ENGLISH
4260: CHAUCER
F. GRADY SPRING
2018
461 LUCAS MW
9:30-10:45
MW 1:00-2:30 JC
PENNEY 63 & by appointment
fgrady@umsl.edu / 516-5510
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 poem, The Canterbury Tales, is justly celebrated
for its richness and variety, both literary--the Tales include fabliaux,
romances, 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. At the same time, The Canterbury Tales
has also routinely been the target of censorship--it happened as recently as
1995 in Eureka, Illinois, 175 miles away.
This semester we'll study those Tales
in as much depth as we can manage, to try to figure
out what might make them so compelling, or, alternately, so disturbing. 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, 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:
·
One short essay (± 800 words), 15%; two five-
to six-page essays (±1800 words), 20% each; two Chaucerian imitations, 15%
each; in-class tale summary, 5%; two term-ID quizzes, 5% each = 100%. Written assignments will typically receive
letter grades.
·
You will have multiple opportunities to hand
in the longer essays, though everyone must submit the short essay due 2/23; I
will distribute a non-exhaustive list of topics about ten days before each due
date, with copies also posted online.
You can view my policy on extensions
here.
·
Faithful (i.e., perfect) attendance is
expected; five or more absences from class will certainly have an adverse affect on your grade.
·
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, about anything,
ever.
Basic course materials (including
class powerpoints) will be posted on Canvas, while
the syllabus website linked to my own homepage (http://www.umsl.edu/~gradyf) will be the main one for the course, with regularly
updated links to supplementary materials and other Chaucer-related sites on the web. Further details on the English Department’s goals for 4000-level
courses can be found here.
Required
Texts:
Chaucer, Geoffrey, The Canterbury Tales: Fifteen Tales and the General Prologue, 2nd Norton Critical Edition, ed. Kolve and Olson
·
(Norton,
2005). Any complete Canterbury Tales in Middle English will do, but we’ll be reading
some secondary material from this edition.
·
A
selection of critical articles, available as pdfs on Canvas.
Tentative
Syllabus:
|
WEEK |
DATE |
READING |
ASSIGNMENTS |
|
1 |
JAN 17 |
Introduction:
Thinking About the Middle Ages; Reading Middle English |
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2 |
JAN 22 |
Really
reading Middle English: The Manciple’s
Tale ·
“Chaucer’s
Language,” xv-xix ·
“Teach
Yourself to Read Chaucer,” lessons 2-5 ·
Manciple’s
Tale (105-362 / pp. 287-93) |
|
|
JAN 24 |
England in the Fourteenth Century; The Canterbury Tales ·
General Prologue
(1-308 / pp. 3-10) ·
Strohm, “The social and literary scene in England” (Canvas) |
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3 |
JAN 29 |
General
Prologue:
Pilgrimage & Estates Satire ·
General Prologue
(309-714 / pp. 10-20) ·
Wimbledon’s Sermon (pp. 333-35), Gower on monks (pp.
337-38), excerpts from Piers Plowman (Canvas) |
|
|
JAN 31 |
General Prologue: Sentence and Solaas; Governaunce ·
General Prologue
(715-858 / pp. 20-23) ·
Donaldson,
”Chaucer the Pilgrim” (pp. 503-11) ·
Portrait
workshop |
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4 |
FEB 5 |
The Knight’s Tale: The story of Theseus; the interrupted triumph ·
Knight’s Tale I
(859-1354 / pp.23-34) |
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FEB 7 |
The
Knight’s Tale: Philosophical
romance? ·
Knight’s Tale
II (1355-1880 / pp. 34-45) |
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FRI FEB 9 Portrait Imitation Due |
|
5 |
FEB 12 |
The
Knight’s Tale: Symmetry, Irony,
Chivalry ·
Knight’s Tale
III-IV (1880-3108 / pp. 45-71) |
|
|
FEB 14 |
The Miller's Prologue: "ernest"
& "game"; a new kind of order ·
Miller's Prologue (3109-3186
/ pp. 71-73) ·
Muscatine,
“Form, Texture, and Meaning in Chaucer's Knight's Tale” (Canvas) |
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6 |
FEB 19 |
The Miller’s Tale: fabliau justice ·
Miller's Tale (3187-3854 / pp. 73-88) ·
Patterson, “Chaucer” (Canvas) |
|
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FEB 21 |
The
Reeve’s Tale: the quiting
game ·
Reeve’s Prologue and Tale (3855-4324 / pp. 89-99) |
||
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7 |
FEB 26 |
The Cook’s
Tale; the
First Fragment reviewed;
the MSS and order of the Tales |
|
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FEB 28 |
The
Wife of Bath's
Prologue: Wives versus clerks, round 1 ·
Wife of Bath's Prologue
(1-856 / pp. 102-121) |
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8 |
MAR 5 |
The
Wife of Bath's Tale:
Romance revisited ·
Wife of Bath's Tale (857-1264
/ pp. 121-30) |
|
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MAR 7 |
The
Wife of Bath's Tale: Romance
revisited, revisited ·
John
Gower, The Tale of Florent
( 1396-1871 / pp. 386-96) |
|
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9 |
MAR 12 |
The
Clerk’s Tale: Wives versus clerks,
round 2 ·
Clerk's Tale
I-III (1-609 / pp. 154-169) |
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MAR 14 |
The Clerk’s Tale: Wives versus clerks, round 2 ·
Clerk's Tale
IV-VI (610-1212g / pp. 154-169) |
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10 |
MAR 19 |
The Franklin’s Tale: Love and
"maistrie" ·
Franklin's Prologue and Tale (V 674-1624 / pp. 212-233) |
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MAR 21 |
The Franklin’s Tale: demandes d’amour ·
Kittredge,
“The Marriage Group” (pp. 539-46) |
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MAR 26 & 28 SPRING BREAK |
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11 |
APR 2 |
Friar and Summoner: Chaucerian (and other) anticlericalisms ·
Summoner's Prologue
and Tale (1665-2294 / pp.140-54) |
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APR4 |
The Pardoner's
Tale: Sermon and self-representation; Radix malorum est cupiditas ·
Pardoner's Prologue and Tale (314-968 / pp. 233-48) |
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12 |
APR 9 |
Shipman and Prioresse:
Piety and impiety continued; medieval
antisemitism ·
Prioresse's Tale (453-690 / pp. 248-54) |
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APR 11 |
Critical Coffeehouse |
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13 |
APR 16 |
Thopas and Melibee: Chaucerian signature ·
Prologue and Tale of Sir Thopas (691-918 / pp. 255-60
·
Prologue and Tale of Melibee (919-1886 / pp. 261-68 ·
Strohm, “Chaucer’s Crisis” (Canvas) |
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APR 18 |
The
Monk’s Tale: De casibus tragedy and its discontents ·
Monk's Prologue and Tale (Canvas) |
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14 |
APR 23 |
The Nun’s Priest’s
Tale: Aesop meets Aquinas ·
Nun's Priest's Prologue and Tale (2767-3446 / pp. 270-84) ·
Imitation
Workshop |
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APR 25 |
The Nun’s Priest’s
Tale, cont. |
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15 |
APR 30 |
The
Parson’s Tale: No more fables ·
Parson's Prologue
and Tale (1-74, 836-955 / pp.
293-307) ·
Chaucer’s Retractions
(pp. 306-07) |
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MAY 2 |
·
Reading TBA |
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Students with
disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are
encouraged to contact the Disability
Access Services Office in 131 Millennium Student Center at 516-6554 as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are
arranged in a timely fashion.
