Geoffrey Chaucer

A New Introduction

David Wallace

Offers an engaging introduction to Geoffrey Chaucer's works, informed by his own life and the times he was writing in
Analyses the lasting appeal of Chaucer's works, and considers their adaptations and performances through the centuries since they were written
Draws out some of the most innovative features of Chaucer's work, such as his blend of genres and strong female voices, and discusses why these made his writing so unique
Considers Chaucer as a playwright, writer, and poet, and discusses these seperate features of his work

Geoffrey Chaucer

A New Introduction

David Wallace

Description

Originally writing over 600 years ago, Geoffrey Chaucer is enjoying a global renaissance today. Why do poets, translators, and audiences from so many cultures, from the mountains of Iran to the islands of Japan, find Chaucer so inspiring? In part this is down to the character and sheer inventiveness of Chaucer's work.

At the time Chaucer's writings were not just literary adventures, but also a means of convincing the world that poetry and science, tragedy and astrology, could all be explored through the English language. French was still England's aristocratic language of choice when Chaucer was born; Latin was used for university education, theological discussion, and for burying the dead. Could a hybrid tongue such as English ever generate great writing to compare with French and Italian? Chaucer, miraculously, believed that it could, through gradual expansion of expressiveness and scientific precision. He was never paid to do this; he was valued, rather, as a capable civil servant, regulating the export of wool and the building of seating for royal tournaments.

Such experiences, however, fed his writing, achieving a range of social registers, from noble tragedy to barnyard farce, unrivalled for centuries. His tale-telling geography is vast, his fascination with varieties of religious belief endless, and his desire to voice female experience especially remarkable. In this book David Wallace introduces the life, performance, and poetry of Chaucer, and analyses his astonishing and enduring appeal.

Geoffrey Chaucer

A New Introduction

David Wallace

Chapter 1: Beginnings
Chapter 2: Schoolrooms, science, female intuition
Chapter 3: A life in poetry
Chapter 4: Poetry at last: Troilus and Criseyde
Chapter 5: Organizing, disorganizing: The Canterbury Tales
Chapter 6: Something to believe in
Chapter 7: Afterlife, drama, futures
References
Further Reading
Index

Geoffrey Chaucer

A New Introduction

David Wallace

Author Information

David Wallace studied at York and Cambridge. Currently Judith Rodin Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, he has held visiting positions at Jerusalem, Melbourne, London, and Princeton. He has served as President of the New Chaucer Society, is currently Second Vice President of the Medieval Academy of America, and has made a series of documentaries for BBC Radio 3. He most recently published Europe: A Literary History, 1348-1418 (2016) and Strong Women (2012).

Geoffrey Chaucer

A New Introduction

David Wallace

Reviews and Awards

"The New Introduction covers a great deal of territory in a lucid, witty presentation of Chaucer's life, works, and influence. Its major work, however, has been to normalize Chaucer's status as a global poet." --Speculum

"This smart and attractive little book is a very quick read, and Wallace's conversational style has warm appeal." -- Laura Ashe, Times Literary Supplement

"Along with its other mind-broadening features, this introduction offers a timely reminder that Chaucer benefited from a Europe-wide perspective and continues to evoke creative responses across cultures and borders." - Nick Havely, University of York

"A thoroughly fresh engagement...which gives us Chaucer as a writer of his moment wide open to the future and the world." - Paul Strohm, author of The Poet's Tale

"Wallace (Europe: A Literary History, 1348-1418), an English professor at the University of Pennsylvania, clearly has great affection and admiration for his subject, and he conveys that delight to the reader." --Publishers Weekly

"Showing a solid command of history, Wallace provides fascinating analyses of Chaucer's personal and literary evolution. He is a master of his subject, insightful and provocative throughout." - KIRKUS

"Prof. Wallace has produced a superb introduction: an adroit, authoritative, fresh, energetic delight." --The New English Review