Darby, Catherine.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.
Historical novel about the lives of Philippa de Roet and her sister Katherine, focusing on their relations with Chaucer, John of Gaunt, and the English court circles.
Goodman, Anthony.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992.
Historical biography that emphasizes John of Gaunt's reverence for royal authority and his consistent service to the English Crown. Unlike many magnates, Gaunt pursued personal ambitions within a royalist ideology, foreshadowing Tudor ideals of…
Madsen, Deborah L.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.
Defines allegory by structural features of plot rather than by content, surveying theory and history of the genre from the classics to contemporary criticism. Briefly considers BD and PF as allegories.
Davenport, W. A.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998.
Chaucer was influenced by his English contemporaries, particularly John Gower, William Langland, Thomas Chester, and the Gawain poet; yet he chose to seek new literary directions. Chaucer was on a pilgrimage of self-discovery and a quest for…
An introduction to CT, designed to enable students to approach the poem on their own. Includes sections on style and narrative technique; voice, narration, and form; and themes,tensions, and ambiguities--each with explanatory discussion,summary of…
Jones, Terry, Robert Yeager, Terry Dolan, Alan Fletcher, and Juliette Dor.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 2004; London: Methuen, 2003.
A biography and social history of Chaucer's final years, focusing on Henry Bolingbroke's Lancastrian overthrow of Richard II and the political and social turmoil from which the usurpation resulted and to which it contributed. The book presents Thomas…
Allen, Valerie, and Ares Axiotis, eds.
New York: St. Martin's, 1996.
Reprints fourteen essays originally published in the 1980s and 1990s, all pertaining to CT and characterized by their contemporary theoretical approaches. In the introduction, the editors survey critical approaches to Chaucer and provide suggestions…
Doherty, P. C.
New York: St. Martin's; London: Headline, 1994.
Historical gothic detective fiction set in the frame of the CT, in which a lawyer, modeled on Chaucer's Man of Law, tells a story to the rest of the pilgrims about gruesome murders and the underworld of medieval London. Also published with the…
Doherty, P. C.
New York: St. Martin's; London: Headline, 1994.
Historical gothic detective fiction set in the frame of the CT, in which a knight, modeled on Chaucer's Knight, tells a story to the rest of the pilgrims about age-old vampires, mysterious deaths in Oxford, and a blind exorcist.
Doherty, P. C.
New York: St. Martin's; London: Headline, 1996.
Historical gothic detective fiction set in the frame of the CT, in which a franklin, modeled on Chaucer's Franklin, tells a story to the rest of the pilgrims about a mysterious murder linked to the battle of Poitiers and the parentage of one of the…
Doherty, P. C.
New York: St. Martin's; London: Headline, 1997.
Historical gothic detective fiction set in the frame of the CT, in which a priest, modeled on Chaucer's Parson, tells a story to the rest of the pilgrims about a series of mysterious hauntings and deaths involving Knights Templar.
Robb, Candace [M.]
New York: St. Martin's; London: Heinemann, 1995.
Murder mystery involving a nun who apparently comes back to life; Chaucer figures as a secondary character. Translated into Italian as "La Reliquia Rubata: Thriller Medioevale" (Casale Monferrato: Piemme, 2001).
Robb, Candace [M.]
New York: St. Martin's; London: Heinemann, 1998.
Historical detective novel in which Geoffrey Chaucer, while recruiting Welsh archers for defense against the French, assists Owen Archer's investigations of a murder in Wales.
Kee, Kenneth, ed.
New York: St. Martin's; Toronto: Macmillan of Canada; London: Macmillan, 1966.
Reprints (generally from Chaucer Society publications) selections from Chaucer's short poems (MercB, Ros, Sted, Buk, Adam, and Purse) and from CT (GP, WBPT, MerPT, FranT, NPT, ParPT, and Ret), with sidebar glosses and bottom-of-page explanatory…
Social history of England, particularly London, in the late fourteenth century, focusing on the laboring class and the Uprising of 1381 (Peasants' Revolt). Concentrates on economic conditions, legal practice, sanitation and medicine, plague, urban…
Cooney, Barbara.
New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1958. Rpt. New York: HarperCollins, 1986. Reissued with new cover illustration New York: HarperTrophy, 1989.
NPT, adapted and illustrated for juvenile audience.
Murnighan, Jack, ed.
New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001.
Anthologizes excerpts from more than eighty works of literature, from the Old Testament to the Starr Report, including a selection from WBP (pp. 128-31), modernized by Murnighan; includes an appreciative introduction which refers to the Wife as "a…
Frame-tale science fiction novel with echoes of CT, e.g., quotation of GP 1.12 on the opening page, recurrent references to travelers as "pilgrims," a galactic ship named "Geoffrey," interpolated tales (although purportedly autobiographical), etc.…
Describes Chaucer's life and works, with an introduction to historical backgrounds, a chronology of events, a summary of critical reception, a bibliography for further reading, and an index. The biography emphasizes dates and events, and the survey…
Investigates how historical and textual frames produce meaning. The book situates TC in the history of the Troy legend, discusses the importance of the text, reviews historically significant issues in the reception of TC, explains the concept of the…
Morrison, Theodore, ed.
New York: Viking Press, 1975.
Originally published in 1949, the volume includes modern translations of selections from CT (all except for ShT, Mel, MkT, ClT, SqT, PhyT, MancT, and ParsT, which are described in summary); TC; selections from HF and LGWP; and samples of the short…
Alphabetical dictionary of people, places, institutions, and events of the Middle Ages; the entry on Chaucer (p. 116) summarizes his life and works and comments on his dependence on Boccaccio.
Biography of Chaucer that centers on the events of 1386 when he left London for residence in Kent and, by "virtue of necessity," imagined a new audience for his poetry--the embedded audience of CT, depicted in GP. Explores social, civic, and…
Surveys critiques of court culture in English writing from John of Salisbury to Edmund Spenser; includes discussion of (pp. 124-36) of NPT as a moral-satirical narrative.
Classen, Albrecht, ed.
New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2009.
Twenty-three essays on literary and historical topics ranging from ideas of Rome to medieval European waste. For two essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for Urban Space in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age under Alternative Title.
