Rhyme Royal and Romance.

Published: Ad Putter and Judith A. Jefferson, eds. The Transmission of Medieval Romance: Metres, Manuscripts and Early Prints (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2018), pp. 50-68.

Description: Argues that rhyme royal was rarely used in Middle English romances because it "mitigates against some of the aims and purposes" of the genre, creating "a self-consciousness about temporality that presses against the fairy-tale temporality of romance" better served by octosyllabic couplets. Reviews and corrects descriptions of the development and functions of rhyme royal, and discusses Chaucer's dexterous uses of the stanza form in various works, especially TC.