Medieval Pop Culture

Beginning with an extensive study on Latin literature, this book gradually moves into a discussion of medieval literature as a whole. There is not much information on Chaucer (I think he is only mentioned 2-3 times in the book), but there is an interesting chapter called "Peasants and saints" which could be helpful for people exploring individual religious relationships or those dealing with Saints and their invocation in The Canterbury Tales. 

Gurevich, Aron. Medieval Popular Culture: Problems of Belief and Perception. Trans. János M. Bak and Paul A. Hollingsworth. Great Britain: University Press, Cambridge, 1993. Print.

Biography of Chaucer

The Life of Geoffrey Chaucer is a useful library book obviously about the life of Chaucer. It's not a collection of articles, but rather a book in almost narrative form. It is separated by chapter and decade, which is useful. The book does mention the Peasant's Revolt of 1381, as well as some other historical context. There's an interesting but probably irrelevant bit about Chaucer's portraits and family tree. Citation as follows:

Pearsall, Derek. The Life of Geoffrey Chaucer: A Critical Biography. Cambridge: Basil       Blackwood Inc., 1994. Print.

Gawain Poet and Religion

The same author who wrote my long work, Pearl, also wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, so a lot of my research stems from these works. In this article, we continue the discussion of religion that we started in class last week. Whether or not Chaucer was a Lollard or had Lollard leanings remains to be seen. Beaston talks not necessarily about the religion of the author, but rather about the various beliefs on salvation presented in the works. Beaston quotes a ton of other scholars, if you need jumping-off points for other research in this area.

Beaston, Lawrence. “The ‘Pearl’-Poet and the Pelagians.” Religion and Literature 36.1 (2004): 15-38. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

Interesting Modern Connection

In Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, there is a reference to Saint Cecelia. Carter has adapted Charles Perrault's original fable "Bluebeard" into a terrifying, sexualized horror story. It is interesting that a medieval saint is referenced in such a tale! The female protagonist of the story is a pianist, and her bridal chamber contains "an early Flemish primitive of Saint Cecelia at her celestial organ (Carter 14)." The description of the saint continues: "In the prim charm of this saint, with her plump, sallow cheeks and crinkled brown hair, I saw myself as I could have wished to be" (14). I think we see the same idealization of women as religious figures in this quote, though with the modern addition of musical talent and beauty on the part of the venerator.

Carter, Angela. The Bloody Chamber. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.

Sir Gawain Companion

To any of you who are thinking of incorporating Sir Gawain and the Green Knight into your papers, this is a good book. I have taken it from the library but am willing to part with it at some point. It has really a really interesting historical introduction and then a bunch of scholarly articles all compiled into one place. There's some supposition on authorial identity, and then a whole section on the poet's culture. There are also three different versions of Sir Gawain included in the back, and photos of the original manuscript as well. The early Brit Lit Norton may be of some use as well...

Brewer, D.S. A Companion to the Gawain-Poet. New York: Boydell & Brewer Ltd., 1997. Print.

Chaucer and the Social Contest

One of the many resources I am using for my paper is a book called Chaucer and the Social Contest. It was written by Peggy Knapp in 1990 and basically puts Chaucer in a perspective that is based on the culture and larger social situations that were happening during the Middle English time period.

This book was very helpful to me because it allowed me to better understand the Canterbury Tales and why he may have written about the certain themes that he did. Obviously, I was not alive during this time, so it helped to put the Canterbury Tales in a better perspective and gave me a clue of how people may have read it or reacted to it based on the time period they were living in.

Knapp covers the ideas like the division of social duties of the time, Wycliffite thought and practice, and the roles of women. For my paper, I mostly focused on her ideas about the roles of women, but maybe there is something else that will interest one of you! I have the book checked out, so just let me know if any of you would like to take a look at it or borrow it!

Here is the citation:

Knapp, Peggy. Chaucer and the Social Contest. New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc., 1990. Print

"The N Town Plays and the Politics of Metatheater"

I have never studied the N Town Plays before this class and I decided I would do a little extra research on the plays in order to familiarize myself with what I was actually reading. I found a great article published in 2003 called "The N Town Plays and Politics of Metatheater." This article, by William Fitzhenry, furthers ideas that are also found in the intro of the N Town Plays. 

He talks about how the N Town scribe-compiler depicts a complex connection or interaction between two theatrical models: the monologic and the dialogic. The former is the idea that the theatrical plays are meant to only transfer knowledge from the stage to the audience. This idea leaves little room for audience participation or even audience analysis of the plays. The latter takes a less authoritative stance, and it allows the members of the audience to have the opportunity to interpret the play for themselves. This connects with ideas found on page 4 of the N Town Plays TEAMS text that we are reading in class. Within the Introduction, it says, "In such a complex religious landscape, it seems likely that contemporary East Anglian audiences included people of diverse sympathies, who may well have interpreted these plays in different ways" (N Town 4). 

When reading these plays, it is important to think about the purpose behind the plays and whether or not it is monologic or dialogic. Obviously, the true origins behind these plays is questionable, and we cannot know these answers for sure, but it helps to draw our own conclusions from the play just as the general audience of East Anglian time did as well. 

Here is the citation link for the article or you can just look up the title online at the library Library. I found it through EBSCO. 

Fitzhenry, William. "The N Town Plays and the Politics of Metatheater." Studies in Philology 100.1. (2003): 22-43. Web. 

http://ftp1.whitworth.edu:3361/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f073ff5e-4e46-4e52-91d1-035ee9299601%40sessionmgr120&vid=1&hid=101