On the Franklin's Prologue, 716-721, Persius, and the Continuity of the Mannerist Style

Author / Editor
Wright, Constance S.

Title
On the Franklin's Prologue, 716-721, Persius, and the Continuity of the Mannerist Style

Published
Philological Quarterly 52 (1973): 739-46.

Description
Treats Chaucer's use of the humility topos in FranP as an example of "mannerist style," focusing on his uses of the terms "crude" and "excused" and his reference to Mount Parnassus. Exemplifies the rich classical background of these features, and suggests that the device signals that the Franklin "will not be telling the truth," and that Chaucer did not know Persius's "Satires" firsthand.

Chaucer Subjects
Franklin and His Tale
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations
Style and Versification