Chaucer and Pagan Antiquity

Professor Minnis argues that the paganism in "Troilus and Criseyde" and "The Knight's Tale" is not simply a backdrop but must be central to our understanding of the texts. Chaucer's two great pagan poems, "Troilus and Criseyde" and "The Knight's Tale", belong to the literary genre known as the 'romance of antiquity' (which first appeared in the mid 12th century), in which the ancient pagan world is shown on its own terms, without the blatant Christian bias against paganism characteristic of works like the "Chanson de Roland", where the writer is concerned with present-day rather than classical forms of paganism. Chaucer's attitudes to antiquity were influenced, but not determined, by those found in the compilations, commentaries, mythographies and history books which we know that he knew. These sources illuminate the manner in which he transformed Boccaccio. Much modern criticism has concentrated on the medieval veneer of manners and fashions which are ascribed to the heathen protagonists of "Troilus" and "The Knight's Tale". Dr Minnis examines the other side of the coin, Chaucer's historical interest in cultures very different from his own. The paganism in these poems is not mere background and setting, but an essential part of their overall meaning.

ISBN 0859910989   Volumes 1 ISBN13 9780859910989 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 476 Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd   Published in Cambridge Imprint D.S. Brewer   Series ISSN 0261-982 Format Hardback   Series title Chaucer Studies Publication date 25 Nov 1982   Height (mm) 234 Library of Congress 83130536   Width (mm) 156 DEWEY 821.1   Spine width (mm) 12 DEWEY edition DC19   Academic level Professional / Scholarly Pages 212

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