Chaucer critics Flashcards
John Burrow on Irony: “The reader …
“The reader is forced to visualise … to grasp its human reality.”
John Burrow on Irony: “The ironic contrast …
“The ironic contrast between the dream and the reality, the self-centred insecure ‘heigh fantasye’ of the old knight and the predictable course of his marriage”
John Burrow on Irony: “He turns proverbial …
“He turns proverbial and biblical lore inside out”
Hebrom on Marriage: “Genesis …
Genesis creation suggests “marriage is chiefly for procreation”
The Wife of Bath on Marriage
“to speke of wo that is in mariage”
Hebrom on Marriage: “Church fathers …
Church fathers “established a negative portrayal of women in marriage that had a wide influence”
Barthard-Smith on deception: “[the merchant] draws …
“[the merchant] draws attention to that universal trait of women: their ability to deceive”
Barthard-Smith on deception: “The tale relies …
“The tale relies heavily on the tradition of bawdy Fabliau, in which deception is a principle theme”
Barthard-Smith on deception: “[Januarie’s] self-deception …
“[Janaury’s] self-deception lessens our sympathy towards him”
Jane Barthard-Smith on deception: “The motif of …
“The motif of a deceitful woman is familiar and Chaucer’s enjoyment and exploitation of it is wonderful entertainment”
Holman on Courtly Love: “The people are …
“the people are a collection of lost souls who would destroy any institution no matter how excellent.”
Holman on Courtly Love: “the older subjects …
“the older subjects [of courtly love] are not abandoned; they have merely been altered.”
Holman on Courtly Love: “The employment he …
“The employment he gave courtly love convention in the Merchant’s tale indicates a criticism of or some distaste for courtly love”
Holman on Courtly Love: “This is rich …
“this is rich poetry of the finest order, and yet it serves to illuminate a dark, cynical and unlovely tale.”
Holman on Courtly Love: “Januarie is a …
“January is a perversion of marriage, whose motives are sensual and who converts what his era considered a venial sin into a deadly one”
Holman on Courtly Love: “Those who make … rests on illusion”
“Those who make of marriage something noble and splendid achieve enviable happiness, while those who seek pleasure in the pattern of lust or of courtly love finally achieve a will-o-the-wisp, a false felicity that rests on illusion”
