Patristic Exegesis in the Criticism of Medieval Literature: The Defense.

Author / Editor
Kaske, R. E.

Title
Patristic Exegesis in the Criticism of Medieval Literature: The Defense.

Published
In Dorothy Bethurum, ed. Critical Approaches to Medieval Literature: Selected Papers from the English Institute, 1958-59 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1960), pp. 27-60.

Description
Exemplifies the wide-ranging importance of "exegetical tradition" in explicating images and allusions in medieval literature, drawing examples from "Piers Plowman," from the Summoner's taste for garlic, onions, and leeks (GP 1.634), and from various echoes of the biblical Canticle of Canticles in the characterizations and relationship of Absolon and Alisoun in MilT. Argues that greater familiarity with such exegetical details is necessary for broader understanding the value of patristic criticism. See E. Talbot Donaldson, " Patristic Exegesis in the Criticism of Medieval Literature: The Opposition."

Alternative Title
Critical Approaches to Medieval Literature.

Chaucer Subjects
Background and General Criticism
Summoner and His Tale
Miller and His Tale
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations