English Medieval Narrative in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries

Piero Boitani (Author), Joan Krakover Hall (Translated by)

9780521311496, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 31 July 1986

324 pages
21.6 x 13.8 x 2.1 cm, 0.468 kg

'The pages on Piers Plowman are one of the best short introductions to the poem one could imagine … The study of Troilus is likewise penetrating and humane … outstanding rich and sensitive accounts of … the Pardoner's Tale and the Nun's Priest's Tale.' Anglia

This is a wide-ranging and detailed study of English narrative verse in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Piero Boitani describes and analyses the undisputed masterpieces of narrative (such as the works of the Gawain poet, Langland, Gower and Chaucer), as well as the anonymous romances and specimens of religious and comic narrative which form the background to the better-known poems. The book is divided by literary genres or structural systems: chapters on the religious, comic and romance traditions are followed by a discussion of dream and visionary narratives and a chapter on story collections including those of Gower. The rest of the book is devoted to Chaucer, who mastered all these types.

Preface to the English edition
1. The religious tradition
2. The comic tradition
3. The world of romance
4. Dream and vision
5. The narrative collections and Gower
6. Chaucer
Notes
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]