The Liturgy and Vernacular Literature

Author / Editor
Vitz, Evelyn Birge.

Title
The Liturgy and Vernacular Literature

Published
Thomas J. Heffernan and E. Ann Matter, eds. The Liturgy of the Medieval Church (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute, 2001), pp. 551-618.

Description
Vitz surveys the influences and echoes of liturgical wording and practice in a range of medieval literature--English, French, Italian, narrative, lyrical, parodic, etc. Includes focused treatments of "La Queste del Saint Graal," "The Roman de la Rose," "The Divine Comedy," and CT, particularly PrT and Ret. Characterizes Chaucer's uses of the liturgy as "complex and ambiguous" and "probably ambivalent as well."

Contributor
Heffernan, Thomas J., ed.
Matter, E. Ann, ed.

Alternative Title
Liturgy of the Medieval Church.

Chaucer Subjects
Prioress and Her Tale.
Chaucer's Retraction.