Chaucer's Legendary Good Women

ISBN-13: 9780521416559 / Angielski / Twarda / 1998 / 356 str.

Florence Percival; Alastair Minnis; Patrick Boyde

Opis

Chaucer's Legend of Good Women is a testament to the disparate views of women prevalent in the Middle Ages. Dr. Percival contends that the complex medieval notion of Woman informs the structure of the poem: in the Prologue Chaucer praises conventional ideas of female virtue, while in the Legends he demonstrates a humorous skepticism, apparently influenced by a contemporary antifeminist tradition. This is a comprehensive account of the Legend's interpretative puzzles, which does not ignore the element of political writing and adds to a close and nuanced reading of the text an examination of literary, historical and social contexts.

Recenzje

"Percival grounds her argument in an analysis of an impressive array of literatures and genres of the period, including marguerite poetry, palinodes, courtly debates, anti-feminist tracts, and political writing, as well as Chaucer's classical sources." Rebecca L. Schoff

Spis treści

Introduction; Part I. Chaucer's Good Woman: 1. The good woman: the daisy; 2. Alceste: the good woman of legend; 3. The good woman: a legendary beast? Part II. The God of Love: 4. The God of love; 5. The accusation; 6. The defence: tyrants of Lombardy; 7. The defence: Matere and Entente; Part III. The Palinode: The Legends of a Good Woman: 8. Ariadne: the ladies and the critics; 9. Medea: the ladies and their reputations; 10. Cleopatra: legend of Cupid's saint; 11. Dido: composite woman; 12. Lucrece: too good to be true? 13. Phyllis and inherited male perfidy; Part IV. The Legend as Courtly Game: Epilogue.