Reading Women in Late Medieval Europe - (New Middle Ages) by Alfred Thomas (Hardcover)
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Highlights
- Although Chaucer is typically labeled as the "Father of English Literature," evidence shows that his work appealed to Europe and specifically European women.
- About the Author: Alfred Thomas is Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA.
- 251 Pages
- Literary Criticism, European
- Series Name: New Middle Ages
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About the Book
"Critics have traditionally emphasized Geoffrey Chaucer's status as the "Father of English Literature" but in his own time he was more interested in becoming a great European writer. This book shows how Chaucer looked for inspiration not only to the great European male writers of his time (Boccaccio, Petrarch, Dante) but also to a European woman--Queen Anne of Bohemia, wife of Richard II-- as his ideal patron and inspiration" --Book Synopsis
Although Chaucer is typically labeled as the "Father of English Literature," evidence shows that his work appealed to Europe and specifically European women. Rereading the Canterbury Tales, Thomas argues that Chaucer imagined Anne of Bohemia, wife of famed Richard II, as an ideal reader, an aspect that came to greatly affect his writing.Review Quotes
"Reading Women is a rich and compelling addition to the author's earlier work on the pan-European culture of Bohemia, especially as popularized in England by Richard II's Queen Anne." (Linda Burke, Mediaevistik, Vol. 31 (1), 2018)
"Alfred Thomas makes some important advances in our understanding of the affiliations between Bohemia and Britain in the later middle ages - a field of study attracting a rapid growth of interest. This coherent and persuasive study will appeal not only to Chaucerians but also to those working on patronage, cultural transmission, literary influence, gender, saints' lives, and European literature, among many other topics. Alfred Thomas's connectivity with a range of ongoing debates is impressive." - Peter Brown, Professor of English, University of Kent, UK
About the Author
Alfred Thomas is Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. He has published eight books, including, Anne's Bohemia: Czech Literature and Society (1310-1420); A Blessed Shore: England and Bohemia from Chaucer to Shakespeare; Prague Palimpsest: Writing, Memory, and the City; and Shakespeare, Dissent, and the Cold War.
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