Some Disputed Chaucerian Terminology

Author / Editor
Robertson, D. W.,Jr.

Title
Some Disputed Chaucerian Terminology

Published
Speculum 52 (1977): 571-81.

Description
In addition to etymologically undetermined words in Chaucer and to words whose ironic use obscures their true meaning, Chaucer's portrayal of characters (e.g., Reeve, Plowman, Yeoman, the widow of NPT, Griselda, and Symkyn in RvT) reveals that he was not "class-conscious" but rather disinterested in judging the morality and social status of bourgeois and peasantry. More historical documentation of the words used to describe them will reveal even more.

Chaucer Subjects
Language and Word Studies.
Background and General Criticism.