Geoffrey Chaucer was not a writer, primarily, but a privileged official place-holder. Prone to violence, including rape, assault, and extortion, the poet was employed first at domestic personal service and subsequently at police-work of various sorts, protecting the established order during a period of massive social upset. Chaucer's Jobs shows that the servile and disciplinary nature of the daily work Chaucer did was repeated in his poetry, which by turns flatters his aristocratic betters and deals out discipline to malcontent others. Carlson contends that it was this social-political quality of Chaucer's writings, not artistic merit, that made him the 'Father of English Poetry'.
This study provides extensive readings of overlooked American reconstructions of Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales from the colonial to postmodern periods, demonstrating how these repackagings convey uniquely American ideas.
A major and original contribution to the debate as to Chaucer's use and knowledge of Boccaccio, finding a new source for the "Shipman's Tale". A possible direct link between the two greatest literary collections of the fourteenth century, Boccaccio's Decameron and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, has long tantalized readers because these works share many stories, which are, moreover, placed in similar frames. And yet, although he identified many of his sources, Chaucer never mentioned Boccaccio; indeed when he retold the Decameron's final novella, his pilgrim, the Clerk, states that it was written by Petrarch. For these reasons, most scholars now believe that while Chaucer might have heard parts of the earlier collection when he was in Italy, he did not have it at hand as he wrote. This volumeaims to change our understanding of this question. It analyses the relationship between the "Shipman's Tale", originally written for the Wife of Bath, and Decameron 8.10, not seen before as a possible source. The book alsoargues that more important than the narratives that Chaucer borrowed is the literary technique that he learned from Boccaccio - to make tales from ideas. This technique, moreover, links the "Shipman's Tale" to the "Miller's Tale"and the new "Wife of Bath's Tale". Although at its core a hermeneutic argument, this book also delves into such important areas as alchemy, domestic space, economic history, folklore, Irish/English politics, manuscripts, and misogyny. FREDERICK M. BIGGS is Professor of English at the University of Connecticut.
This study explores Chaucer's present-day cultural reputation by way of popular culture. In just the past two decades his texts have been adapted to a wide variety of popular genres, including television, stage, comic book, hip-hop, science fiction, horror, romance, and crime fiction. This cultural recycling involves a variety of functions but Chaucer's primary association is with the idea of pilgrimage and the prevailing tenor is populist satire. The target is not only cultural elitism but also the dominant discourse of professional Chaucerians. Academics in turn may have doubts about the value of popular Chaucer; popular culture theory, however, would maintain that such skepticism has less to do with critical discrimination than the assertion of social distinction. Nonetheless, the fact that Chaucer has a popular afterlife, and remains an ideological product over which competing groups lay claim, attests to his current cultural vitality.
Presenting essays exploring Chaucer's identity as a London poet, and the urban context for his writings, this volume addresses the centrality of the city in Chaucer's work, and the importance of Chaucer to a literature and a language of the city.
Geoffrey Chaucer was a British poet during the Middle ages and is still considered one of the greatest English writers of all time. This biography tells readers about Chaucer's life as he took part in the Hundred Years War, worked for King Edward III, and went on to write the well-known collection, The Canterbury Tales. Featuring lively illustrations, fascinating facts and sidebars, easy-to-read text, an accommodating glossary, and helpful index, this book will have readers excited to learn more about this influential author. This book also includes an in-class writing activity to further students' understanding of the various jobs people had in the Middle Ages.
Geoffrey Chaucer was a British poet during the Middle ages and is still considered one of the greatest English writers of all time. Through this intriguing biography, readers will learn about Chaucer's life as he took part in the Hundred Years War, worked for King Edward III, and went on to write the well-known collection, The Canterbury Tales. Featuring lively illustrations, fascinating facts and sidebars, easy-to-read text, an accommodating glossary, and helpful index, this book will have readers excited and eager to learn more about this influential author.
