A Concise Companion to Chaucer - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 140511388X ISBN 13: 9781405113885

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2006

Synopsis

This concise companion provides a succinct introduction to Chaucer's major works, the contexts in which he wrote, and to medieval thought more generally.

• Opens with a general introductory section discussing London life and politics, books and authority, manuscripts and readers.
• Subsequent sections focus on Chaucer’s major works – the dream visions, Troilus and Criseyde and The Canterbury Tales.
• Essays highlight the key religious, political and intellectual contexts for each major work.
• Also covers important general topics, including: medieval literary genres; dream theory; the Church; gender and sexuality; and reading Chaucer aloud.
• Designed so that each contextual essay can be read alongside one of Chaucer’s major works.

About this title

About the Author

Corinne Saunders is Reader in Medieval Literature at the University of Durham. Her previous publications include The Forest of Medieval Romance (1993), Rape and Ravishment in the Literature of Medieval England (2001), Chaucer (2001) in the Blackwell Guides to Criticism series, and A Companion to Romance: From Classical to Contemporary (Blackwell Publishing, 2004).

From the Back Cover

This Concise Companion provides a succinct introduction to Chaucer’s major works, the contexts in which he wrote, and to medieval thought more generally.

The bookopens with a general introductory section, discussing London life and politics, books and authority, manuscripts and readers. Subsequent sections focus on the dream visions, Troilus and Criseyde and the Canterbury Tales respectively, and illuminate key religious, political and intellectual contexts. These sections treating Chaucer’s major works also cover significant general topics, including medieval literary genres; dream theory; the Church; love, marriage and the family; gender and sexuality; Chaucer’s literary inheritance and influence; and reading Chaucer aloud. Contributors combine contemporary historical and cultural scholarship with recent critical emphases.

A Concise Companion to Chaucer is designed so that students can read the appropriate contextual essays alongside each of Chaucer’s major works. Although the focus is on context, the essays also engage directly with Chaucer’s texts.

The bookopens with a general introductory section, discussing London life and politics, books and authority, manuscripts and readers. Subsequent sections focus on the dream visions, Troilus and Criseyde and the Canterbury Tales respectively, and illuminate key religious, political and intellectual contexts. These sections treating Chaucer’s major works also cover significant general topics, including medieval literary genres; dream theory; the Church; love, marriage and the family; gender and sexuality; Chaucer’s literary inheritance and influence; and reading Chaucer aloud. Contributors combine contemporary historical and cultural scholarship with recent critical emphases.

A Concise Companion to Chaucer is designed so that students can read the appropriate contextual essays alongside each of Chaucer’s major works. Although the focus is on context, the essays also engage directly with Chaucer’s texts.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 140511388X
• ISBN 13: 9781405113885
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 292
• Editor: Saunders Corinne