Although Robert Henryson was the major poet of late-fifteenth-century Scotland, his life is even more difficult to construct than the texts of his poems, which must rest on prints or manuscripts made ...
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In this essay, Noll questions previous assumptions that The Testament of Cresseid is based in Christian premises.
Most students of Robert Henryson's The Testament of Cresseid have argued or ...
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In this essay, Greentree examines the debate of the soul with the body in “The Paddock and the Mouse.”
The tale of “The Paddock and the Mouse,” the last in Henryson�...
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In the essay which follows, Boffey delineates some of the fifteenth-century conventions which are essential for a full appreciation of John Lydgate's Testament and Henryson's Testament o...
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In the following essay, Greentree and McKenna examine Henryson's “construction of his audience” in passages throughout the Moral Fables.
The words of the lion king in “T...
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In this essay, McKenna scrutinizes Henryson's structural treatment of tragic action and the sense of identity of the tragic figure.
Before dealing directly with the issue of the tragic figur...
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In the essay below, Stephenson suggests that the initial letters of lines 58-63 of The Testament of Cresseid intentionally form the acrostic “FICTIO,” alluding to an earlier source docum...
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In the following essay, Wheatley examines scholastic commentaries on fable collections available to Henryson that may have been influential in his composition of the Morall Fabillis.
I
Modern criti...
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In the following essay, Cox analyzes the narrator, the title character, and the theme of errancy in The Testament of Cresseid.
In the Testament of Cresseid, Henryson's treatment of Chaucer&#...
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In the essay below, Cole argues that the narrator plays a significant role in The Testament of Cresseid as he, like Cresseid, seeks personal fulfillment in sexual gratification.
Robert Henryson�...
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In this essay, Riddy compares The Testament of Cresseid with the anonymous painting “Les Amants trépassés,” and analyzes the symbolism and imagery of both works.
In the ...
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In the following essay, Marlin discusses the Henryson's intent in Orpheus and Erudices to both elicit an affective response from his reader and to supply a moral exegesis of the poem.
Relati...
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In the essay that follows, Fox examines the context and structure of Henryson's lesser-known “Sum Practysis of Medecyne.”
On folios 141v-2v of the Bannatyne MS, which was compl...
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In the essay below, Henderson examines the Henryson's equally fresh and inventive animal fable plots and their attendant moralization.
Fable and moral; entertainment and teaching. That dicho...
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In the following essay, Johnson examines Henryson's skillful synthesis of source materials with his own creative art in his Orpheus and Eurydice.
It seems fruitful for modern scholars intere...
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In the following essay, Hallett analyzes the structure of “The Annunciation” and asserts that it is Henryson's personal examination of divine love in the form of poetry.
Though...
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In the essay that follows, von Kreisler discusses the dream setting of “The Lyoun and the Mous” and also comments on the political context of the fable.
Among the thirteen lively narr...
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In the following essay, Gray provides a comprehensive overview of Henryson's numerous shorter poems.
The shorter poems attributed to Henryson are not as well known as they deserve to be.1 Th...
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In the essay below, Kindrick comments on the influence of Henryson's poetry on literary tradition and subsequent British authors.
Henryson's accomplishment and his importance for Midd...
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In the following essay, Schweitzer examines the moral facets of “The Bludy Serk,” maintaining that the work exemplifies Henryson's poetic style.
“The Bludy Serk” ...
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In this essay, Fox investigates the prominent parallels between Henryson's Fables, the Testament of Cresseid, and Orpheus and Eurydice.
Henryson's three major works, the Fables, the T...
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In the following essay, Gopen suggests that the true gravity and cynicism of the Fables can only be appreciated through the structure of the poetry.
I. the Seriousness of the Moral Fables
The Moral...
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Robert Henryson
Critical Essay by Dolores L. Noll
