ENGLISH 4260: CHAUCER
F. GRADY FALL
2016
461
LUCAS MW
9:30-10:45
516-5510 JC
PENNEY 63
M
1:00-2:30, T 12:30-2:00 [#13865]
&
by appointment fgrady@umsl.edu
Three
hundred years after Chaucer's death, John Dryden called him "the father of
English poetry"; now, three hundred years after that, his work is more
closely and widely studied than ever before.
His best-known and final poem, The Canterbury Tales, is justly
celebrated for its richness and variety, both literary—it includes romances,
fabliaux, sermons, hagiographies, fantasies, satires, treatises, fables and exempla--and thematic, with its explorations
of courtly love and scatology, piety and impiety, chivalry and pacifism,
fidelity and adultery. But even if
Chaucer had never written the Tales,
he would still be celebrated as the most versatile English writer of his era,
for his dream visions, his prose translations, his short lyrics, and for the
greatest of Middle English poems, Troilus
and Criseyde.
This
semester we’ll take a tour through this remarkable career, surveying some
of Chaucer’s work in these many genres.
We’ll begin with a pair of early poems, leap ahead to a selection of Canterbury Tales, and finish with Troilus. Along the way we’ll touch on the work of some
of his contemporaries, and we’ll also explore the ways in which Chaucer’s work has proven
amenable—or susceptible—to contemporary critical approaches attentive to issues
of gender, class, ideology, and language.
The literature of the Middle Ages has the sometimes baffling
quality of seeming simultaneously foreign and familiar, since in this
historically remote period the basic structures (and basic problems) of
contemporary Western culture were in the making; appreciating and understanding
medieval texts thus requires (and can help foster) some intellectual agility
and an open mind. All Chaucer reading will be in Middle English; previous experience
with the language will be an asset, but is not required—plenty of experience
will be provided.
Course
Requirements: Two five- to six-page essays (±1500 words),
20% each; one Chaucerian imitation, 15%; course wiki
entries, 10%; 2 mini-test/review/midterm exercises, 7½ % each; final exam,
15%; in-class quizzes, 5%. You will have multiple opportunities to hand in the
essays, though everyone must submit at least one essay by 10/18. I will post a non-exhaustive list of topics
about ten days in advance of each essay due date, which can be found on the
syllabus below; a useful overview can also be found here.
Faithful (i.e., perfect) attendance is expected; quizzes may not be made up,
and four or more unexcused absences will certainly have an adverse
affect on your grade. (Further details on the English Department’s goals
for 4000-level courses can be found here.)
Plagiarism on papers, electronic or the old-fashioned kind, will mean an
instant F for the assignment, my undying disapprobation, and possible
disciplinary action by the university; please refer to this site for further details, and please please please ask me if you have any questions.
Basic course materials (including class powerpoints)
will be posted on MyGateway, while the syllabus
website linked to my own homepage (http://www.umsl.edu/~gradyf) will be the main one for the course, with links to
supplementary materials and other Chaucer-related sites on the web.
Required Texts:
·
The Canterbury
Tales: Fifteen Tales and the General Prologue, ed. V.A. Kolve
and Glending Olson (Norton Critical Edition), 2nd
ed. W.W. Norton & Co, 2005 / 978-0-393-95287-6 [hence 15CT]
·
Dream
Visions and Other Poems, ed. Kathyrn
L. Lynch (Norton
Critical Edition). W.W. Norton & Co, 2007 / 978-0-393-92588-3
[hence DV]
·
Troilus
and Criseyde, ed. Barry Windeatt
(Penguin
Classics). Penguin, 2004 / 978-0-140-42421-8 [hence TC]
·
A selection of critical articles,
available as pdfs on MyGateway
TENTATIVE
SYLLABUS:
M AUG 22 Introduction:
Thinking About the Middle Ages; Reading Middle English
W AUG 24 Really reading Middle English: The Book of the Duchess
·
“Chaucer’s
Language,” 15CT xv-xix
·
The Book of the
Duchess,
ll. 1-290 (DV 3-13)
M AUG 29 How
Not to Cheer Up Your Boss: The Book
of the Duchess
·
The Book of the
Duchess,
ll. 291-1334 (DV 13-37)
W AUG 31 Back
to Bed: The Parliament of Fowls
·
The Parliament of
Fowls
ll.1-308 (DV 93-105)
M SEP 5 LABOR DAY—NO CLASS
W SEP 7 Yes,
That’s Where Valentine’s Day Comes From: The Parliament of Fowls
·
The Parliament of
Fowls
ll. 309-699 (DV 93-105)
·
Strohm, “The social and literary scene in England” (MyGateway)
M SEP 12 The
Canterbury Tales: Pilgrimage, Estates Satire, Sentence
and Solaas
·
General
Prologue to the Canterbury Tales (ll. 1-544, 715-858/15CT 3-16, 20-23)
·
Prologue excerpts from Piers Plowman (MyGateway)
W SEP 14 The
Knight’s Tale: Philosophical romance?
·
Knight’s Tale I
(ll. 859-1354/15CT 23-34)
M SEP 19 The Knight’s Tale: The story of Theseus; the interrupted triumph
·
Knight’s Tale
II-IV (ll.1355-3108/15CT 34-71)
W SEP 21 The
Knight’s Tale: Symmetry, Irony,
Chivalry
·
Muscatine, “Form, Texture, and
Meaning in Chaucer's Knight's Tale”
·
Miller's Prologue (ll.
3109-3186/15CT 71-73)
o
TH SEP 22
First Essay Due Date
M SEP 26 The Miller’s Tale: fabliau justice
·
Miller's Tale
(ll. 3187-3854/15CT 73-88)
·
Patterson, “Chaucer” (MyGateway)
W SEP 28 The Reeve’s
Tale: the quiting
game; the
structure of the Tales
·
Reeve’s Prologue and Tale (ll. 3855-4324/15CT 88-99)
·
First
Midterm Review Exercise
M OCT 3 The
Wife of Bath's Prologue:
Wives versus clerks, round 1
·
Wife of Bath's Prologue
(1-856/15CT 102-121)
W OCT 5 The Wife of
Bath's Tale: Romance revisited
·
Wife of Bath's Tale (857-1264/15CT 121-30)
M OCT 10 The Wife of Bath's
Tale: Romance revisited, revisited
·
John Gower, The Tale of Florent (MyGateway)
W OCT 12 The Prioresse’s Tale: Piety and impiety continued; medieval
antisemitism
·
Prioresse's Tale (453-690/15CT
248-54)
·
Franklin's Prologue and Tale (673-1624/15CT
212-233)
o
T OCT
18 Second Essay Due Date
·
Kittredge, from “Chaucer’s Discussion
of Marriage” (Mygateway)
·
Lipton, “Beyond Kittredge: Teaching
Marriage in The Canterbury Tales” (Mygateway)
M OCT 24 The
Pardoner's Tale: Sermon
and self-representation; Radix malorum est cupiditas
·
Pardoner's Prologue and Tale (314-968/15CT 233-48)
W OCT 26 A Day
with No Middle English!
·
Second
Midterm Review Exercise
·
Chaucer Imitation Workshop
·
Cake!
M OCT 31 The
Nun’s Priest’s Tale: Aesop meets Aquinas
·
Nun’s Priest’s
Tale
(2808-3446/15CT 270-84)
W NOV 2 Troilus
and Criseyde I: Troy in the Middle Ages
·
Troilus and
Criseyde Book 1 (1.1-1092;
TC 3-50)
M NOV 7 Troilus and Criseyde II: Pandering
·
Troilus and
Criseyde Book 2 (2.1-938;
TC 51-89)
W NOV 9 Troilus and Criseyde II: Meet
Cute
·
Troilus and
Criseyde Book 2 (2.939-1755;
TC 89-122)
M NOV 14 Troilus and Criseyde III: Meet
Secret
·
Troilus and
Criseyde Book 3 (3.1-980;
TC 123-163)
o
T NOV 15
Third Essay Due Date
W NOV 16 Troilus and Criseyde: Aubes and Afterwards
·
Troilus and
Criseyde Book 3 (3.981-1820;
TC 163-197)
M NOV 21/W NOV 23 THANKSGIVING BREAK--NO CLASS MEETINGS
M NOV 28 Troilus and Criseyde IV: “But…”
·
Troilus and
Criseyde Book 4 (4.1-1701;
TC 199-267)
o
T NOV 29 Chaucer Imitations due
W NOV 30 Troilus and Criseyde V: Diomede
Cuts In
·
Troilus and
Criseyde Book 5 (5.1-840;
TC 269-304)
M DEC 5 Troilus and Criseyde: "Go,
litel myn tragedye..."
·
Troilus and
Criseyde Book 5(5.841-1869;
TC 304-47)
W DEC 7 TBA
o
M DEC 12 Fourth Essay Due Date
W DEC 14 FINAL
EXAM 7:45AM-9:45AM
Students with disabilities who
believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to
contact the Disability Access Services Office in 144 Millennium Student
Center at 516-6554 as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations
are arranged in a timely fashion.