Sources Flashcards
Man of Law’s
Nicholas Trivet’s “Les Chronicles”; also appears in John Gower’s “Confessio Amantis”; also belongs to tradition of EXILED QUEENS; the Breton Lai “Èmare”
Wife of Bath’s Prologue
Long monologue of La Vieille in the “Roman de la rose”; long tradition of bawdy older women; St. Jerome’s “Treatise adversus Joviniamum”; Theophrastus’ “Golden Book of Marriage’
Wife of Bath’s Tale
Widespread theme of “loathly lady”; John Gower’s “Tale of Florent” is very similar- shared source?; Ovid’s TALE OF MIDAS; Dante’s “Convivio”
Friar’s
Based on widespread story of the damnation of an unpopular official; Caesarius of Heisterbach’s “Dialogue on Miracles”; widespread motif of the “heartfelt curse”
Summoner’s
No known exact literary sources
What can the joke in the Prologue of the Summoner’s be compared to?
The Friars in Heaven- this is a blasphemous perversion of a story popular among friars at the time
Clerk’s
Petrarch’s adaptation of the last tale in Boccaccio’s “Decameron” & on a French version of Petrarch’s work; a folk tale of the Cupid and Psyche type, first told by Apuleius
Merchant’s
No known exact literary sources- but the ‘Pear Tree’ story is a widely known tale that could have come to Chaucer in many forms
What does The Merchant’s quote almost as much as The Wife of Bath’s Prologue?
St. Jerome’s “Adversus Joviniamum’
What are the similarities between The Merchant’s and Le Roman de la Rose?
Merchant’s account of his own unhappy marriage and the discussion of marriage in the latter
What is often compared to The Merchant’s, although they don’t actually have that much in common?
“A Rich Man and his Wife” from an early Italian collection, the Novellino; Boccaccio’s more elaborate version of this in the “Decameron”
Squire’s
No known exact literary sources- but Chaucer apparently drew on contemporary travel literature
What is the episode of the falcon and the tercelet in The Squire’s Tale similar to?
Part of “Anelida and Arcite”, an early work of Chaucer’s
Franklin’s
Boccaccio’s “FILOCOLO” and “DECAMERON” (w “DECAMERON”, they shared a common French source); Geoffrey of Monmouth’s “Histories of the Kings of Britain”; St. Jerome’s “Adversus Joviniamum”; an exemplum told by the “Goodman of Paris”; Book of the Knight of LaTour Landry
Which of the other tales does The Franklin’s draw on?
Merchant’s
Physician’s
Roman history of TITUS LIVIUS; Gower’s “Confessio Amantis”; Le Roman de la Rose; biblical story of JEPHTHA
Pardoner’s
Le Roman de la Rose- the confession of Fals-Semblant; Boccaccio’s “Decameron”; two Italian novelle; tale of the three rioters is widespread in world literature
Shipman’s
A similar story can be found in Boccaccio’s “Decameron”, but it’s a retelling of a common folk tale: ‘The Lover’s Gift Regained’
Prioress’s
Popular story at time, surviving in a number of versions
Sir Thopas
Hardly a line is without its parallel in surviving romances- but no direct source
The Tale of Melibee
Renaud de Louens French translation (“Livre de Melibée et de Dame Prudence”) of Albertanus of Brescia’s “Liber consolationi et consilii”; some of the same authorities cited in Wife of Bath’s Prologue
Monk’s
Chaucer’s subtitle refers to Boccaccio’s “De casibus virorum illustrium”; Boccaccio’s “De claris mulieribus”; LE ROMAN DE LA ROSE; Bible; Dante; Latin histories; general hearsay
Nun’s Priest’s
“Del cok e del gupil” (“The Cock and the Fox”) by Marie de France; Roman de Renart
Second Nun’s
“Golden Legend (Legenda aurea)” of Jacob of Genoa/Jacobus de Voraigne, though he also knew some other Latin versions of THE LIFE; Dante’s “Divine Comedy”
