30 great myths about Chaucer / Thomas A. Prendergast and Stephanie Trigg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Prendergast, Thomas A. (Thomas Augustine), author.

Trigg, Stephanie, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400.

Chaucer, Geoffrey.

Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400--Criticism and interpretation.

Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xiii, 212 pages ; 23 cm

Other Title:

Thirty great myths about Chaucer

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2020.

Summary:

"Chaucer is regularly named as the father of English poetry, the father of English literature, the father of English literary history, the father of the English language, even the father of England itself. This first "myth," with all these associations, is probably the most foundational one for this book, as it sits behind many of the conceptions and emotional investments readers have in the familiar figure of Geoffrey Chaucer. It is also the myth that exemplifies the ways in which this concept in literary history is both instructive and yet also potentially confusing. The idea of fatherhood over a literary tradition is a powerful metaphor that is intimately tied up with ideas of nationalism, but we can fruitfully unpack its significance and its history. We may also observe that this kind of praise can be a mixed blessing in the changing fashions of literary study"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Mythical Chaucer

Chaucer is the father of English literature

Chaucer was the first English poet

Chaucer suffered an unrequited love

Chaucer's marriage was unhappy

Chaucer's son Thomas was John of Gaunt's bastard

Chaucer's language is too difficult for modern readers

The Canterbury pilgrims represent all social classes and character types

The Canterbury pilgrims are based on real people

The Canterbury pilgrims form a "merry company"

Chaucer was a feminist

Chaucer was guilty of rape

Chaucer had a falling out with his best friend

Chaucer lived in the Middle Ages

Chaucer was a proto-Protestant

Chaucer was antisemitic

Chaucer was a spy

Chaucer was a crook

Chaucer was a political opportunist

The Wife of Bath murdered her husbands

Chaucer "outs" the Pardoner

Chaucer never finished the Canterbury Tales

Chaucer is obscene

Chaucer was skeptical of chivalry

Chaucer described himself in his works

Chaucer wrote the first psychological novel in English

Chaucer was in danger of being thrown in debtor's prison

Chaucer renounced his works on his deathbed

Chaucer is buried in his own tomb

Chaucer was the first poet laureate

Contemporary literary theory is irrelevant to Chaucer.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Prendergast, Thomas A. (Thomas Augustine) 30 great myths about Chaucer.

ISBN:

9781119194057

1119194059

OCLC:

1137756338