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This volume spans five centuries of post-Conquest literature, written at a time in which enormous social, political and linguistic changes transformed life in Britain. Medieval genres such as Arthurian romance, lyrics, dream narratives and mystery plays are brought to life and accompanied by discussions of key debates such as “Gender and Power”, “The Emergent Individual” and “Society and Class”. Bringing together historical contexts and critical theory, this is essential reading for any student of medieval literature.
List of contents
Part One – Introduction
Part Two – A Cultural Overview
Part Three - Texts, Writers and Contexts
Fantasy and Fairy: the Breton Lay
Extended Commentary: Sir Orfeo
Short and (Bitter) Sweet: Medieval Lyrics
Extended Commentary: When the nyhtegale singes, the wodes waxen grene
The Many Faces of Arthurian Romance
Extended Commentary: Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’
Dream and Vision: A Space Odyssey
Extended Commentary: William Langland, Piers Plowman, Passus 18
Acting Up: Medieval Drama
Extended Commentary: The York ‘Play of the Crucifixion’
Chapter Eight: Mystical Love and Devotion
Extended Commentary: Nicholas Love, The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ
Part Four - Critical Theories and Debates
The Emergent Individual
Gender and Power
Fun and Games
Society and Class
Part Five – References and Resources
Timelines
Further reading
Index
About the author
Dr Carole Maddern has been a lecturer at Goldsmiths College, University of London, since 1994. She is currently convenor of Old English and Deputy Chair of the External Degree English Programme. She has extensive experience at teaching in many University of London colleges. She lectures on both Old English and Later Medieval literature and has written several guides for students for the University of London. She has also published with the London Medieval Society, which she helped to run for seven years. She has delivered many conference papers at national and international gatherings. Her main research interests are Medieval romance, women in Medieval literature, Medieval drama, and gender studies. She has a monograph entitled ‘The Figure of the Travelling Woman in Medieval English Romance’ which is being prepared for publication.
Summary
This volume spans five centuries of post-Conquest literature, written at a time in which enormous social, political and linguistic changes transformed life in Britain. Medieval genres such as Arthurian romance, lyrics, dream narratives and mystery plays are brought to life and accompanied by discussions of key debates such as “Gender and Power”, “The Emergent Individual” and “Society and Class”. Bringing together historical contexts and critical theory, this is essential reading for any student of medieval literature.
