The Shaping of English Poetry - Volume IV; Essays on 'The Battle of Maldon', Chrétien de Troyes, Dante, 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' and Chaucer

Description

This fourth volume of essays under the title The Shaping of English Poetry consolidates the work of the previous three volumes on the great subjects of English literature in the Medieval and Renaissance periods. The Norman Conquest of England built upon the rich foundation of Anglo-Saxon England but did not destroy it; thus the present volume begins with the commemoration of English heroism in The Battle of Maldon. In the late twelfth century we encounter in Chrétien de Troyes's seminal romance Le Chevalier de la Charrete a new kind of hero in Lancelot, abject and obedient before his mistress, although Chrétien himself is not an uncritical admirer of the sanctity of adulterous love. Hence the importance of Dante's exposition of love in Purgatorio, XVIII, which forms a background to the essays here on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Parliament of Fowls. The volume concludes with essays on Chaucer's Knight's, Monk's and Nun's Priest's Tales, which form part of a long-term project to interpret the Canterbury Tales as a unified whole and not merely a series of fragments awaiting revision on Chaucer's death. Cover Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations I. Chaucer’s Works II. Sources and Works of Reference III. Journals and Series Preface 1 The Battle of Maldon: The Commemoration of an Heroic Sacrifice Notes 2 The Conflict of Love and Chivalry in Le Chevalier de la Charrete Notes 3 The Movement of Love in the Interior Senses and in the Intellect: An Explanation of Purgatorio, XVIII.22–24 Notes 4 The Goodness of Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Notes 5 Nature and the Bird-Debate in the Parliament of Fowls The Realm of Nature The Great Chain of Being The Classification of Birds The Human Being as Microcosm Choice and Freedom The Spokesmen and Spokeswomen The Verdict A Problematic Conclusion Notes 6 Chaucer’s Tellers and Tales and the Design of the Canterbury Tales Notes 7 The Campaigns of Chaucer’s Knight A Crusading Knight The Knight’s Campaigns Spain and the Western Mediterranean Egypt, Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean Prussia, Lithuania and the Eastern Baltic The Crusade in the Fourteenth Century The High Order of Knighthood Notes 8 Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale: The Book of the Duke Introduction The Tyrant Creon and the Just and Merciful Theseus Kings, Queens, Princes and Dukes Duke Theseus Worthy Knights The Two Royal Prisoners Equality of Arcite and Palamon Theseus as Conqueror Notes 9 The Grand Design of the Monk’s Tale The Host and the Monk The Monk’s Response Sequence of Tales and their Sources The Argument of the Individual Tales Notes 10 The Function of Rhetoric in the Nun’s Priest’s Tale Notes Index