Studies in the Middle English Didactic Tail-Rhyme Romances

Description: Examines several aspects of Middle English tail-rhyme romances, contrasting them with couplet romances, comparing them with Japanese "sekkyo," and exploring their relations with the "cult of the Virgin," the Holy Family, and contemporary visual art. Includes a survey of previous criticism and gives sustained attention to "the hero on the beach" motif, women in the Breton lays, and individual romances such as "Le Bone Florence of Rome," "Sir Gowther," and "Sir Orfeo." Recurrent comments on Th and MLT, plus discussion of FranT as a Breton lay in couplets that show "some orientation to Celtic tradition."

Chaucer Subjects: Franklin and His Tale.; Man of Law and His Tale.; Tale of Sir Thopas.