Overview
- Argues that Chaucer's independence and experimental originality can only be understood in relation to the work of his contemporaries
Discusses the use and modification of existing literary forms by Chaucer
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
Modern ways of presenting Chaucer have often made his work seem 'normal' so that The Canterbury Tales and its much-studied General Prologue are seen as archetypes of narrative and prologue. Tony Davenport argues that study of Chaucer's major work alongside contemporary English poems reveals the odd and extreme aspects of Chaucer's writing as well as the daring and experimental qualities in his work. The focus of the book is on strategies of narrative and discourse, but also includes discussion of other much-studied Middle English poems.
About the author
TONY DAVENPORT, Professor of English at Royal Holloway, University of London, has taught Middle English for many years and is the author of several standard books on medieval English literature.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Chaucer and his English Contemporaries
Book Subtitle: Prologue and Tale in The Canterbury Tales
Authors: W. A. Davenport
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26738-5
Publisher: Red Globe Press London
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts Collection, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: Macmillan Publishers Limited 1998
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 256
Additional Information: Previously published under the imprint Palgrave
Topics: Poetry and Poetics