The Short Oxford History of English Literature

Published: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. Rev. ed. 1996. 2d ed. 2000. 3rd ed. 2004.

Description: Surveys English literature from the Old English period to "Post-War and Post-Modern Literature," including a chronology and a comprehensive index. The section on Chaucer (pp. 55-63) emphasizes his "delight in the concept of cosmic, natural, and human order," even though he "subverts certain received ideas of degree," particularly undermining the medieval idea of the "natural inferiority of women to men." Comments generally on CT and TC, with more focused discussion of the Wife of Bath, Criseyde, BD, and LGW. Chaucer "assumes a deliberate androgyny," and is the "least egocentric of poets"--the first English poet to display "negative capability."; The Introduction (pp.1-15), entitled "Poets' Corner: The Development of a Canon of English Literature," describes the history of the memorial site in Westminster Abbey, the seminal role of Chaucer's grave in this history, and its relationship with the idea of an English literary canon.

Alternative Title: "Poets' Corner: The Development of a Canon of English Literature."

Chaucer Subjects: Background and General Criticism; Book of the Duchess; Troilus and Criseyde; Legend of Good Women; Wife of Bath and Her Tale; Chaucer's Life