| This course is intended to examine a selection of Chaucerian narratives from the point of view of a critical tradition which extends from Chaucer’s contemporaries to the present. The primary aim of the course is to gain a perspective on critical positions of past centuries as well as those of our own era, beginning with early commentators such as Lydgate, Douglas and, later, Blake; the main focus, however, will be on the changing emphases within the contemporary critical debate, including such seminal works as Kittredge’s study of the “marriage group,” Lumiansky’s dramatic theory, and Robertson’s allegorical reading, as well as on various approaches such as those found in Cooper’s work on the structure of the Canterbury Tales or in feminist examinations particularly of the representation of women characters. Consideration will be given to theoretical issues such as the following: to what extent is a literary work constructed by critical commentary? Is there a discernible core of “Chaucerian meaning”? Does critical pluralism preclude any notion of critical objectivity? And, finally, how does an awareness of the critical history affect one’s reading of Chaucer? |
