Oxford Guides To Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales - Softcover

Cooper, Helen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198711557 ISBN 13: 9780198711551

Publisher: Oxford University Press, U.S.A., 1996

Synopsis

Since its first publication in 1989, Helen Cooper's guide to The Canterbury Tales has established itself as the standard work on the poem. This second edition continues to offer the most comprehensive scrutiny of the Tales both as a whole and individually. In addition, Cooper incorporates the most significant recent scholarship and criticism, reflecting current research in the areas of Chaucer's historical and social context and developments in the interpretation of Chaucer's presentation of women.

About this title

Product Description:

This handbook has been written with the purpose of both summarizing what is known about Chaucer's work, and offering interpretations based on recent advances in both historical knowledge and theoretical understanding. It includes a survey of literary responses to the 'Tales' over the centuries.

Review:

`Cooper's guide is a more powerful book than any previous aid or introduction to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It presents the lively and generous mind of a serious scholar and a sensitive reader.' Notes and Queries

`a substantial work by a single author, with something of the proportions and production quality of a reference volume ... This is a major book with many virtues ... a book with much to offer its reader' J D Burnley, Review of English Studies

`The first volume of a project three ... is marked by wit, learning, intelligence, and that rarest of critical virtues, good judgement. She has produced a genuine guide whose abundant information and good sense make it a sure foundation for serious work on The Canterbury Tales. Although especially useful for those, on any level, studying Chaucer for the first time, experienced Chaucerians will find it a helpful companion to The Riverside Chaucer. For teaching or research this is now the first book on The Canterbury Tales to consult after reading the text itself.' C. David Benson, Studies in the Age of Chaucer (US journal)

`The sharpness, conciseness, and up-to-date information very good for students who need fairly quick insights and stimulus.'Sarah Carpenter, Lecturer, Department of English, University of Edinburgh

'Teachers preparing for lectures or tutorials and students preparing for exams will turn to Helen Cooper's guide because it critically assimilates so much information in an economical and readable style. Cooper clearly aims to offer sound criticism, and she does. Cooper's guide is a more powerful book than any previous aid or introduction to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It presents the lively and generous mind of a serious scholar and a sensitive reader.' Charlotte Morse, Virginia Commonwealth University, Notes and Queries, June 1991

'a sure-footed guide through very difficult scholarly terrain ... Dr Cooper's volume sets a dauntingly high standard for the execution of the aims of the series. Indeed, it is so good that I often feel that it should be kept out of the hands of my students since it makes otiose much of what I might say to them and says a great deal that it had never occurred to me to say. It is a well written and reliable guide through a mass of material that largely transcends the limitations of its form to offer critical analysis of lasting value.'A.S.G. Edwards, University of Victoria, Archiv für das Stadium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen, 229. Band 144. Hargang 1. Halbjahresband 1992

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, U.S.A.
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0198711557
• ISBN 13: 9780198711551
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 456