The World Grown Old in Later Medieval Literature
- Author / Editor
- Dean, James M.
The World Grown Old in Later Medieval Literature
- Published
- Cambridge, Mass.: Medieval Academy, 1997.
- Physical Description
- xii, 379 pp.
- Series
- Medieval Academy Books, no. 101.
- Description
- Surveys the "senectus mundi" topos in late-medieval literature, particularly in Latin, French, and English literature, from Jean de Meun to Chaucer. Separate chapters address the topos, Middle English historical writing, Jean de Meun, Dante, "Piers Plowman," Gower, and Chaucer. A recurring concern is the contrast between the depicted present and an ideal past.
- The discussion of Chaucer ("Chaucer and the Decline of Virtue," pp. 271-313) concentrates on his moral lyrics and the depiction of marriage in CT. The lyrics are less ironic and evasive than is CT, but both reflect concern with the demise of "trouthe" and "gentilesse" and a "coarsening of human relationships."
- Chaucer Subjects
- Background and General Criticism.
- Canterbury Tales--General.
- Lyrics and Short Poems.