Chaucer's prayers : writing Christian and Pagan devotion / Megan E. Murton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Murton, Megan E., author.

Series:

Chaucer studies ; 47.

Chaucer studies, 0261-9822 ; XLVII

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400--Religion.

Chaucer, Geoffrey.

Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400.

Prayers, Medieval.

Religion.

Physical Description:

180 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Woodbridge, Suffolk : D.S. Brewer, 2020.

Summary:

A close examination of the prayers in Chaucer's poetry sheds significant new light on his poetic practice. In a culture as steeped in communal, scripted acts of prayer as Chaucer's England, a written prayer asks not only to be read, but to be inhabited: its "I" marks a space that readers are invited to occupy. This book examines the implications of accepting that invitation when reading Chaucer's poetry. Both in his often-overlooked pious writings and in his ambitious, innovative pagan narratives, the "I" of prayer provides readers with a subject-position that can be at once devotional and literary - a stance before a deity and a stance in relation to a poem. Chaucer uses this uniquely open, participatory "I" to implicate readers in his poetry and to guide their work of reading.In examining Christian and pagan prayers alongside each other, Chaucer's Prayers cuts across an assumed division between the "religious" and "secular" writings within Chaucer's corpus. Rather, it emphasizes continuities and approaches prayer as part of Chaucer's broader experimentation with literary voice. It also places Chaucer in his devotional context and foregrounds how pious practices intersect with and shape his poetic practices. These insights challenge a received view of Chaucer as an essentially secular poet and shed new light on his poetry's relationship to religion. -- Publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Prayer as Performance

Practices of prayer in Late-Medieval England.

Chapter 1: Praying to Mary. "An ABC to the Virgin": Performance and prevenience

Marian invocations: Forming readers

Chapter 2: Praying in Suffering.

The Man of Law's tale: Explanations and encounters

The Knight's Tales: Philosophy and petition

The Franklin's Tale: Devotional uncertainties

Chapter 3: God of Love and Love of God in Troilus and Criseyde. Praying to love

Rejoicing in love

Keeping the faith

Chapter 4: Praying about Poetry. The Book of the Duchess: The poet as a reader

The Parliament of Fowls: The poet as a craftsman

Reader and poet in The House of Fame

The Retraction: Writing cooperation

Conclusion: Praying with Chaucer, Performing Chaucer.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1843845598

9781843845591

OCLC:

1126792882