Augustinian Wisdom and Eloquence in the F-Fragment of the 'Canterbury Tales'

Author / Editor
Miller, Robert P.

Title
Augustinian Wisdom and Eloquence in the F-Fragment of the 'Canterbury Tales'

Published
Mediaevalia 4 (1978): 245-75.

Description
Cicero's ideal rhetorical style, which combined wisdom and eloquence, was redefined in Christian terms by Saint Augustine. Chaucer's Franklin, who pretends to follow Augustinian rhetorical ideals, in fact defines wisdom and eloquence in a worldly manner, as the Epicurean Chaucer proclaims him to be.

Chaucer Subjects
Franklin and His Tale.