Geoffrey Chaucer and the Poetics of Disguise

This work considers virtually all of Geoffrey Chaucer's writings as disguised reflections of matters personal and political. Chaucer wrote in a particularly crucial time of political change in England. He was in a unique position to see and hear more than he dared to express. He developed a 'poetics of disguise' to express his increasingly critical views of British royalty without seeming to criticize or dissent. He utilized the voices of women, pagans, personified abstractions, and birds to create a debate about the social and political issues of the day. New readings of his major works including his short poems are included in this unique analysis.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Foreword Part 2 Preface Chapter 3 Introduction: Telling the Truth, but Telling It Slant Part 4 I. Imitations of What's to Come: People, Places, Events, and Poetry Part 5 II. Dream Worlds Chapter 6 The Book of the Duchess: "Reysed as fro deth to lyve" Chapter 7 The House of Fame: Enter the Eagle Chapter 8 The Parliament of Fowls: The Goddess Natura as Parliamentarian Part 9 III. Pagan Worlds Chapter 10 Troy: "kalendes of chaunge" Chapter 11 Rome and "elleswhere" Chapter 12 Toward "Atthenes" Part 13 IV. Moving Toward Canterbury Chapter 14 The Duke and the Judge Chapter 15 "Cherles Tales" Chapter 16 Rhyming and Royalty Chapter 17 Tales without Women Chapter 18 Jaunty Rhymes and Solemn Prose Chapter 19 Tales without Endings Chapter 20 Those Other Tales Part 21 V. Chaucer in a Different Key: The Short Poems Part 22 Notes Part 23 Works Cited Part 24 About the Author Part 25 Index

About the Author :
Esther Casier Quinn is Professor Emerita at Hunter College, City University of New York. She received her Ph.D. at Columbia University. Professor Quinn belongs to several literary societies with a focus on medieval literature including the New Chaucer Society.

Review :
A great pleasure to read. Esther Quinn's study is unmistakably the work of a born teacher whose sympathetic understanding of Chaucer shines forth on every page. Esther Quinn, over the years, has been one of our most insightful, discriminating interpreters of medieval texts. I look forward to her new study of Chaucer. Quinn presents Chaucer's poetry as a veiled commentary on political events of his time....Quinn's survey of the poetry is impressive. The reader will be stimulated by the author's ability to find allusions to Richard II and others in the most unexpected places. Good bibliography. Recommended. There is a particular pleasure in encountering the reflections of a seasoned scholar as she discusses a poet whose work she has read and taught for the larger part of her life. While such a book may not offer the excitement of revisionist polemic and cutting-edge theory, it furnishes the quieter interest of a mind honed by many years of scholarship and grappling with splendid texts. [Quinn's analysis of the rarely studied 'Prayer to Our Lady,' which she reads as a very personal tribute to the feminineby a poet dealing with his own 'feelings of guilt, remorse, and repentance,' is moving and profound. This is, to say the least, a stimulating book, in many ways a superb book. It is also a feverish book, down to the final sentences Very few who began the war lasted to the end. The world has changed forever. Pegg delivers, as promised, a breathtaking revision. Perhaps we should take a step back and exhale once again, slowly. In this book notable for its scope—it discusses virtually all of Chaucer's poetry—Esther Casier Quinn offers us a sharply focused snapshot of the current state of Chaucer criticism, as well as some intriguing new readings of her own. Given her earlier groundbreaking work on Seth, the oil of life, and the Dry Tree, her thought-provoking account of the Squire's Tale comes as no surprise; throughout the book, she uses her formulation "the poetics of disguise" to explore some basic issues concerning Chaucer's narrative voice and interests. There is a particular pleasure in encountering the reflections of a seasoned scholar as she discusses a poet whose work she has read and taught for the larger part of her life. While such a book may not offer the excitement of revisionist polemic and cutting-edge theory, it furnishes the quieter interest of a mind honed by many years of scholarship and grappling with splendid texts. [Quinn's analysis of the rarely studied 'Prayer to Our Lady,' which she reads as a very personal tribute to the feminine by a poet dealing with his own 'feelings of guilt, remorse, and repentance,' is moving and profound.