Dante’s Divine Comedy in Early Renaissance England: The Collision of Two Worlds

Author / Editor
Hughes, Jonathan.

Title
Dante’s Divine Comedy in Early Renaissance England: The Collision of Two Worlds

Published
New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022.

Physical Description
xiv, 426 pp.; b&w illus.

Description
Studies the reception of Dante in England, 1370–1450, focusing on ecclesiastical concerns about the "Divine Comedy" (DC) and literary responses to the poem and its worldview. Includes assessment of possible routes for Chaucer's initial access to DC (through travel and otherwise) and contrasts the poets' uses of the vernacular and their attitudes toward the literary legacy of Rome, especially Statius and Virgil. Reviews connections between DC and HF, TC, MkT, and other works, with an extended discussion of parallels between Criseyde and Dante's Francesca. Recurrently suggests Chaucer's role in mediating Dante's influence and emphasizes their intellectual differences.

Chaucer Subjects
Soutces, Analogues, and Literary Relations
Chaucer's Life
House of Fame
Troilus and Criseyde
Monk and His Taler