Illustrated Hexateuch, the Marvels of the East, and the Ellesmere manuscript of CT. Ellesmere raises questions…

Exemplifies how various aspects of the "bibliographical space" (e.g., format, typography, layout, paper, binding) of manuscripts and early editions challenge modern editors to represent the semiotic value of such space. Examples include the Ellesmere…

Seventeen essays by various autors, focusing primarily on Old English language and literature. For three essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Words and Works under Alternative Title.

A collection of essays, chiefly comparative. For four essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Words and Wordsmiths under Alternative Title.

For four essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Words and Literature under Alternative Title.

Analyzes the history of the OED's medieval portion, and emphasizes how Chaucer's "linguistic innovativeness" is shaped by the "substance of OED and MED quotations and definitions." Includes extensive appendix of OED's record of vocabulary in BD.

Lists complex words (those with modifying prefixes and suffixes) and compound words in F. N. Robinson's "The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer," 2d ed.

Argues for a pun on nonce-word "ape-ese." The Cook has drunk "wyn ape." If appease (ad pacem) is merely ape-ease, then clearly wine is no real remedy for the pilgrims' dis-ease ("whan that they were seke").

Evidence from variants in manuscripts of Mel indicates that Chaucer's contemporaries accepted his use of doublets in "curial style." The variants reinforce affiliations between Hg and El and between Corpus Christi College 198 and Lansdowne 851,…

Includes a chapter entitled "Chaucer, House of Fame" (pp. 355-83) that describes HF and characterizes Chaucer's treatment of literary reputation as unusual in lacking the "moralistic slant" of his predecessors, opting instead for a "disillusioned…

Treats selected major figures and works of English literature from "Beowulf" to Congreve, concentrating on the feudalistic idea of the "pledged word," as a shaping "master trope." By elevating the word to sign, Canfield applies theories of Derrida,…

Daróczy outlines the Latin rhetorical tradition as background to Chaucer's techniques of characterization in GP: groupings of pilgrims, omitted details, the order and juxtaposition of the portraits, epithets, and summarizing lines. Emphasizes…

Collects previously printed essays, all here translated into English. The essays explore various relationships between diction and characterization as the key to Chaucer's literary craft. Concludes that Chaucer composed poetry as if he were…

Explores the relations between style and Christian morality in MilT, RvT, FranT, MLT, MerT, ClT, and NPT, gauging the moral outlooks of the narrators of the Tales.

Explores the relations between style and Christian morality in MilT, RvT, FranT, MLT, MerT, ClT, and NPT, gauging the moral outlooks of the narrators of the Tales.

Examines the Host's malapropistic banter in the introduction to PardT and language in PardT and GP that helps delineate the character of the vicious Pardoner. Kanno discusses incongruity between word and deed, appearance and reality.

Traces the history of two related series of woodcuts. The first, cut for Caxton's 1483 edition, apparently derives from miniatures in the manuscript now known as the Oxford Fragments (Ox1 and Ox2). The second series was copied from Caxton for…

Argues that SqT is an exception among medieval romances because it investigates things that are not what they seem. The first section of the tale scrutinizes the mechanics of marvels and wonder; the second explores the mechanics of stories,…

MLT can be seen as an exposition and justification of the medieval Christian providential view of history. The concern with exemplifying this theory governs the teller's choice of source and emphasis. It is ironic that the Tale's philosophy can be…

Briefly examines the role of "wonders," or miracles, in romance and philosophy as background to the lack of justice in Arcite's death. Chaucer is heavily indebted to Boethian thought in TC, but the unsatisfying, even skeptical deployment of such…

An anthology of appreciative poetry, narratives, and essays (some in excerpts) that pertain to organs, organ music, and organists, including a selection from SNT in Middle English (pp. 5-6; lines 8.120-40) and a brief commentary.

In a deliberate move to fit Constance of MLT to the genre of "hagiographic romance," Chaucer minimizes or eliminates the network of genealogical relations that gives the heroine significance and agency in Trevet's "Les cronicles," Chaucer's source.

Examines what "medieval romances convey about the possibilities for female social and cultural influence" during the Middle Ages. Chapter 1 analyzes how Chaucer's depictions of Cassandra and Criseyde were influenced by "representations of women's…