Chaucer and Pagan Antiquity

Chaucer and Pagan Antiquity
Author :
Publisher : Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Total Pages : 214
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780859910989
ISBN-13 : 0859910989
Rating : 4/5 (989 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Chaucer and Pagan Antiquity by : Alastair J. Minnis

Download or read book Chaucer and Pagan Antiquity written by Alastair J. Minnis and published by Boydell & Brewer Ltd. This book was released on 1982 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor Minnis argues that the paganism in Troilus and Criseyde and The Knight's Taleis not simply a backdrop but must be central to our understanding of the texts. Chaucer's two great pagan poems, Troilus and Criseyde and The Knight's Tale, belong to the literary genre known as the `romance of antiquity' (which first appeard in the mid 12th century), in which the ancient pagan world is shown on its own terms, without the blatant Christian bias against paganism characteristic of works like the Chanson de Roland, where the writer is concerned with present-day rather than classical forms of paganism. Chaucer's attitudes to antiquity were influenced, but not determined, by those found in the compilations, commentaries, mythographies and history books which we know that he knew. These sources illuminate the manner in which he transformed Boccaccio. Much modern criticism has concentrated on the medieval veneer of manners and fashions which are ascribed to the heathen protagonists of Troilus and The Knight's Tale; Dr Minnis examines the other side of the coin, Chaucer's historical interest in cultures very different from his own. The paganism in these poems is not mere background and setting, but an essential part of their overall meaning.


Chaucer and Pagan Antiquity Related Books

Chaucer and Pagan Antiquity
Language: en
Pages: 214
Authors: Alastair J. Minnis
Categories: Literary Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 1982 - Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

GET EBOOK

Professor Minnis argues that the paganism in Troilus and Criseyde and The Knight's Taleis not simply a backdrop but must be central to our understanding of the
Chaucer and Petrarch
Language: en
Pages: 252
Authors: William T. Rossiter
Categories: Literary Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 2010 - Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

GET EBOOK

First full study of Chaucer's readings and translations of Petrarch suggests a far greater influence than has hitherto been accepted.
Sacred and Profane in Chaucer and Late Medieval Literature
Language: en
Pages: 249
Authors: Will Robins
Categories: Literary Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 2010-01-01 - Publisher: University of Toronto Press

GET EBOOK

Literary depictions of the sacred and the secular from the Middle Ages are representative of the era's widely held cultural understandings related to religion a
Chaucer's Agents
Language: en
Pages: 388
Authors: Carolynn Van Dyke
Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines
Type: BOOK - Published: 2005 - Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press

GET EBOOK

Chaucer's Agents draws on medieval and modern theories of agency to provide fresh readings of the major Chaucerian texts. Collectively, those readings aim to il
Shame and Guilt in Chaucer
Language: en
Pages: 306
Authors: Anne McTaggart
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-09-14 - Publisher: Springer

GET EBOOK

Explores the representation of emotions as psychological concepts and cultural constructs in Geoffrey Chaucer's narrative poetry. McTaggart argues that Chaucer'