UID:
almahu_9947415300302882
Format:
1 online resource (xvii, 330 pages) :
,
digital, PDF file(s).
ISBN:
9780511552977 (ebook)
Content:
This book is an attempt to discover the origins and significance of the General Prologue-to the Canterbury Tales. The interest of such an inquiry is many-sided. On the one hand, it throws light on the question of whether `life' or 'literature' was Chaucer's model in this work, on the relationship between Chaucer's twenty-odd pilgrims and the structure of medieval society, and on the role of their `estate' in determining the elements of which Chaucer composes their portraits. On the other hand, it makes suggestions about the ways in which Chaucer convinces us of the individuality of his pilgrims, about the nature of his irony, and the kind of moral standards implicit in the Prologue. This book suggests that Chaucer is ironically substituting for the traditional moral view of social structure a vision of a world where morality becomes as specialised to the individual as his work-life.
Note:
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
,
Introduction. The estates form ; The estates content and social stereotypes ; The role of work in the Prologue portraits -- The anti-clerical tradition in estates satire. The monk ; The friar -- Estates ideals. The parson ; The ploughman ; The clerk -- The omission of the victim. The sergeant of law ; The doctor of physic ; The merchant ; The guildsmen -- Independent traditions. Chivalry and anti-feminism. The knight ; The squire ; The wife of Bath -- Descriptive traditions : beauty and the beast. The prioress ; The summoner -- 'Scientific' portraits. The pardoner ; The franklin ; The miller ; The reeve -- New creations. The cook ; The shipman ; The yeoman ; The manciple -- Excursus: The 'General Prologue' and the 'descriptio' tradition -- Conclusions -- Appendices: A. Estates lists ; B. Chaucer, Langland and Gower.
Additional Edition:
Print version: ISBN 9780521200585
Language:
English
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511552977
