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Chaucer's legendary good women / Florence Percival.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Percival, Florence, author.
- Series:
- Cambridge studies in medieval literature ; 38.
- Cambridge studies in medieval literature ; 38
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400. Legend of good women.
- Chaucer, Geoffrey.
- Chaucer, Geoffrey, -1400--Political and social views.
- Women and literature--England--History--To 1500.
- Women and literature.
- Civilization, Medieval--Classical influences.
- Civilization, Medieval.
- Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500.
- Women.
- Mythology, Classical, in literature.
- Social history--Medieval, 500-1500.
- Social history.
- Women in literature.
- Women--Mythology.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (xii, 338 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).
- Place of Publication:
- Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- Chaucer's Legend of Good Women is a testament to the disparate views of women prevalent in the Middle Ages. Dr Percival contends that the complex medieval notion of Woman informs the structure of the poem: in the Prologue Chaucer praises conventional ideas of female virtue, while in the Legends he demonstrates a humorous scepticism, apparently influenced by a contemporary antifeminist tradition. The debate Chaucer thus promotes could be relied on to entertain many medieval readers, at the same time that it demonstrates the power of the vernacular translator/poet to handle language wittily and to do just as he pleases with the august texts of the past. This is a comprehensive account of the Legend's interpretative puzzles, which does not ignore the element of political writing, and adds to a close and nuanced reading of the text an examination of literary, historical, and social contexts.
- Contents:
- pt. 1. Chaucer's good woman
- pt. 2. God of love
- pt. 3. Palinode
- pt. 4. Legends of good women
- pt. 5. Legend as courtly game.
- Notes:
- Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 0-511-58291-9
- 0-511-00400-1
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