Analyzes Grendel ("Beowulf"), the Green Knight ("Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"), and the Pardoner ("The Canterbury Tales"). Notes that they are all "queer" characters in that they are not typical men of the time and they all pose a challenge or threat to normative homosocial desire. Suggests that…

Analyzes the realistic characterization and plot construction of an anonymously written medieval French play. The play, which relates the story of Christ's resurrection, achieves historical realism by replacing music and chant with dialogue, using a logical plot, and limiting historical anachronism. (AV)

Discusses the lack of consistent accuracy about historical figures in Chaucer's "Monk's Tale." The story of Nero fishing in the Tiber with golden nets is corroborated by many other ancient and medieval authors; however, the reference to Julius Caesar as being of lowly birth is peculiar only to Chaucer and a few medieval English authors.…

Article by Mrs. Lida de Malkiel published posthumously by her husband, Yakov Malkiel. (DS)

Study supported by a travel grant from the American Philosophical Society. (DS)

Women's roles and their impact on the Hispanos' historical past are examined. Three powerful cultural forces which through the centuries have shaped and conditioned women's lives in Iberian societies are considered: "donjuanismo,""marianismo," and the strong Iberian tradition of courtly, romantic love. (NQ)