Late-Medieval Prison Writing and the Politics of Autobiography

Description: Summers assesses the commonalities and differences among Usk's "The Testament of Love," "The King's Quair" of James I of Scotland, Charles d'Orléans' "English Book of Love," the "Testimony" of William Thorpe, the "Trial" of Richard Wyche, and George Ashby's "A Prisoner's Reflections." Explores the influences on these of Boethius's "Consolation of Philosophy," often mediated by Chaucer's translation, Bo.; Also explores the influences of Chaucer and Gower on the creation of narrative personae in these works, raising questions about how and to what extent prisoner literature can be thought to constitute a genre or to contribute to the development of literary creations of identity.