The Chaucer Review: An Indexed Bibliography (Vols. 1-30)

Kendrick, Laura. "The Troilus Frontispiece and the Dramatization of Chaucer's Troilus." 22 (1987): 81-93.
The frontispiece of Troilus and Criseyde represents a reader, possibly Chaucer, delivering Troilus and Criseyde orally while two actors perform the text in front of a puy, a group of men created to help others, whether members of the group or not. Often these societies were dedicated to serving Christ or the Virgin Mary. Other works written for puys are highly allegorical, as are many elements of the frontispiece.

Koban, Charles. "Hearing Chaucer Out: The Art of Persuasion in the Wife of Bath's Tale." 5 (1971): 225-39.
In oral delivery, Chaucer found a way to contemplate human difficulties and to educate his audience. In addition to plot, exemplary materials not integrally related to the plot indicate that Chaucer intended his audience to think about larger issues. In addition, precise statements of thought indicate "controlling ideas or problems" (227). Readers may see the Canterbury Tales in blocks that develop larger themes. By examining the Pardoner's Tale, we discover the oral method that Chaucer probably used. The Wife of Bath's Tale demonstrates how Chaucer combines plot, thought, and examples to persuade his audience. Chaucer organizes these materials in a way that indicates an oral delivery as opposed to a written one. He also focuses on the relations between men and women (human problem) instead of the comic elements. Such a focus also makes readers ignore the question of whether or not the teller fits the tale. When examined structurally, the materials which present models to the audience slow the progress of the plot, thus allowing readers/ hearers to think about the greater human problems presented. The young knight's quest, then, becomes the individual's search for purpose, dignity, and self-determination.