ENGLISH 201
CHAUCER: The
Canterbury Tales
F. GRADY SPRING 2015
LAIRD 204A MW 1:50-3:00,
222-4318 F 2:20-3:20
MW 11:15-12:15, T 11:00-12:30 LAIRD 212
& 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. 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 often annoying quality of seeming
simultaneously foreign and familiar, since in the period the basic structures
(and basic problems) of contemporary Western culture were in the making. Appreciating and understanding medieval texts
thus requires some intellectual agility and an open mind, as our assumptions
will interact in various and sometimes unpredictable ways with the expectations
of the texts we study. Take some time to
think about the reading as you prepare to discuss it: what happens in it (and
to whom), what it assumes that you know (about the world, about how people
ought to behave, and about how they actually do), what it thinks is important
and interesting and why.
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), 15% and 20%; two Chaucerian imitations, 15% each; 2 in-class
summaries, 10%; final take-home essay/third imitation, 15%; class grade
(attendance, participation, quizzes), 10%. You will have multiple opportunities
to hand in the essays and imitations, though everyone must submit the portrait
assignment due 4/14 and the first essay due 4/23; I will distribute a
non-exhaustive list of topics about a week in advance of each due date, with
copies also posted on the web. Faithful
(i.e., perfect) attendance is expected; quizzes may not be made up, and four or
more absences from class will certainly have an adverse effect 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
College; please refer to this site for further details, and
please please please ask me
if you have any questions.
Basic course
materials (including powerpoints) will be posted on
Moodle, while the main syllabus page (http://www.umsl.edu/~gradyf/eng201sp2013.htm),
linked to my own homepage (http://www.umsl.edu/~gradyf/),
will offer multiple links to supplementary materials and other Chaucer-related sites on the web.
Required Texts:
·
Chaucer,
Geoffrey, The Canterbury Tales. Ed. Jill Mann.
Penguin, 2005. Paperback. ISBN: 9780140422344 (hence CT)
TENTATIVE SYLLABUS:
M MAR 30 Introduction: Thinking About
the Middle Ages; Reading
Middle English
W APR 1 Really
reading Middle English: The Manciple’s Tale
“Chaucer’s
Language” (CT liii-lx)
The Manciple’s Tale (CT 681-690)
F APR 3 England in the Fourteenth Century; The Canterbury Tales
General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales (I.1-444/CT 3-19)
*Strohm, “The
social and literary scene in England”
M APR 6 The
Canterbury Tales: Pilgrimage,
Estates Satire, Sentence and Solaas
General Prologue to the Canterbury
Tales (I.445-858/CT 19-35)
*Prologue excerpts from Piers
Plowman
W APR 8 General Prologue: Governaunce and the structure of the Tales
*Donaldson, “Chaucer the Pilgrim”
Portrait development workshop
F APR 10 The Knight’s Tale: Philosophical
romance?
Knight’s
Tale I (I.859-1354/CT 35-52)
M APR 13 The Knight’s Tale: The story of Theseus; the interrupted triumph
Knight’s
Tale II-IV (I.1355-3108/CT 53-114)
**T APR 14 Portrait imitation due**
W APR 15 The Knight’s Tale: Symmetry,
Irony, Chivalry
*Muscatine, “Form, Texture, and
Meaning in Chaucer's Knight's Tale”
Miller's Prologue (I 3109-3186/CT
114-117)
F APR 17 The Miller’s Tale: fabliau justice
Miller's Tale (I 3187-3854/CT 117-141)
*Patterson, “Chaucer”
M APR 20 The Reeve’s
Tale: the quiting
game
Reeve’s
Prologue and Tale (I 3855-4324/CT 142-160)
W APR 22 The Man of Law’s Tale: Hagiography and romance
Man of Law's Prologue and
Tale I & II (II 1-875/CT 164-98)
F APR 24 The Man of Law’s Tale: Hagiography and romance and feminism?
Man
of Law's Tale III (II 876-1190/BCT 198-210)
*Dinshaw,
from Chaucer’s Sexual Poetics
**Sa APR 25 First essay due
date**
M APR 27 The Wife of Bath's
Prologue: Wives versus
clerks, round 1
Wife
of Bath's Prologue (III 1-856/CT 211-41)
W APR 29 The Wife of
Bath's Tale: Romance revisited
Wife of Bath's Tale (III 857-1264/CT
241-55)
F MAY 1
The Wife of Bath's Tale: Romance revisited, revisited
*John Gower, The Tale of Florent
M MAY 4 NO CLASS --
MID-TERM BREAK
W MAY 6
Friar and Summoner: Chaucerian (and other) anticlericalisms
Friar's
Prologue and Tale (III 1265-1664/CT
255-69)
Summoner's Prologue and Tale (III 1665-2294/ CT 270-92)
F MAY 8 NO CLASS
-- FG CONFERENCE TRAVEL
**First possible
second essay due date**
M MAY 11 The Clerk’s Tale: Wives versus clerks, round 2
Clerk's Tale I-IV (IV 1-784/CT 293-322)
W MAY 13 The Clerk’s
Tale: Petrarch vs. Boccaccio
vs. Chaucer vs. Chaucer
Clerk's Tale V-VI (IV 785-1212/CT
322-39)
F MAY 15 The
Franklin’s Tale: Love and "maistrie"
Franklin's
Prologue and Tale (V 673-1624/CT
406-38)
M MAY 18 The
Franklin’s Tale: demandes
d’amour
*Kittredge,
from “Chaucer’s Discussion of Marriage”
*Lipton, “Beyond Kittredge: Teaching Marriage
in The Canterbury Tales”
**Clerk’s Tale imitation due**
W MAY 20 The
Pardoner's Tale: Lips Are Movin’
Pardoner's Prologue and Tale (VI 329-968/CT
449-73)
**TH MAY 19 Second
possible second essay due date**
F MAY 22 Shipman and Prioresse:
Piety and impiety continued; medieval antisemitism
Shipman's
Tale (VII 1-452/CT 474-89)
Prioresse's
Tale (VII 453-690/CT 489-99)
M MAY 25 Thopas and Melibee:
Chaucerian signature
Prologue
and Tale of Sir Thopas
(VII 691-966/CT 500-11)
Tale of Melibee (VII 967-1199, 1769-1888/CT 511-26,
556-61)
W MAY 27 The Monk’s Tale: De casibus tragedy & its discontents
Monk's
Prologue and Tale (VII 1889-2766/CT
562-98)
F MAY 29 The Nun’s Priest’s Tale: Aesop meets Aquinas
Nun's
Priest's Prologue and Tale (VII 2767-3446/CT 599-621)
M JUN 1 The Parson’s Tale: No more fables
Parson's
Prologue and Tale (excerpts) (X 1-175/CT
691-701, plus your
favorite sin!)
Retractions (CT 782-83)
**T JUN 2 Third possible
second essay due date**
**Monk’s Tale / Melibee imitations due**
W JUN 3 TBA
**M JUN 8 Take-home essay / Third
imitation due**
Carleton College is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to
students with disabilities. Students seeking accommodations should contact the
Coordinator of Disability Services, Andy Christensen, at 222-4464 or
anchrist@carleton.edu, to begin the process.