Chaucer Books

As an undergraduate my Chaucer lecturer began his lectures on 'The Knight's Tale' with a ringing (and unconvincing) denunciation of Terry Jones' thesis. If his intention was to discourage us from believing Jones, he failed. Several of us raced to the library to get our hands on Jones' book and I remember reading it eagerly and finding it entirely convincing.

Years later, with a great deal more experience in litrary analysis and a far greater knowledge of Chaucer under my belt, I re-read Jones and was surprised to find his thesis rathe more threadbare. It is still a provocative and entertaining book, and one which shook up the usually somnolent field of Chaucer studies, but his central thesis simply doesn't stand up to detailed scrutiny. His work has some serious and ultimately fatal flaws.

Firstly, Jones argues we should not just look at where the Knight fought, but where he didn't fight. Why no mention of him fighting in France like a good English knight? He must, argues Jones, be a mercenary. But it's hard to see how Chaucer could be indicating this with a list of *Crusading* campaigns. The heartlands of mercenary activity in the 14th Century were in the endless wars in Italy, so why doesn't Chaucer have his mercenary knight fighting there? Jones himself constantly refers to examples of mercenaries in Italy to illustrate many of his points, but never explains why this supposedly archetypal mercenary didn't campaign there.

Secondly, Jones goes to great lengths to argue that the crusades the Knight took part in were not noble, chivalric and virtuous ventures, but actually grubby, savage and often futile affairs. This may be true from a modern person's perspective, but what Jones (who has an admitted anti-Church bias) thinks about these campaigns is irrelevant - it's how they were seen in Chaucer's time that is important. And, unfortunately for Jones' thesis, in Chaucer's time they simply *were* seen as noble, chivalric and virtuous ventures.

Thirdly, Jones devotes a great deal of attention to the Knight's appearance, saying this is an obvious clue to his mercenary status. "One might expect a glorious figure in shining armour, with banners flying, a dragon on his shield and a crested helm glinting in the sun.' he argues. Instead, we have a figure in a fustian gypon stained with rust. Again, this argument is weak. A chivalric paragon may have worn armour and carried banners on campaign, but the Knight was on a pilgrimage. He goes on to argue that the Knight's fustian 'gypon' is a sign that the Knight is poor and that it is stained by his mail 'habergeon' because, unlike a real knight, he doesn't wear a coat of plates or breastplate and fauld over his mail and under his gypon or surcoat. He goes on to present evidence that Italian mercenaries went into battle more lightly armed in this manner, but that some form of plate over the mail shirt was ubiquitous for knights in this period. But Jones is simply wrong on that last point, however, and the Alliterative Morte Arthur depicts an arming scene where no less a chivalric paragon than King Arthur himself wears a gypon directly over his mail.

Fourthly, Jones completely ignores the Squire, who is the Knight's son and whose description follows that of the Knight in the 'General Prologue'. In stark contrast to his father, the Squire is presented as fashionably and brightly dressed in the latest style, with great emphasis on his up to-date hairstyle and courtly manners. Unlike his father, the younger man has fought not for the sake of Christendom, but 'in hope to stonden in his lady grace.' (GP l. 88). His campaign was 'in Flaundres, in Artoys and Pycardie' (GP l. 86) - most probably a reference to the 'Pseudo-crusade' of Bishop Henry Despencer in 1383. Unlike his father's crusading campaigns, the Squire took part in one that was widely condemned at the time and regarded as a debasement of the crusading ideal. Jones argues that Chaucer tends to be wry and satirical in his characterisation, but forgets that three of his characters - the Knight, the Parson and the Ploughman - seem to be paragons representing the Three Estates, while it is the *other* characters who stand in satirical relation to them.

Jones' book is provocative and highly readable, but in many places it seems he is straining to find something - anything - to support his ideas while skating over alternative interpretations. For this reason (and not academic snobbery) his thesis has been largely rejected, though his book has been welcomed. This book is recommended, but it should be read with due caution.

This is an epic diagnosis of a character in Chaucer's Canterberry Tales. Not for the casual reader, this in depth study of the character and his times is done in a professional (non comedic)manner.

I have been teaching Chaucer for over ten years and believe Jones' book on Chaucer's knight to be an excellent example of literary criticism that debunks the standard view of Chaucer's knight. I am surprised that I have such difficulty finding the book. One would think that it would be available for every student studying Chaucer. As the first character in the prologue, the understanding of the knight sets the tone for the entire work. Jones' research enticed me to do some research on my own. His book made me look at the other characters with a jaundiced eye, and I found the entire work of The Canterbury Tales to be a medieval version of "Saturday Night Live." I am now in love with Chaucer because of Jones. The book is worth the read for any student studying Chaucer. Jones makes the medieval world come alive with solid facts to support his perspective.

Terry Jones reveals Chaucer's Knight to be a Thug-for-Hire. He cogently explains the historical background, the concept of "chivalrie" in the 14th century, and in his own words, explains a 600 year old joke. The book is written with both style and wit. It is on solid ground for the most part, but does omit some data about the Knight's contemporaries, some of which behaved just as disgracefully but were members of the leading nobility rather than ignoble mercenaries.

A summary:

English teachers universally take the description "Parfit Gentle Knight" at face value. Chaucer's contemporaries would have had quite a different view.

A good analagy: what would someone in 2600 make of the following description of a "Good 20th Century Soldier".

*Being "Highly decorated", with both the Silver Star and Order of Lenin.

*Having more kills than any other sniper in Sarajevo or Beirut.

*With being there when Kuwait City was won, and having brought back much loot to Baghdad than anyone else.

*Wearing an unidentifiable uniform with no rank or army insignia, and carrying a Chinese-made AK-47 loaded with dum-dum bullets and no serial number.

*Being an expert Boxer, who's killed every opponent who faced him in the ring.

*And he's served in more places than any other soldier, in Colombia, Chechnya, the Golden Triangle and the Ivory Coast.

A must-read for anyone studying Chaucer.

There is quite an array of voices in this production with authentic-sounding accents. Very animated without being over done. I wouldn't let kids listen to the Wive's Tale, however; it is pretty risque.

Not a complete version. This is Volume II which contains The Wife of Bath's Tale, The Clerk's Tale, The Reeve's Tale, and The Nun's Priest's Tale.

Unfortunately, I had to read this book for a class on Chaucer. The book is an unbiased, fact-filled historical account of what is known about Geoffrey Chaucer. It includes a mind-numbing string of references to actual documents related to Chaucer, anything that mentioned him. It is not exciting. It is not fun to read. The good thing is that the author does not take it upon himself to make Chaucer into some kind of hero, or super-poet.

Dr. Pearsall's Chaucerian Biography is an excellent critical biography that will serve the serious Chaucer scholar well in getting a better acquaintance with biographical contexts in the study of "The Canterbury Tales" as well as other of Chaucer's great poetic works. Pearsall's detailed approach to biographical and literary matters coupled with the fact that he does not conjecture about biographical material makes this edition a wonderful addition to the work on Chaucer scholarship

for its size, this is probably the best overview of titian available in english. the color reproductions are beautifully done, the sampling of titian's works is comprehensive yet compact. the historical essays on the epochs of titian's output and the commentaries to each painting are well written and highly informative. a few major works, such as the venus d'urbino, are reproduced in smaller format and discussed only in passing, as they could not be included in the exhibition. even so, only rona geffen's study of titian's women goes farther and deeper into titian's originality, humanity and genius. highly recommended.

There is an imbalnce between text and illustrations. The text is extensive, competent and easy to read. The illustrations are of average quality and tend to be small. Some of Titian's major works such as the Depostion from the Cross at The Accademia in Venice and the portrait of a Doge [Chigi?] at the National Gallery are not included'

Surveys the history of English fiction literature from Chaucer to Deloney, a period dominated by dull, translated borrowing from the overblown and underimaginative court romances of the European mainland. Schlauch argues that apart from a few unusually innovative English writers and translators, the modern English novel owes less to these purveyors of genteel glurge and more to the jest books that enjoyed wild and widespread popularity among the lower and emerging middle classes. An well-written and interesting read, even if somewhat academic and difficult at more than a few points.

"Astronomical Lore in Chaucer" is a pretty interesting idea for a book, but buyers should be aware that this is a reprint of a book first published in 1919. This was after Einstein's first papers on relativity were published, but long before the idea of the "Big Bang" was a hot topic. Astronomy has progressed a lot since 1919. So, the author makes occasional statements about astronomy that will rest uneasily in the mind of the alert reader. Also -- social science in general was a very different scene in 1919 than it is today, so be prepared for some statements you may actually find offensive.

That said, the writing style is pleasantly, rollingly Edwardian, reminiscent of Saki or Olaf Stapledon, and the book is packed with intriguing notions. In Chaucer's day, astronomy and astrology were not differentiated, so let's just say the science isn't always overwhelmingly hardcore. Nevertheless, Chaucer was apparently considered an expert with the medieval astrolabe, so he did have things to say that were actually cutting-edge science in the 14th century.

The book is divided into four sections, dealing with I.)Astronomy in the Middle Ages, II.)Chaucer's Scientific Knowledge, III.)Chaucer's Cosmology, IV.)Chaucer's Astronomy, and finally V.)Astronomical Lore in Chaucer. The actual quotes don't really kick in until chapter two. There are many entertaining, illuminating little passages sprinkled throughout this highly neato book. All you need to be wary of is the fact that the book is a little out of date, and then you can relax and enjoy it. Two thumbs up.

By happenstance, I started listening to The Canterbury Tales on Palm Sunday, the same day that the narration begins. As I pulled out of my driveway on an April morning, I had Chaucer's famous description of spring in my ears as a Christian procession marched by, led by a bag-pipe player. I was on a trek to Niagara Falls, but I was hearing the account of a different sort of pilgrimage, written 600 years ago, but still sounding beautiful to the ear. In fact, I much preferred listening to these tales rather than reading them silently myself from the page. This is poetry, and the scansion and lyricism can easily get lost as the modern reader struggles with the early spellings and olden vocabulary. Be advised that the first tale, that of the knight, is extraordinarily long, formalistic, predictable, and maybe even just kind of boring. It must be a purposeful tip of Chaucer's funny-looking hat to the epic poetry of Homer. But don't give up early! Chaucer rewards the patient with the following tale from the miller which is the exact opposite--short, mean, and bawdy! You'll be shocked at just how old some of the English language's four-letter words are. This pattern continues as Chaucer has each of his pilgrims take turns telling stories in their own voice, and the diversity and contrast is enjoyable. BEWARE: Although this is advertised as an unabridged reading, I was dubious when I saw its rather short length. After listening to the entire program, I looked at my very thick printed version and found several tales there that were not included in the audio reading. Nonetheless, such editing may be for the best--except for purists and academics--as this version certainly offers the lay reader/listener a representative sample of what Chaucer could do with an earlier version of our language.

This is a great edition of the prologue, the illustrations really accent the story very well.

My teenage son is currently studying Chaucer for his English literature class and is having a blast learning the Middle English and even older English phrases used in Chaucer's original writings. I am impressed because he usually hates literature, so aces to Davis for creating such a great motivating helpmate. (I have been using it, too, and it makes the translations easy and comprehension much better - wish I had had this when I was in high school),

I purchased this book to help me with an assignment in my college British Literature class. The book was very, very helpful.