Oxford Guides to Chaucer The Shorter Poems [Hardcover]

This third volume in the popularOxford Guides to Chaucerseries offers a much needed introduction to Chaucer's shorter poems. The introductory chapters on the social and cultural contexts of the shorter poems are supplemented by a guide to the genre they mostly exemplify--the love-vision form. The volume then provides in-depth, individual chapters on theBook of the Duchess, theHouse of Fame, theParliament of Fowls, theLegend of Good Women, and the short poems, and includes an extensive appendix on Chaucer's language. Combining the best of old and new critical methods and research, this lively, provocative, and comprehensive book will make accessible a crucial portion of Chaucer's work for students and general readers.

A superb guide....This admirably erudite can be used and appreciated by undergraduates: it offers multiple approaches to interpretation and accurate and concise summaries....Strongly recommended for all libraries with English literature collections. --Choice

It is astute in its attention to social and political history, rich in its digesting and analysis of sources, tirelessly energetic in its devotion to detail, deft and judicious in its winnowing of a vast body of criticism. Minnis is probably unrivalled among Chaucerians in the breadth of his knowledge of Chaucer's literary background, and he has produced an extraordinarily informative book. --The Medieval Review

...the author's voice, opinions and quite engaging literary allusions and wordplay make this a good critical read as well as a first-rate reference book and vandemecum. --Studies in the Age of Chaucer

...an important volume that most libraries and many individual Chaucerians will want to purchase....a delightful tribute to Alastair Minnis's long devotion to medieval studies. --Speculum-A Journal of Medieval Studies