Rebels and Rivals

The Contestive Spirit in The Canterbury Tales

Edited by Susanna Greer Fein Edited by David Raybin Edited by Peter C. Braeger Foreword by Derek Pearsall

Book cover: Rebels and Rivals

Extent: 293 pages

Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications

Subjects: Literary Studies, Medieval Studies

Series: Studies in Medieval Culture

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(December 1991)

ISBN: 9780918720429

Price: $19.95

In stock

Hardback (Published)

(July 1991)

ISBN: 9780918720412

6.14 x 9.21 inches

Price: $19.95

In stock

The essays that make up this collection offer several provocative interpretations of the rivalrous and rebellious spirits that inhabit the worlds of Chaucer’s tales. The volume is intended for the dedicated teacher of Chaucer as well as for the specialist in medieval English studies.


Strife occurs everywhere among characters in The Canterbury Tales, in the stories as well as the links between them. Characters seem always ready to dispute, contradict, declaim, and contend about almost anything. A competitive spirit suffuses the work, from the tale-telling among pilgrims and the personal rivalries that develop on the pilgrimage to the conflicts, beguilings, and one-uppings that go on in the tales. By understanding the rivalries of the Canterbury world, we may then recognize why Chaucer so insists on the individuality of the characters he creates, why so many characters (rightly or wrongly) resist structures, and why they challenge or reject social dogmas, often overturning them. The essays that make up this collection offer several provocative interpretations of the rivalrous and rebellious spirits that inhabit the worlds of Chaucer’s tales. The volume is intended for the dedicated teacher of Chaucer as well as for the specialist in medieval English studies. As Chaucer’s poem displays the contestive spirit of human affairs, so the collective spirit of these essays reflects vigorous debate and multi-faceted challenge.

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
The Inn, the Cathedral, and the Pilgrimage of The Canterbury Tales by Frederick B. Jonassen
Up and Down, To and Fro: Spatial Relationships in The Knight's Tale by William F. Woods
Clerkly Rivalry in The Reeve's Tale by Bruce Kent Cowgill
“Lat the Children Pleye”: The Game Betwixt the Ages in The Reeve's Tale by Susanna Greer Fein
The Wife of Bath: Chaucer’s Inchoate Experiment in Feminist Hermeneutics by Susan K. Hagen
“My Spirit Hath His Fostryng in the Bible”: The Summoner's Tale and the Holy Spirit by Jay Ruud
Lords, Churls, and Friars: The Return to Social Order in The Summoner's Tale by Linda Georgianna
The Falcon’s Complaint in The Squire’s Tale by Charles A. Owen Jr.
“And Pave It Al of Silver and of Gold”: The Humane Artistry of The Canon’s Yeoman's Tale by David Raybin
A Memoir of Chaucer’s Institute by C. David Benson
Appendix: The Portrayals of Fortune in the Tales of The Monk’s Tale (Abstract) by Peter C. Braeger
Works Cited
Contributors
Indexes

  • Edited by Susanna Greer Fein
  • Edited by David Raybin
  • Edited by Peter C. Braeger
  • Foreword by Derek Pearsall