Format:
1 online resource (157 pages)
ISBN:
9781846152672
Content:
A lively defence of the ethics of exemplary narrative, and a detailed account of its forms and functioning in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower. Why do medieval writers routinely make use of exemplary rhetoric? How does it work, and what are its ethical and poetical values? And if Chaucer and Gower must be seen as vigorously subverting it, then why do they persist in using it? Borrowing from recent developments in ethical criticism and theory, this book addresses such questions by reconstructing a late medieval rationale for the ethics of exemplary narrative. The author argues that Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' and Gower's 'Confessio Amantis' attest to the vitality of a narrative - rather than strictly normative - ethics that has roots in premodern traditions of practical reason and rhetoric. Chaucer and Gower are shown to be inheritors and respecters of an early and unexpected form of ethical pragmatism - which has profound implications for the orthodox history of ethics in the West. Recipient of the 2008 John H. Fisher Award for significant contribution to the field of Gower Studies. Dr J ALLAN MITCHELL is Lecturer in Medieval Literature, University of Kent, Canterbury
Note:
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015)
,
Reading for the moral : controversies and trajectories -- Rhetorical reason : cases, conscience, and circumstances -- Gower for example : Confessio Amantis and The measure of the case -- All that is written for our doctrine : proof, remembrance, conscience -- Moral chaucer : ethics of exemplarity in the Canterbury tales -- Pointing the moral : the friar, summoner, and pardoner's satire -- Griselda and the question of ethical monstrosity
Additional Edition:
Erscheint auch als Druckausgabe ISBN 978-1-84384-019-0
Language:
English
Subjects:
English Studies
Keywords:
Gower, John 1330-1408 Confessio amantis
;
Exempel
;
Chaucer, Geoffrey 1343-1400 The Canterbury tales
;
Exempel
URL:
Volltext
(URL des Erstveröffentlichers)
Bookmarklink
