Before the Closet: Same-Sex Love from Beowulf to Angels in America

Author / Editor
Frantzen, Allen J.

Title
Before the Closet: Same-Sex Love from Beowulf to Angels in America

Published
Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1998.

Physical Description
x, 369 pp.

Description
Examines same-sex love in English literature and culture between 600 and 1200, with commentary on later tradition.
Contains recurrent references to Chaucer's works, including GP, RvT, ParsT, and, especially, MLT.
Although Chaucer "made nothing of" the love between Custance and Hermengyld, "it is same-sex love."

Chaucer Subjects
Background and General Criticism.
Man of Law and His Tale.