Geoffrey Chaucer: a critical anthology, (Penguin critical anthologies)

Burrow, J.A.

Literature & Fiction

Penguin

Medieval Writers and Their Work: Middle English Literature 1100-1500

An introduction to Middle English literature that aims not so much to teach the reader how to understand it, nor provide a history of the literature or survey of its works, but to enthuse the reader and show why they might want to read more. Chapters look at writers and audiences, at the major genres and how these differ from their modern counterparts, at how meaning is conveyed in Middle English literature, particularly through the use of allegory, and finally at the reception of medieval works down to the modern age. The second edition has been revised and rewritten with an up to date bibliography. The bargain version is the old edition

Medieval writers and their work: Middle English literature and its background 1100-1500

Oxford University Press

The single best general introduction to the texts and contexts of Middle English. It is informative, well written, and very sensible. Every advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate student in the field should read it. - James H. Morey, Texas Tech University.

History & Criticism

A profoundly organic view of man in nature, the concept of "ages of man" made itself felt in nearly all forms of medieval discourse--sermons, Bible commentaries, moral and political treatises, encyclopedias and lexicons, medical and astrological handbooks, didactic and courtly poems, and even stained glass windows. J.A. Burrow's analysis ranges over the many manifestations of this idea, and considers the ways in which such ideas of natural order entered into medieval writer's assessment of human nature.

The Ages of Man: A Study in Medieval Writing and Thought

A profoundly organic view of humanity in nature, the concept of "ages of man" made itself felt in nearly all forms of medieval discourse-sermons, Bible commentaries, moral and political treatises, encyclopedias and lexicons, medical and astrological handbooks, didactic and courtly poems, and even stained glass windows. J.A. Burrow's analysis ranges over the many manifestations of this idea, and considers the ways in which such ideas of natural order entered into medieval writers' assessment of human nature.

The Ages of Man: A Study in Medieval Writing and Thought (Clarendon Paperbacks)

Arts & Photography

Clarendon Press

In an updated edition of his hugely successful student introduction to English literature from 1100 to 1500, J.A. Burrow takes account of scholarly developments in the the field, most notably devoting a final chapter to the impact of historicism on medieval studies. Full of information and stimulating ideas, and a pleasure to read, Burrow's book deals with circumstances of composition and reception, the main genres, "modes of meaning" (allegory etc) and medieval literature's afterlife in modern times. It shows that the literature of authors such as Chaucer, Gower, and Langland is more readily accessible than usually imagined, and well worth reading too. By placing medieval writers in their historical context - the four centuries between the Norman Conquest and the Renaissance - Professor Burrow explains not only how they wrote, but why.

Medieval Writers and their Work: Middle English Literature 1100-1500

British & Irish

A study of the four major poets who flourished during the last 30 years of the 14th century (Chaucer, Gower, Langland and the "Gawain" poet). The term Richardian refers roughly to the reign of Richard II. The author isolates some of the common "Richardian" characteristics in the work of these four writers and discusses the peculiar constitution of poetic style in a period when English poets had no developed literary tradition behind them. He also emphasises and explores their narrative. The author also wrote "The Ages of Man", "A Book of Middle English" and "Geoffrey A Critical Anthology". He also edited "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight".

Ricardian poetry: Chaucer, Gower, Langland, and the Gawain poet

Yale University Press

A classic of early English literature, by an anonymous poet from the time of Chaucer Although the date of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is uncertain, and we know nothing about the author, its composition is roughly contemporary with Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales in the latter part of the fourteenth century. It is a remarkably subtle and accomplished poem, in which the hero's knightly virtues of courage, courtesy and fidelity are put to the test in a strange adventure involving a huge green knight on a green horse, a winter journey, a lady in a mysterious castle and a challenge answered. It ranks as one of the greatest works of the English Middle Ages and perhaps the greatest triumph of the English alliterative tradition.Unlike The Canterbury Tales, however, Sir Gawain is written in a dialect belonging to Cheshire, Lancashire or Staffordshire, and this seems more remote to the modern reader than Chaucer's London language. The aim of this edition has been to remove unnecessary impediments while retaining the integrity of the original. Notes and a glossary have been provided to assist an informed, critical reading of the text.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Yale Univ Pr

Originally published in 1965, A Reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an interpretation of the most important poem in Middle English literature, the only fourteenth century work which can stand beside Chaucer. The book examines the poem’s conventions and purposes in a critical analysis and provides a useful and insightful introduction to ‘Sir Gawain’. It will be of interest to students and academics studying the poem of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

A Reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Routledge Library Editions: The Medieval World)

Routledge

Gestures and looks played an even more important role in public and private exchanges of medieval society, than they do today. Gestures meant more than words, for example, in ceremonies of homage and fealty. In this compelling study, medievalist Burrow examines the role of non-verbal communication in a range of narrative texts, including Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Malory's Morte D'arthur, the romances of Chrétien de Troyes, the prose Lancelot, Boccaccio's Il Filostrato, and Dante's Commedia.

Gestures and Looks in Medieval Narrative (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature, Series Number 48)

Cambridge University Press

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