Blameth Nat Me: A Study of Imagery in Chaucer's Fabliaux

Description: Examines the imagery and irony of FrT, RvT, ShT, MerT, SumT, and MilT, focusing on how in each tale Chaucer achieves "organic" unity through transformation of the "conventional formulae" of medieval rhetorical handbooks. Summarizes the practices recommended by rhetoricians, especially Geoffrey Vinsauf, and exemplifies Chaucer's uses of "effictio" and "notatio" in BD and GP. Then traces how in each of the fabliaux Chaucer artfully crafts patterns of imagery and figurative comparisons to complicate plot, deepen theme ironically, and engage his audience aesthetically and intellectually.

Chaucer Subjects: Style and Versification; Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations; Friar and His Tale; Reeve and His Tale; Shipman and His Tale; Merchant and His Tale; Summoner and His Tale; Miller and His Tale