Geoffrey Chaucer and the poetics of disguise / Esther Casier Quinn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Quinn, Esther Casier.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400--Language.

Chaucer, Geoffrey.

Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400--Literary style.

Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400.

Rhetoric, Medieval.

Literary style.

Physical Description:

xii, 251 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham : University Press of America, [2008]

Summary:

This work considers virtually all of Geoffrey Chaucer's writings as disguised reflections of matters personal and political. Chaucer wrote in a particularly crucial time of political change in England. He was in a unique position to see and hear more than he dared to express. He developed a "poetics of disguise" to express his increasingly critical views of British royalty without seeming to criticize or dissent. He utilized the voices of women, pagans, personified abstractions, and birds to create a debate about the social and political issues of the day. New readings of his major works, including his short poems, are included in this unique analysis.

Contents:

Introduction: Telling the Truth, but Telling it Slant 1

I Intimations of What's to Come: People, Places, Events, and Poetry 7

II Dream Worlds 22

The Book of the Duchess: "Reysed as fro deth to lyve" 22

The House of Fame: Enter the Eagle 29

The Parliament of Fowls: The Goddess Nature as Parliamentarian 45

III Pagan Worlds 54

Troy: "kalendes of chaunge" 54

Rome and "elleswhere" 72

Toward "Atthenes" 87

IV Moving Toward Canterbury 91

The Duke and the Judge 94

"Cherles Tales" 109

Rhyming and Royalty 115

Tales without Women 124

Jaunty Rhymes and Solemn Prose 133

Tales without Endings 136

Those Other Tales 151

V Chaucer in a Different Key: The Short Poems 170.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-240) and index.

ISBN:

0761840109

9780761840107

OCLC:

213401113