Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales: A Short Introduction (Wiley Blackwell Introductions to Literature) - Softcover

Hirsh, John C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0631225625 ISBN 13: 9780631225621

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2002

Synopsis

This concise and lively survey introduces students with no prior knowledge to Chaucer, and particularly to The Canterbury Tales. Provides essential facts about Chaucer, as well as a framework for thinking about his poetry. Encourages an engaged reading of The Canterbury Tales. Introduces students to the historical and religious background needed to understand the contexts in which Chaucer wrote.

• Provides essential facts about Chaucer, as well as a framework for thinking about his poetry.
• Encourages an engaged reading of The Canterbury Tales.
• Introduces students to the historical and religious background needed to understand the contexts in which Chaucer wrote.

About this title

About the Author

John C. Hirsh is Professor of English at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. His previous publications include The Boundaries of Faith: The Development and Transmission of Medieval Spirituality (1996), The Revelations of Margery Kempe: Paramystical Practices in Late Medieval England (1989) and Hope Emily Allen: Medieval Scholarship and Feminism (1988). He has also edited ‘Barlam and Iosaphat’ (1986) for the Early English Text Society.

From the Back Cover

Students with little or no prior knowledge of Chaucer, the Canterbury Tales, or the world in which they were produced, will welcome this lively and concise introduction. Not only does it paint a portrait of the poet against the background of his time, it also considers the major preoccupations of the tales, and provides students with a critical framework for thinking creatively about them.

The author inspires students to engage with the tales from a variety of perspectives, setting traditional ways of reading them against other newer approaches. Avoiding the tale-by-tale analysis and focus on individual pilgrims common to old-fashioned introductions, he encourages students instead to consider readings which compare and contrast the tales, emphasizing socially constructed analyses.

The book provides the ideal aid to understanding and appreciating Geoffrey Chaucer and his works.

The author inspires students to engage with the tales from a variety of perspectives, setting traditional ways of reading them against other newer approaches. Avoiding the tale-by-tale analysis and focus on individual pilgrims common to old-fashioned introductions, he encourages students instead to consider readings which compare and contrast the tales, emphasizing socially constructed analyses.

The book provides the ideal aid to understanding and appreciating Geoffrey Chaucer and his works.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0631225625
• ISBN 13: 9780631225621
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 190