Derek Brewer A NEW INTRODUCTION TO CHAUCER Second edition LONGMAN LONDON AND NEW YORK
Contents rreiace Acknowledgements Prelude Chapter 1 In the beginning The new and the old, archaic and modern The life of a page at court Chaucer's family The City of London Chapter 2 Chaucer's education Latin French Italian Arithmetic and numerology Books and speech The English language To make his English sweet upon his tongue The end of schooling and the development of the literate layman Chapter 3 The courtly life Froissart's account The material and practical basis of court culture Religion in court life The personal religion of Edward HI Leisure and culture in the court Chivalry and its ideals The love of ladies The tournament Music in court XI xiii 1 6 6 7 9 10 14 14 17 17 18 20 23 26 28 32 32 33 36 39 39 42 46 47 49
vi Contents Feasting 49 Literature 50 Out-of-doors 51 Chaucer's representation of courtly life 51 Chaucer's experience of war 52 Chapter 4 The English and European literary traditions 55 Early reading 55 The English romances 55 English lyrics 56 Le Roman de la Rose 58 Machaut 61 Other reading and influences 62 Chapter 5 Courtier and soldier 65 A six-year gap in the records 65 Continuing education, 65 Chaucer was probably in Aquitaine 69 Chaucer's wife Philippa 70 Working in the king's court 71 King Edward III and the Hundred Years War 73 The Black Death 74 Chapter 6 The Book of the Duchess I: quest and commemoration 77 Grand translateur 11 The death of Blanche, the Duchess 79 The story and style of the poem 80 The strength of an ending 86 Centre and margin 86 Quest and questioning 87 Arithmetic and numerology 88 Chapter 7 The Book of the Duchess II: dreaming the spoken and 'written self 90 Dream poetry 90 Dream and reality 91 The construction of the self 92 Is there a narrator separate from the poet? 94 Orality and literacy 96 Literalism, 98
Contents Chapter 8 The Book of the Duchess III: death, laughter, repetition and comfort 101 Death and laughter 101 Love and gender roles 103 Repetition and commemoration 107 Chapter 9 Diplomat and civil servant: private and public trouble 112 The Italian journey 112 Fourteenth-century Italian culture 113 What Chaucer learned from Italian literature 115 Comptroller of customs ' 115 Chaucer's release from accusation of rape: his friends 118 Chaucer's political attitude 119 Withdrawal to Kent 121 Chapter 10 From House of Fame to Parliament of Fowls: discontent and search - 123 Where do we go from here? A Gothic miscellany 123 What is fame? 128 Anelida and Artite 130 The Life of Saint Cecilia * 131 Chapter 11 The Parliament of Fowls: communality and conflict 133 Chapter 12 The fair chain of love: the consolations of philosophy and Venus 144 How charming is divine philosophy? 144 Boethius 145 The form of The Consolation of Philosophy 146 A great lady instructs the author 147 The content of the Consolation 148 Date and quality of the translation 150 Oxford intellectual scepticism and empiricism 151 Other intellectual interests and Chaucer's attitude 152 Astrology 154 Mythology and mythography 157 The classical heritage 157 The scientific basis 158 The mythographers 158 Fulgentius to Boccaccio - 159 vii
viii Contents Chapter 13 The Tale of Palamon and Arcite: love and death 163 The story of Palamon and Arcite 111 Some inner structures of the story 173 The story resumed 173 Spectacle and implication 175 Chapter 14 Troilus and Criseyde I: from a view to a death 179 Chapter 15 Troilus and Criseyde II: characters and critics 187 The ambiguity of Criseyde 196 Troilus 199 Youth, royalty and manhood in the fourteenth century 200 Troilus's manhood 204 Chapter 16 Troilus and Criseyde III: the lore of love 212 Book I: the commentary ' 212 The conduct of the story 214 Book II: the story. 215 Book II: commentary 217 Characterisation 218 Realism and society 220 Words and the poet's attitudes 220 Book III: the story ( 221 Book III: commentary 223 Honour 224 Love as a purely personal relationship 225 Love and destiny 226 Book IV: the story 228 Book IV: commentary 231 The exploration of a dilemma 231 Variation of style 232 Book V: the story 232 Book V: commentary 237 The ending 238 The use of the Consolation in Troilus 238 The question of love 241 Chapter 17 The Legend of Good Women: Cupid's saints 243 The Prologue to The Legend of Good Women: its versions and dates 246
Contents The further creation of the poetic self 247 Who does Alceste represent? 248 The naked text 249 The revision of The Prologue 249 Let us now praise famous pagan women 252 Trouthe is the hyeste thyng that man may kepe 254 Love and marriage 255 Pathos, goodness and mockery 257 Let us not praise pagan gods and men too much 259 Reculer pour mieux sauter 259 Chapter 18 Prologue to The Canterbury Tales 261 In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle 261 Competition ' 263 Social structures 265 Rhetorical dislocation for location 269 Manuscript culture 270 The manuscripts 271 The sequence of tales 273 Chapter 19 The Canterbury Tales I: love and rivalry; tragedy and comedy 276 The raw material of stories 276 Stories come first, characters second 279 The Miller's Tale 283 The Reeve's Tale 287 The Cook's Tale ^ 291 Chapter 20 The Canterbury Tales II: constancy and inconstancy; love and anger; trouthe and gentilesse 293 The Man of Law's Tale ' 293 The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale 297 The Friar's Prologue and Tale 305 The Summoner's Prologue and Tale 307 The Clerk's Prologue and Tale 310 The Merchant's Prologue and Tale 320 The Squire's Tale ' 328 The Franklin's Prologue and Tale 332 Chapter 21 The Canterbury Tales III: family honour; you find what you seek 341 The Physician's Tale 341 The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale 350 ix
x Contents Chapter 22 The Canterbury Tales TV: a gift returned; virginity and martyrdom; parody and prudence; flattery and reversal 357 The Shipman's Tale 357 The Prioress's Tale 358 Sir Thopas 361 The Tale of Melibee 364 The Monk's Tale 369 The Nun's Priest's Tale 371 Chapter 23 The Canterbury Tales V: spirit and matter; restraint and repentance 377 The Second Nun's Prologue and Tale 311 The Canon's Yeoman's Prologue and Tale 378 The Manciple's Prologue and Tale 382 The Parson's Prologue and Tale 392 Chapter 24 Closure and beyond 398 Select bibliography 409 Biography ^" 409 Editions 410 Bibliographies 410 Concordances 410 Dictionary and discography 410 Facsimiles 411 Some general studies 411 Historical and cultural studies 412 Literary history 413 Some contemporaries 414 Language and metre 414 Some general Chaucer studies 415 Gender criticism 416 Sources and analogues 416 The shorter poems 416 Troilus and Criseyde All The Canterbury Tales 418 Reception 418 Recordings 419 Index 420