Chaucer's 'New Men' and the Good of Literature in the 'Canterbury Tales'

Author / Editor
Middleton, Anne.

Title
Chaucer's 'New Men' and the Good of Literature in the 'Canterbury Tales'

Published
Edward W. Said, ed. Literature and Society. Selected Papers from the English Institute. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1980), pp. 15-56.

Description
Chaucer's pilgrims agree that "the pleasure and the use of literature are one thing," that the utility of literature lies not only in the kernel of its theme but in the felicities of its style and the pleasure of its audience as well. In this view, Chaucer anticipates the "new men" of the Renaissance. "Enditing" was to Chaucer a courtly, affirmative art, not a transcendental one.

Contributor
Said, Edward W.,ed.

Alternative Title
Literature and Society.

Chaucer Subjects
Canterbury Tales--General.