Chaucer's Use of Rheoric in the "General Prologue" and Linkages of The Canterbury Tales
Graduation Date
Spring 1970
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program Name
Humanities
Abstract
The intent of this study is to discuss rhetoric in relation to the "General Prologue" and headlinks of the Canterbury Tales, and, by applying medieval rhetorical tradition to the "General Prologue," to question the long held view that the "Prologue" is without model or antecedent in tradition, that it is a triumph of realism over artifice No less a Chaucerian scholar than Fred M. Robinson has said that "for the Prologue, as for the general device of the Canterbury pilgrimage, no real model has been found";4 and John Livingston Lowes maintained that "there has never before been the like of that singularly modern thing — to use our most complacent term of approbation — the Prologue."
In discussing rhetoric in relation to the "General Prologue" and linkages this study will in particular focus on the following questions: What was the tradition of rhetoric in Chaucer's time? How can tradition be related to the "General Prologue" and headlinks? What is the function of rhetoric in the artistry of these sections of the work? Was it used fortuitously or advisedly? Expanded understanding of the late fourteenth century, of its literary traditions„ and of the function of rhetoric in composition, combined, will, I hope, throw light on Chaucer's technique.