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Articles 1 - 16 of 16
Full-Text Articles in Medieval Studies
Saxo Grammaticus: History And The Rise Of National Identity In Medieval Denmark, Christopher L. Bailey
Saxo Grammaticus: History And The Rise Of National Identity In Medieval Denmark, Christopher L. Bailey
Masters Theses
No abstract provided.
Delight, Subversion And Truth In The Canterbury Tales: Chaucer's Talking Birds, Terri Benson Blair
Delight, Subversion And Truth In The Canterbury Tales: Chaucer's Talking Birds, Terri Benson Blair
Masters Theses
Geoffrey Chaucer mentions birds over 240 times throughout The Canterbury Tales (Tatlock and Kennedy). This frequent allusion to birds is significant, especially since three of his twenty-four tales are actually about birds. What makes these three tales particularly fascinating is that their bird protagonists have the gift of speech. This study examines Chaucer's use of bird imagery in The Canterbury Tales, in particular, his use of talking birds in "The Squire's Tale," "The Nun's Priest's Tale" and "The Manciple's Tale." My theory is that Chaucer uses bird imagery and talking birds to question the sovereign power of the fourteenth-century …
Guillaume De Machaut: Musician And Poet, Sharon S. Pearcy
Guillaume De Machaut: Musician And Poet, Sharon S. Pearcy
Masters Theses
The life of Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300-1377) is examined in light of his loyalty to his king, patriotism toward his country, and his religious ties to the Catholic church. Each of these, as well as his affair in middle age with a young, nineteen year old girl named Peronnelle, shaped the life and work of Machaut. The rich legacy of Machaut's prolific output of poetry and music is documented from his personal involvement in its preservation. The fixed poetic forms, the formes fixes, found in his virelais, ballades, and rondeaux became a springboard of evolution under Machaut's creative talents. …
"That Gentil Text Kan I Wel Understonde": Textual Authority In Chaucer’S The Wife Of Bath’S Prologue, Emilie Roy
"That Gentil Text Kan I Wel Understonde": Textual Authority In Chaucer’S The Wife Of Bath’S Prologue, Emilie Roy
Masters Theses
It has become a critical commonplace to note that Chaucer created the character of the Wife of Bath out of an anti-feminist textual tradition that condemns just the kind of strong-voiced proto-feminist woman that she is. The anti-feminist tradition is deeply embedded in the western cultural framework. Established and perpetuated by a male clergy, it was an integral part of the institutionalized religious structure that controlled education, literacy, and thus access to texts of all kinds. The tradition assumed that woman—viewed as a collective entity—was portrayed as either a moral ideal or a wicked sinner, with little possibility for nuances …
Geoffrey Chaucer's House Of Fame: From Authority To Experience, Victoria Frantseva
Geoffrey Chaucer's House Of Fame: From Authority To Experience, Victoria Frantseva
Masters Theses
Geoffrey Chaucer's House of Fame is one of the most provocative dream-vision poems written in the fourteenth century. In many ways, it continues to present a serious problem of interpretation to students of medieval poetry. Many critics have tried to arrive at a singular cohesive theory explaining meaning and defining the genre of the House of Fame. However, these attempts have failed and the poem's enigma endures, probably for all time.
The House of Fame seems to elicit many different responses from its readers. While opinions of the poem may vary, the points of argument generally concern the following areas: …
Chaucer's Use Of The Absalom Archetype In The Knight's Tale And In The Miller's Tale, Sharon Hardin
Chaucer's Use Of The Absalom Archetype In The Knight's Tale And In The Miller's Tale, Sharon Hardin
Masters Theses
Although Chaucer did not write The Canterbury Tales until after the death of Edward III, Chaucer's youth was spent in the company (albeit on the fringes) of the war-like king and his war-like sons. Surely, as the young Chaucer performed his duties and perhaps read stories or listened to the gossip spread by servants and courtiers, such as the account of Edward's having ravished a defenseless woman, impressions formed in Chaucer's mind. Perhaps such rumors as that Edward's son Lancaster had designs on his father's throne added to and solidified those impressions into opinion, and a character type was born, …
An Analysis Of Personal Pronouns In Middle English Literary Texts, Melissa Jill Bennett
An Analysis Of Personal Pronouns In Middle English Literary Texts, Melissa Jill Bennett
Masters Theses
This thesis examines the evolution of personal pronouns from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries, with a particular focus upon the southern literary dialects of that era. The baseline text for this analysis is the Anglo-Saxon poem The Dream of the Rood, although Bright's paradigm of Anglo-Saxon pronouns is also employed. The Owl and the Nightingale (circa 1200), The Fox and the Wolf (circa 1275), Piers Plowman (circa 1375), and Parliament of Fowls (circa 1375) are used to illustrate the changes in the forms of the pronouns over four centuries, Chaucer's Parliament serving to represent the emerging London standard. …
Chaucer's "Nether Ye": A Study Of Chaucer's Use Of Scatology In The Canterbury Tales, Brook Wilson
Chaucer's "Nether Ye": A Study Of Chaucer's Use Of Scatology In The Canterbury Tales, Brook Wilson
Masters Theses
Chaucer's use of scatology throughout the Canterbury Tales offers a new frontier for Chaucerian research. To this date, no book-length work dealing exclusively with the scatological elements found in his works exists. Too often, the serious and artistic effects of scatology become lost in the great comedy the device generates. Furthermore, many readers and scholars seem to find themselves somewhat "squaymous" when confronted with the "nether ye" of Chaucer. While Chaucer employs scatology perhaps less frequently than Swift or Rabelais, his mastery of this device remains unquestionable.
Recognizing that the uses for scatology extend far beyond creating humor, Chaucer instead …
Expectations As Character Development In Chaucer's Clerk's Tale, Kevin Gorham
Expectations As Character Development In Chaucer's Clerk's Tale, Kevin Gorham
Masters Theses
The Clerk of Oxenford in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is often maligned for lacking development as a literary character. Frequently, the Clerk has been dismissed as a stereotype or an ideal rather than a multi-dimensional character. The Clerk's character, much like the meaning of his tale, is concealed from the reader and veiled behind expectations.
Chaucer manipulates readers by exploiting expectations associated with fourteenth century clerks. These expectations derive from historical and literary stereotypes which constitute the General Prologue portrait of the Clerk. Because Chaucer's description of the Clerk is populated with stereotypes, the reader expects the Clerk to tell a …
“What Thyng It Is That Wommen Moost Desiren”: Image And Self-Realization In The Wife Of Bath's Prologue And Tale, Thomas W. Köhn
“What Thyng It Is That Wommen Moost Desiren”: Image And Self-Realization In The Wife Of Bath's Prologue And Tale, Thomas W. Köhn
Masters Theses
The Wife of Bath is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating of the Canterbury pilgrims. At the same time she is one of those literary figures whose complex character constantly seems to elude the reader's judgement. Alisoun presents herself as a feminist advocating male subjection and female sovereignty in marriage, but her self-assertive behaviour cannot conceal an equally powerful longing for love and acceptance. Some critics therefore praise the psychological depth of the Wife's portrayal while others label her a stock character and join in the derisive laughter they believe her fellow pilgrims to bestow on her.
This thesis explores …
Instruction And Entertainment: Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale, Marco L. Bergandi
Instruction And Entertainment: Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale, Marco L. Bergandi
Masters Theses
The "Nun's Priest's Tale" is one of the most entertaining stories in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales--it is captivating, witty, and amusing--but it is also one of the most instructive in the entire collection. In fact, the Nun's Priest himself emphasizes the instructional purpose of his tale by telling his listeners "Taketh the moralite, goode men" (NPT 3440), advising them to look for the points he makes in his narration.
Although the Nun's Priest never explicitly states the "moralite" of his tale, many scholars have taken his advice seriously and searched for its instruction on their own. Approaching it from a …
The Acceptance And Rejection Of Courtly Love By The Lovers In Chaucer’S Troilus And Criseyde, Michael Jerome Baldwin
The Acceptance And Rejection Of Courtly Love By The Lovers In Chaucer’S Troilus And Criseyde, Michael Jerome Baldwin
Masters Theses
No abstract provided.
The Suicidal Nature Of Chivalry: A Study Of Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, Timothy A. Shonk
The Suicidal Nature Of Chivalry: A Study Of Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, Timothy A. Shonk
Masters Theses
No abstract provided.
Chaucer's Poetics And The Evolution Of The Narrator In Troilus And Criseyde, Judith I. Green
Chaucer's Poetics And The Evolution Of The Narrator In Troilus And Criseyde, Judith I. Green
Masters Theses
No abstract provided.
Applications Of The Halle-Keyser Theories Of Metrical Stress, Gary Forrester
Applications Of The Halle-Keyser Theories Of Metrical Stress, Gary Forrester
Masters Theses
No abstract provided.
The "Deor" Legends: Their Dissemination In Germanic Literature, Doris Larraine Mabry
The "Deor" Legends: Their Dissemination In Germanic Literature, Doris Larraine Mabry
Masters Theses
No abstract provided.