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Hearing, smelling, savoring, and touching in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Titsworth, Elizabeth, 1924- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 04/10/2021 03:49:41 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/319099 IH GHAUGER0 S GA1EERBURY TMXE S ??/ / ' f S O . TABLE ©F TENTS CHAPSE ABBREVIATIONS ©F' THE ' IBXTINBS . :@F m o o o o o o o .o. • O t 0 O O O O © O .0 %' O O • © O.Q o o Hisi ©f: the' Br©ibl©m » oj-t'o . © 0 o 1 ' v i Pf-eeedtaF® Of the th@;sls • O O O O O O 0 o o o o II, ANALYSIS OF THE, SEISES HEAR IIS, S$ELLDT&9 V IN THE OANTERB’BRT TALES © O 0 o © O • O 0 o © o o o o o © •© © o o o © C O 0 0 O O' O O O O O © O O o o o o © ,g@, s tyle p. me ter 9 and eytdene® of Chameer0s ear for the rythms ©f other jy b © o o o o © e o o o o o o o © o ,o o © © The .speaking wiee 0 0 © © © ©. © © © © © © © The s l$3g Ing ^©lee © © © © © © © © © © © © © 18 ■ © , o o o 0 o 6 o © 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 o O © o o © o o o © o o © o 0 6 0 o © . oSighii Laughing O O O o 0 0 O O © O © O o O O 6 O O o Ihisperimgp groaningand ether miseellaneous TOeal sounds o o © 6 0 o O O 0 6 O O O O O O >l@dy ®f instruments © © © © © '© © © © © © © © O O O O 0 O O © O o o o • o V , ii m m m w y;:.:.-':': ^ : ^ V-vVi^^ ' ;, : -;. pm#:'; • , . -,■ Smellimg. - o o o o ^ & © © 6 © © © •© • © © ©, © © © ^3- ••■* •' - . •' S ^3^ ^.2? Se'Mg; © © 'O'.'■’/]&*■ ©: •' O’’ ' < 0 ‘ >0 . O • . © ■ © O ©; ' i© 9 ' © © © © '^ 3 ; © . © „ o © p o , © 0 o o 6 o o o o © © © o / ^ :o' © © : ' §8- IV© 6^ o O OOP OOP © o 0 0 .0 © © 64 BiBLI SG*R iffHY 6 6 6 O . O '■ © >0 ©'© o O 0 O O 0 - Q o o o o © SS ,ABB^WBI3E Q o O © 0 0 0 ;© O, . © 0 ' O O O O O O O o o 0 o o 0V 111 ABBREVIATIONS ,0P THE. CANTERBURY TALES OkProl The Cook's Prologue’’ CkT The Cook's Tale . C lProl ’ -The, GTehk' s Prologue ;' : ' . C IT ’ / The: C lerk' s Tale ; , . ■ / CT The Canterbury Tales CYProl The Canon’s Yeoman' s Prologue CYT v'.; : The p an on Is’ Yeoman' s'T^Te - PranklProl The franklin's Prologue FrankIT The Franklin's Tale FrProl ’ . The Friar's Prologue FrT The Friar's Tale , . v; t CenProl The’'.General Prologue’ • ■ HF . The Rouse of Fame V’ '1 - EnT _ The Knight's Tale y /.%, /LCW: x.; . x.,v:; ; The : Eiegend. of •Cop.d; Women • • . ' 'EahoProI ’ . The Sanclple®s Prologue ' ManoT v The Mancl'plel-s Tale :MeiProl • .The Prologue: of Mellbee Me IT •’ . The Talej of 'MeTlbee I’^:, ' , ' ; ilerehProi The .Merchant' s Prologue, ’ MerchT ' .• ■ The MeUehaU'ts''SlT’aie - MllTPhol ' The’Miller's Prologue . ■’ . : The Miller's Tale . MkProl..: The Monk' s .■prologue ' '• MkT . ' The Monk* s Tale ’ , .MISpi Epilogue.to Man of Law's Tale MLInt ’ ■ v-Man:I;of' Law'e, introduction:.-' /• MLPrd 1 ■■ Man of • Law .' S' Pro logue . • 1LT ■ ; Man of Lhw' s Tale " •’ NPProl, ■. , ■■ The ■ Nun ' s Priest's Prologue NPT .: ’’ : T W N u n ' s, Priest' e Tale:: ■ / • ; PardPrbl >. .!> , ; The Pardoner's Prologue PardT . ‘ The Pardoner's Tale P : Pars.Prol . -V • , The Parson's .Prologue , . ParsT ’ The . Pare on ' s: Tale:. ’ ■•;, PhT ;•'., '■ The Physician's Tale' Print • The Prioress*, introduction ■ PrProl • . The Prioress * Prologue . ' . : PrT, \ ;; % ,: The'% Pribre ss'. Tale ,' . R v P r o l '. The Reeve's Prologue' P RvT ■ The • Re e ve * s T ale P. : . SNProl .I: „ ' The). Second NUn' s' ProiogU® SNT .. '■■■ The* Seoond Nun *e TalS'P p iy SliT ... The Shipman$ s Tale SqProl : .The Squire5 s Prologue , SqT ' . .. The Squire’s Tale •/ . STProl . - The Prologue of'Sir Thopas■ STT • ; - . ■ Sir Thopas« Tale . .SumProl ' The -Summoner8 s Pro logue , SumT :The: Summonerls 'Tale ' „ ; $BProl " ' 'The "Wife'of Bath’ s Prologue WBT ' - The Wife of:Bath’s Tale : CHAPTER I ' ‘ ' - INTRODTJCTIOPT ■ ’ ; ' ' ; 'c'" '/ Ghaycer ^scholar's' have long recognized the poet E s \ keen sense of observation and have„ commented nppn the 'v poet’s ability to. transfer his,visual images to -his.writing* Artieies and theses and chapters of books have been devoted to analyzing and interpreting his imagery and .conscions ; ■ . : eff ort has been exercised to rebhild medieval pictnres from '' ''/'-'y, hid descriptive detail. Since so mnch research has been ,, done and so many stpdies have been made concerning Chancer* si /iqnnsnal sensitiveness to his surrounding's, it is surprising :: that so little attention has been given to his sensitiveness d y in the remaining four: senses, hearing, smelling, ■savoring, ■ and tpnching. 'V v ’ig v,. :i' ' ; . , g'-. : . : g;dg:g;:l:"■ . : . ■ I. HISTORY OF THE PROBLEM ; g: i ;g Hb comprehensive paper has been/written to affirm or to disaffirm Chaucer’s inte rest gin ’ the se senses or his ■ gg accuraey in defining themsd. However, In discussion of Chancer’s particular genius as a story teller, numerous . scholars. have rapeatedly mentioned his' life-like charac- :■ : ; ' :'yi'-i tens and his realistic:;settingsg Marchette..Chute, calls. ' . ■ 2 the Wife of Bath "a living breathing woman1’^ and con eludes that “anyone who meets her can hear the tones of her voice and recognize the turns of her mindci!2 Miss Ohute seems tb feel that Chaucer has been able to convey a sense of sound, even to the tone of the voice, in his portrayal, of the Wife of Baths Patch, Cowling, French, and others have indicated,their admiration of Chaucer8s style, a style that enables the reader to interpret - the different charac ters8 speaking voices* Percy van Dyke Shelly says of Alan and John: . ' . .Their speech throughout has the vigor and tang of youth and the hearty cheer of country folk.3 At■another time he refers to “the oily tongue of the friar,“4 Hr, Lpwes points out in his book Geoffrey Chaucer and the Development of His Genius some of the delicate handlings of conversation reflecting Chaucer8s “good ear.” He men tions that the Host changes tone fitly to address particular pilgrims, that, for example^ he is courteous to the clerk of Oxford; and he detects a note of malicious triumph in the Reeve8 s voice as he closes the tale of the Miller and 1 Marchette Chute, Geoffrey Chaucer of England, P o 276 o ■ , ' . o " ■■ " V, ■ :■ ■ ' " : Op, cit. • ' ' . ' 5 Percy van Dyke Shelly^ The. Living Chau Per, p. 249, 4 Ibid,, p. 253 breaks'' out Into a - pra^rer for all the company o'3 Robert Root, . agreeing w.ith M r » Lowes adds th.at: the Host also speaks courteonsly t o ;'the;. Mopk|; and he remarks, further ' that : 1 ■': ' / . The Host, a complete tavern-keeper, knows, not: only '/. the deference to be paid men of rank, but also the y ' , -: more ;de licate diplomacy pf "dealing with . a ,drumken ''man ,. ^; :,. ;;.p •; . In. studies of Chaucer's meter and language certain technical points concerning.one,or more of these four senses .. have been illuminated^, 'Pietche'r'y'Gbllins, Jr« mentions that when Chaucer writes ,of Absolon8s visiting taverns with ■ ' ; ■ "solas" (MillT 3555), the word "solas" is not .used in h its usual sense of "pleasure, solace .!i but is likely to ' • , have some musical,significance.' Mr, Collins suggests that it refers to the notes of the hexachord, which were known ' -by.'the syllables "ah, re, mi, fa, sol, la" and that ' 'p:#:'y - Chaucer5 s' word is-' derived from the last two of these.. The 1 ine.;, wouId me an f: the ref ore:,' that "he did no t y isi t ^ wi th ; his.:1 ; singing,' his" so 1-1 as." In Henry'Barrett Hinkley«s Notes on Chaucer there is. a clarification of 'the• word..".sownynge" ' as used in line .307». The phrase 11 sownynge in moral v'ertu" :. • 5 John’ Livingston Lowes, Geoffrey Chaucer and' the 1 , Development of His Genius , pp. 09-9% 0 . : ':.i Robert Kilburn Root, The Poetry' of'Chaucerp a • . Guide , to Its '■ Study yahdi Appre p :,0y l W » " ■: y; “ ; ;vv' ‘ . i';, ''' . ' ^ '' .. - ,8 Fletcher Collins,/Jr., "'Solas! in the Miller's.,. ■ /Tale,d W d e f n '' Language, :Hofesy: pt , . ;P- . '"■/".;/' . //' -v. is trans 1 at9 6 : ''making: .$qr ^ sne8 s ,"9 10 rn another section of the book, Mr. Hinckley states that "raoyste” refers to the stppleness 'of new leather father, than to the presefice of moisture^ and this definition might indicate Ohancer8 s sensitiveness'to toncho . ‘ . Brief discussioris of snb jects pertaining to . "herynge, smel lyhge j, savo rynge, and tonchynge „" (ParsT 206.) or re - ' lating ' tb: tlieSe snh jects have :'&'bcurred/in;. Chancer studies, hut as yet there has been no attempt to collect Chaucer^s references to these senses or his descriptions of them® : ;Theref orPV thio; paper v-lntends-, to search the text. of the, } ' Canterbury Tales for the purpose, of, . ascertaining Chaucer* s. alertness in these senses and the amount of interest he had in them as indicated by his' aotu'al 'descriptions in .