Reading Middle English Literature
Blackwell Introductions to Literature (Series Nr. 15)
1. Edition October 2006
224 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This introduction provides the guidance that modern readers need to
come to an informed appreciation of the writings of medieval
England.
* An introduction to English literature written in the four
centuries following the Norman Conquest.
* Written by the well-known medievalist, Thorlac
Turville-Petre.
* Demonstrates that Middle English literature is more accessible
than is often supposed.
* Provides readers with the guidance they need to come to an
informed appreciation of the writings of medieval England.
* Designed to be used alongside A Book of Middle English,
(Third Edition, Blackwell Publishing, 2005).
Preface.
Abbreviations.
Introduction.
1. The Use of English.
Three Languages.
The Choice of English.
Social Register.
2. Texts and Manuscripts.
Information from Manuscripts.
Scribes and their Manuscripts.
Audiences.
Authors.
3. Literature and Society.
Bond and Free.
Social Tensions in the Reeve's Tale.
Ploughing Piers' Half Acre.
At the Court of King Arthur.
In Criseyde's Palace.
4. History and Romance.
Definitions.
Monastic History.
The History of St Erkenwald.
Englishing Arthur.
The Fairy World.
5. Piety.
From Pecham to Arundel.
Christ the Lover and God the Unknowable.
Retelling Biblical Stories.
The Death of a Child.
6. Love and Marriage.
Marriage and Love - and Sex.
A Lover's Confession.
Love's Craft.
'All this Mean I by Love'.
Bibliography.
Index.
