Chaucer's Canterbury Comedies: Origins and Originality - Softcover

Peter G. Beidler

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1603810757 ISBN 13: 9781603810753

Publisher: Coffeetown Press, 2011

Synopsis

The written and spoken voice of Peter G. Beidler is well-known to scholars interested in Geoffrey Chaucer's comic tales. In this gathering of essays old and new, Beidler articulates his views on the literary relationships of Chaucer's most widely-read and often-taught tales-those of the Miller, the Wife of Bath, the Shipman, the Merchant, and the Pardoner. He discusses in clear language not only the most likely sources for these tales-their origins-but also the many changes Chaucer made in transforming them in accordance with his own purposes-their originality. He explicates key passages to show what a deliberate literary artist Chaucer was. The Foreword by Holly A. Crocker will help readers connect the strands that unify Beidler's approach to the bawdy/body tales he discusses in Chaucer's Canterbury Comedies.

About this title

Review:

"Reading through these pages is a profound reminder of the importance of Beidler's intelligent, learned voice to contemporary Chaucer and Gower studies, as well as a full immersion in the joy of the scholarly life."
--R. F. Yeager, University of West Florida

"Ever the comedian, Beidler loves Chaucer for being funny, and the essays in this volume immortalize his deep affection for a medieval poet who sought to add a little humor to the world."
--Miriamne Ara Krummel, University of Dayton

"Did Chaucer read the Decameron? What is a foot-mantle? What sources did Chaucer use for his poetry, and to what ends did he use them? How might we best resolve textual cruces in the Canterbury Tales? Refreshingly aware of the contingencies that shape his responses to such questions, Beidler here provides consistently insightful, useful, good answers to them." --Tom Farrell, Stetson University

"Beidler's compelling, interdisciplinary, close analysis is invaluable for students, teachers, and scholars seeking to look with a fresh eye at the originality of Chaucer's adaptations and revisions of his sources."
-- Gila Aloni, Société des Anglicistes de l'Enseignement Supérieur

About the Author:

PETER G. BEIDLER is the Lucy G. Moses Distinguished Professor of English, emeritus, at Lehigh University. In a his long career, he has published more often in the Chaucer Review than any other scholar. He is the author of The Wife of Bath in the Bedford Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism series, Masculinities in Chaucer, and some twenty other books on various literary and pedagogical subjects. He was a Fulbright professor at Sichuan University in mainland China and as the Robert Foster Cherry Professor at Baylor University in Texas. The winner of several teaching awards, he was named national Professor of the Year in 1983 by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation. He now lives in Seattle, Washington.

About this edition

• Publisher: Coffeetown Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1603810757
• ISBN 13: 9781603810753
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 328