Geoffrey Chaucer: The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales: Essays, Articles, Reviews

by Jodi-Anne George (Editor)

Overview

Taught in schools and universities around the world, and the constant subject of books, essays, and articles down the years, The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales has long been central to the English literary canon. Jodi-Anne George provides a detailed introduction to the most important critical debates surrounding The General Prologue.

The extracts and essays included here date from early as 1368, when Eustace Deschamps paid the first recorded tribute to Chaucer's genius, and move chronologically through to the late 1990s. The selections address the opinions of early editors of Chaucer as well as the continuing interest in the poet by other writers throughout the ages. Sociological, gender-based, historical, and structural readings of The Prologue are also represented.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231121873
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	12/27/2000
Series:	Columbia Critical Guides
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jodi-Anne George teaches at the University of Dundee.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. "Of Engelonde to Caunterbury they Wende": 1368-1880
2. "Tales of Best Sentence and Moost Solaas": 1892-1949
3. "So as it Semed me": The 1950s and 1960s
4. "Th'estaat, th'array, the Nombre, and eek the Cause": The 1970s
5. "What Nedeth Wordes Mo?": The 1980s
6. "She was a Worthy Womman al hir Lyve": The 1990s
Appendix: Table of the relative popularity of Chaucer's poems at different times
Notes
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index

Editorial Reviews

George surveys the critical reception of probably the most read and studied work by Chaucer, excerpting liberally from the scholarly commentary. In chronological sections focusing mostly on the past few decades, she looks at early tributes by fellow poets, the influence of early editors, the 1950s and 1960s, the impact of sociology's emergence in the 1970s, the new wave of criticism in the 1980s, and feminist and gender-based readings of the 1990s. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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