Chaucer and Boccaccio: Antiquity and Modernity

221 Pages·2002·1.45 MB·English

by  Robert R. Edwards

Chaucer and Boccaccio
Antiquity and Modernity
Robert R. Edwards
Chaucer and Boccaccio

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10.1057/9781403907240 - Chaucer and Boccaccio, Robert R. Edwards
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10.1057/9781403907240 - Chaucer and Boccaccio, Robert R. Edwards
Chaucer and Boccaccio

Antiquity and Modernity

Robert R. Edwards
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10.1057/9781403907240 - Chaucer and Boccaccio, Robert R. Edwards
Q Robert R. Edwards 2002
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
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No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
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the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
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issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court 08
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this 20
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil ct -
claims for damages. ne
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The author has asserted his right to be identified eC
as the author of this work in accordance with the av
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. algr
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First published 2002 by e -
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PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of bliot
St. Martin's Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and sbi
Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd). sitet
ISBN 0±333±97008±X ver
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This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and o U
made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. d t
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data en
EdwaCrdhsa,u Rcoebr earntd, 1B9o4c7ca±c cio: antiquity and modernity/by Robert R. Edwards. m - lic
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Incplu. dcmes.
bibliographical references and index.
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ISBN 0±333±97008±X
on
1. Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400ÐKnowledgeÐLiterature. 2. Boccaccio, ec
v
Giovanni, 1313±1375ÐAppreciationÐEngland. 3. Boccaccio, Giovanni, gra
1313-1375ÐInfluence. 4. Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400ÐSources. pal
5. English poetryÐItalian influences. 6. Aesthetics, Medieval. w.
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7. Aesthetics, Ancient. 8. Intertextuality. I. Title. w
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by C
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
10.1057/9781403907240 - Chaucer and Boccaccio, Robert R. Edwards
For Patrick Cheney
Scholar, critic, colleague, and friend
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10.1057/9781403907240 - Chaucer and Boccaccio, Robert R. Edwards
Contents

A Note on Texts and Abbreviations ix

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Preface x
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Introduction 1
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`Dayes olde': the shape of antiquity 1
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`Now-a-dayes': Chaucerian modernity 5
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Chaucer and Boccaccio 10
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1. `The strif of Thebes': Statius, Boccaccio, and Chaucer 17
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The Statian emblem and Dante's three poetic subjects 18
Tro
Boccaccio's Prelude 23
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Chaucerian revision 31
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2. The Twin Necessity of Troilus and Criseyde 44
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Historical determinism and historical alternatives 45
ersit
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Erotic determinism 55
Uni
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Escaping desire 62
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3. SThhoer `tc Soindfeu osifo Hunis toofr yg entil wemen': Antiquity and the
75
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Alternatives to empire: two African queens 77
ect.
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Courtly culture and `foul delyt' 85
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`Hire frendes alle': the patriarchal family and the political
ve
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order 94
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Coda: Christian antiquity 102
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4. The` H`Cahrleortlreise 'Taanled' athned pCoheatuiccse orifa enx Mchoadnegren ity 110047

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`Curious bisynesse' 116
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The Pardoner's `moral tale' 124
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10.1057/9781403907240 - Chaucer and Boccaccio, Robert R. Edwards
viii Contents
5. `The sclaundre of Walter': The Clerk's Tale and the

Problem of Hermeneutics 128

`Pia historia Griseidis' 130

Gualtieri's `matta bestialitaÁ' 135

Boccaccian multiplicity and Petrarchan closure 141

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6. Rewriting Menedon's Story: Decameron 10.5 and the
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Franklin's Tale 153
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SMoeunrceedso ann'sd s tinortyer texts 115564

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Reimagining the social sphere 158
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Threat, desire, and compact 161
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Deferral and the counterfactual 162
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The crisis of literalism 165
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New resolutions 169
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Notes 173
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Index 200
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10.1057/9781403907240 - Chaucer and Boccaccio, Robert R. Edwards
A Note on Texts and Abbreviations

Quotations from Chaucer will follow The Riverside Chaucer, 3rd edn, gen.
8
ed. Larry D. Benson (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987). Quotations from 0
3-
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Boccaccio will cite the texts in Tutte le opere di Giovanni Boccaccio, gen. 1-
1
ed. Vittore Branca, 12 vols. (Milan: Mondadori, 1964±83). Translations 20
from the Decameron are taken from G.H. McWilliam, trans., The Decam- ect -
n
eron (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972). Gower's Confessio Amantis will Con
be quoted from the text in The English Works of John Gower, ed. G.C. ave
Macaulay, 2 vols., EETS, e.s. 81±82 (London: Oxford University Press, algr
P
1900±1). John Lydgate's Troy Book is quoted from Lydgate's Troy Book, ed. e -
o
Henry Bergen, 4 vols., EETS, e.s. 97, 103, 106, and 126 (London: Kegan ms
o
LPyadugl,a tTer'se nSciehg,e Torfu ÈTbhneebre s&, eCdo. .A, x1e9l0 6E r±d3m5)a; nann da nhdi sE Silieergte Eokf wTahlel,b e2s vfroolsm., ket i Tr
e
EETS, e.s. 108 and 125 (London: Oxford University Press, 1911, 1930). bliot
The Roman de la rose is quoted from the edition by Daniel Poirion (Paris: sbi
et
Garnier-Flammarion, 1974); the translation cited is Charles Dahlberg, sit
er
trans., The Romance of the Rose (Princeton: Princeton University Press, niv
U
1971). Classical authors will be quoted from the texts and translations in o
the Loeb Classical Library. The work of Patristic writers and medieval ed t
s
n
commentators will be quoted from the digitized texts in CETEDOC. e
c
Commonly cited works and series will use the following abbreviations: m - li
o
c
ct.
Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaeualis CCCM ne
n
o
Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina CCSL ec
v
a
Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum CSEL algr
p
Early English Text Society EETS ww.
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Middle English Dictionary MED om
Oxford English Dictionary OED erial fr
SocieÂte des anciens textes francËais SATF mat
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10.1057/9781403907240 - Chaucer and Boccaccio, Robert R. Edwards