Chaucer and the Universe of Learning
- Author / Editor
- Astell, Ann W.
Chaucer and the Universe of Learning
- Published
- Ithaca, N.Y.; and London:
- Cornell University Press, 1996.
- Physical Description
- xvi, 254 pp.
- Description
- In the Ellesmere arrangement, CT forms a unified whole, modeled on the seven planets and on the traditional divisions of philosophy, offering a "planetary pilgrimage" and a philosophical "journey of the soul." Like Gower's "Confessio Amantis," CT is an "ordered collection of exemplary stories," structurally tripartite.
- The two works are also similar in that each "involves its reader as an active participant in the construction of its meaning." A planetary scheme connects CT and Dante's "Paradiso," even though their audiences differ and Chaucer has "[n]o unequivocally authoritative guide for his pilgrims." Not a court poet, Chaucer belongs among the literate and bookish crowd of England, and his work is best viewed in the genre familiar to his audience.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Canterbury Tales--General.
- Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations.