Kevin Roddy's Webpage at UC Davis
Chaucer's Carnival: Pilgrims in Society, II
Course Description: |
Geoffrey Chaucer is known for ribald tales and sly sense of humor, but his major work, The Canterbury Tales, is also a source of exquisite detail about English society towards the end of the fourteenth century: In this second segment, we wiull concentrate on the four most studied tales, which alsoi cast light on the other pilgrims, as they debate matters concerning rural society (The Nun’s Pries's Tale); men and women (The Wife of Bath's Tale); morality (The Pardoner's Tale); and spiritual fantasy (The Sergeant of Law's Tale).Each of thgese gives us perspective on Medieval Life, and demonstrates its breadth and depth.
Text Websites:
Harvard Texts and Translations
For reference on all the pilgrims:
Chaucer's Prologue to the Canterbury Tales (Harvard)
Useful Image Sites:
All Ellesmere images, in tale-telling order
Full pages, end of Prologue, Beginning of Knight's Tale
Digital Library: Complete text
Miller page, Pardoner illustration
Description of Ellesmere Manuscript
Elizabeth Scala
Beginning of Knight's Tale--fine reproduction
More Ellesmere |
Textual Sites:
Online Books Page: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
For example:
Caxton's Editions of 1476 and 1483
http://www.librarius.com/">Modern English side-by-side translation of all tales
Chaucer: Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer:
The Electronic Canterbury Tales (University of Alaska)
Canterbury Tales Project (University of Birmingham)
Digital Catalogue of the pre-1500 Manuscripts and Incunables of the Canterbury Tales (Dan Mosser, University of Vermont)
The New Stemmatics: Data: Canterbury Tales, Old Norse Sólarljóð (Peter Robinson)
CLASS SCHEDULE
February 26:
READING:
The Nuns' Priest Tale, Harvard Website, lines 2808-3446.
Introduction: purpose of the Course.
"The Nun’s Priest's Tale."
March 4: Women and Men
The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale, lines 1-1264.
March 11: Conscience
Pardoner's Prologue and Tale, lines 318-968 :
March 18 Spiritual Fantasy
The Man of Law's Tale, lines 33-1162:
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About the Instructor:
Kevin Roddy has taught Medieval Literature since 1972, at UC Davis, Loyola University, New Orleans, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has published in the Man of Law's Tale, Medieval and Classical Spirituality, and given papers on the Nuns' Priest's Tale, as well as late medieval culture in general. He loves teaching for OLLI because the students there are full of curiosity, which makes instruction a breeze. |
