ENGLISH 4260: CHAUCER

 

FRANK GRADY

 

SPRING 2020

461 LUCAS

 

MW 11:00-12:15

516-5510 / fgrady@umsl.edu

 

JC Penney 63

M 2:30-4:00, W 1:00-2:30

 

[SEC. 001, #14048]

& by appointment

 

 

 

                                                           

             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.

 

          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.  Finally, we’ll also explore some aspects of medievalism, that is, the ways in which “the middle ages” are received, represented, and put to use in modern culture, politics, literature and film.

 

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 longer essays (±1800 words), 20% and 25%; one Chaucerian imitation, 15%; two in-class presentations, 5% each ; two term-ID quizzes, 7.5% 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 2/21; 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 Norton Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, ed. David Lawton

·(Norton, 2020; hence NCCT). Any complete Canterbury Tales in Middle English will do, but I’m keen to test-drive this brand-new edition, which by the way comes with a free e-book version.

·        A selection of critical articles, available as pdfs on Canvas.

Tentative Syllabus:

WEEK

DATE

READING

ASSIGNMENTS

1

 

JAN 22

 

Introduction: Thinking About the Middle Ages; Reading Middle English

 

 

 

 

 

2

JAN 27

 

 

 

Really reading Middle English: The Manciple’s Tale

·        “Chaucer’s Language and Meter,” NCCT 35-45

·        “Teach Yourself to Read Chaucer,” lessons 2-5

·        Manciple’s Tale (105-362 / pp. 494-99)

 

 

JAN 29

The Canterbury Tales: Pilgrimage & Estates Satire

·        General Prologue (1-284 / pp. 52-53, 57-63)

·        “Reading Chaucer Tutorial” at

            https://digital.wwnorton.com/canterbury

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

FEB 3

 

 

 

General Prologue: Sentence and Solaas; England in the Fourteenth Century

·        General Prologue (285-858, Coghill translation [Canvas])

·        Strohm, “The social and literary scene in England” (Canvas)

 

 

FEB 5

 

 

The Knight’s Tale: The story of Theseus; the interrupted triumph

·        Knight’s Tale I (859-1354 / pp. 76-86)

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

FEB 10

 

The Knight’s Tale: Philosophical romance?

·        Knight’s Tale II-III (1355-2482 / pp. 76-109)

 

 

FEB 12

 

 

The Knight’s Tale: Symmetry, Irony, Chivalry

·        Knight’s Tale IV (2483-3108 / pp. 109-22)

 

 

 

 

 

5

FEB 17

 

The Miller's Prologue: "ernest" & "game"; a new kind of order

·        Miller's Prologue (3109-3186 / pp. 122-24)

·        Muscatine, “Form, Texture, and Meaning in Chaucer's Knight's Tale” (Canvas)

 

 

FEB 19

The Miller’s Tale: fabliau justice

·        Miller's Tale (3187-3854 / pp. 124-38)

 

 

 

 

 

FRI FEB 21

Short Essay Due

6

FEB 24

The Reeve’s Tale: the quiting game

·        Reeve’s Prologue and Tale (3855-4324 / pp. 138-48)

·        Patterson, “Chaucer” (Canvas)

 

 

FEB 26

 

 

First Fragment: critical reflections

·        Reading TBA

 

 

 

 

 

7

MAR 2

 

 

The Wife of Bath's Prologue:Wives versus clerks, round 1

·        Wife of Bath's Prologue (1-856 / pp. 181-82, 183-202)

 

Man of Law’s Tale summary

MAR 4

 

 

The Wife of Bath's Tale: Romance revisited

·        Wife of Bath's Tale (857-1264 / pp. 203-201)

 

 

 

 

 

8

MAR 9

 

 

The Wife of Bath's Tale: Romance revisited, revisited

·        John Gower, The Tale of Florent (Canvas)

 

MAR 11

 

Chaucer: Life and Times

·        “Chaucer’s Life” & “Chaucer’s London,” NCCT 5-13

·        14th Century slideshow

 

Clerk’s and Merchant’s Tales summaries

 

 

 

9

MAR 16

The Franklin’s Tale:  Love and "maistrie"

·        Franklin's Prologue and Tale (673-1624 / pp. 307-28)

 

 

MAR 18

The Franklin’s Tale:  demandes d’amour

·        Kittredge, “The Marriage Group” (Canvas)

·        ID term quiz #1

 

 

 

 

 

FRI MAR 20

1st Essay Due Date

 

MAR 23 & 25                          SPRING BREAK

 

 

 

 

10

MAR 30

 

TBA

 

 

APR 1

 

TBA

 

 

 

 

 

11

APR 6

 

 

 

The Pardoner's Tale: Sermon and self-representation; Radix malorum est cupiditas

·        Pardoner's Prologue and Tale (314-968 / pp. 233-48)

 

Friar’s & Summoner’s Tales summaries

APR 8

 

 

 

Shipman and Prioresse: Piety and  impiety continued; medieval antisemitism

·        Shipman’s Tale ( 1-434 / 359-67)

·        Prioresse's Tale (434-690 / pp. 367-73)

 

Second  Nun’s Tale summary

 

 

 

 

12

APR 13

 

Thopas and Melibee: Chaucerian signature

·        Prologue and Tale of Sir Thopas (691-918 / pp. 373-79)

·        Prologue and Tale of Melibee (pp. 379-88, 416-18)

 

 

APR 15

 

 

The Monk’s Tale: De casibus tragedy and its discontents

·        Monk's Prologue and Tale (1889-2807 / 418-440)

 

 

 

 

 

MON APR 13

2nd Essay Due Date

13

APR 20

 

The Nun’s Priest’s Tale: Aesop meets Aquinas

·        Nun's Priest's Prologue and Tale (2808-3446 / pp. 440-54)

 

 

APR 22

 

 

The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, cont.

·        Bose, “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” (Canvas)

 

 

 

 

 

 

14

APR 27

 

 

The Parson’s Tale: No more fables

·        Parson's Prologue and Tale (1-74, “Lust” / pp. 501-03,

           552-61)

·        Chaucer’s Retractions (p. 570)

·        Grady, “Moral Chaucer” (Canvas)

 

 

APR 29

 

·        Imitation workshop

·        ID term quiz #2

 

 

 

 

 

FRI MAY 1 

3rd Essay Due Date

15

MAY 4

 

TBA

 

MAY 6

 

 

TBA

Chaucer Imitations Due

 

 

 

 

 

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.