Background
Frank, Robert Worth was born on April 8, 1914 in Logansport, Indiana, United States. Son of Robert Worth and Grace Alice (Haun) Frank.
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Chaucer and The Legend of Good Women
( Designed to fill a gap in Chaucerian studies, this boo...)
Designed to fill a gap in Chaucerian studies, this book offers new insight into the development of Chaucer's artistry at a critical point in his career, after he had completed the Troilus and just before he embarked on The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer and "The Legend of Good Women" rejects the usual critical assessment of the Legend, setting it forth instead as a serious and experimental work, an important and necessary prelude to the achievement of The Canterbury Tales. Robert Worth Frank, Jr., begins his analysis of the Legend with a careful consideration of Chaucer's situation in 1386, the year he presumably began the Legend. It was, he suggests, a moment in his career propitious for change--change in subject and in art as well. The Legend reveals this change in the process of its accomplishment. Frank stresses that the road to The Canterbury Tales runs through the Legend. In tracing the route he shows how Chaucer broke away from the limited tradition of courtly love and experimented with a variety of tones and styles and an expanded range of subject matter, with a new verse form, the pentameter couplet, and with new techniques of compression which led to a greater dedication to the short narrative form. The individual legends, though not Chaucer's greatest creations, have merits of their own. The general uniformity of theme proves misleading. The legends provide Chaucer with a broader canvas than he had ever used before, making possible a wide variety in tone and dramatic incident. Above all, this study, enlivened by the author's supple and spirited prose, depicts Chaucer boldly committing himself to the great world of story and thereby drawing on some of the most enduring classical myths for material and moving toward a new art and a new and richer realm of human experience.
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- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 26, Number 1, 2, 3, 4.
- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 33, Number 1, 2, 3, 4.
- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 24, Number 1, 2, 3, 4.
- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 32, Number 1, 2, 3, 4.
- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 37, Number 1, 2, 4.
- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 27, Number 1, 2, 4.
Robert Worth Frank
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Robert Worth Frank, American English language educator. Fellow American Council Learned Socs., 1951-1952, 60-61, Fund Advancement Education, 1955-1956, Guggenheim Foundation, 1970-1971, associate fellow Clare Hall, Cambridge (England) University, 1971, 76, visiting fellow, 1972-1973. Member Mediaeval Academy American, Modern Language Association, New Chaucer Society (trustee 1980-1984, president 1986-1988).
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Wabash (Indiana) College, 1934; Master of Arts, Columbia University, 1939; Doctor of Philosophy, Yale University, 1948; Doctor of Letters in Humanities (honorary), Wabash College, 1997.
Career
Instructor English, Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, 1937-1939; Instructor English, U. Rochester (New York), 1940-1942; Instructor English, Princeton University, 1942-1944; Instructor English, Northwestern University, 1944-1948; assistant professor, then associate professor, Illinois Institute Technology, 1948-1958; Professor of English, Pennsylvania State University, 1958-1979; head department, Pennsylvania State University, 1975-1979; emeritus, Pennsylvania State University, since 1979; O'Connor professor literature, Colgate University, 1980, 85. Charles Rahter Memorial lecturer, Susquehanna U., 1977, 91.
Achievements
Works
book
-
Chaucer and The Legend of Good Women
( Designed to fill a gap in Chaucerian studies, this boo...)
- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 26, Number 1, 2, 3, 4.
- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 33, Number 1, 2, 3, 4.
- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 24, Number 1, 2, 3, 4.
- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 32, Number 1, 2, 3, 4.
- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 37, Number 1, 2, 4.
- The Chaucer Review: A Journal of Medieval Studies and Literary Criticism. Volume 27, Number 1, 2, 4.
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Chaucer and The Legend of Good Women
Membership
Member Mediaeval Academy American, Modern Language Association, New Chaucer Society (trustee 1980-1984, president 1986-1988).
Connections
Married Gladys Martine Loeb, May 11, 1940 (deceased March 1994). Children: Thaisa, Elizabeth Annual.
Awards
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Fellow American Council Learned Socs., 1951-1952, 60-61, Fund Advancement Education, 1955-1956, Guggenheim Foundation, 1970-1971, associate fellow Clare Hall, Cambridge (England) University, 1971, 76, visiting fellow, 1972-1973.Fellow American Council Learned Socs., 1951-1952, 60-61, Fund Advancement Education, 1955-1956, Guggenheim Foundation, 1970-1971, associate fellow Clare Hall, Cambridge (England) University, 1971, 76, visiting fellow, 1972-1973.