* Contains both original research and accessible coverage of the key issues -- makes it ideal for students of Chaucer at all levels. * Completely new approach -- the volume highlights themes and issues, rather than being arranged by Chaucera s works.

List of Illustrations viii The Contributors ix Acknowledgements xv Abbreviations of Chaucer's Works xvi The Idea of a Chaucer Companion 1 Peter Brown 1 Afterlife 8 Carolyn Collette 2 Authority 23 Andrew Galloway 3 Bodies 40 Linda Ehrsam Voigts 4 Chivalry 58 Derek Brewer 5 Christian Ideologies 75 Nicholas Watson 6 Comedy 90 Laura Kendrick 7 Contemporary English Writers 114 James Simpson 8 Crisis and Dissent 133 Alcuin Blamires 9 France 149 Michael Hanly 10 Games 167 Malcolm Andrew 11 Genre 180 Caroline D. Eckhardt 12 Geography and Travel 195 Scott D. Westrem 13 Italy 218 David Wallace 14 Language 235 David Burnley 15 Life Histories 251 Janette Dillon 16 London 266 Michael Hanrahan 17 Love 281 Helen Phillips 18 Modes of Representation 296 Edward Wheatley 19 Narrative 312 Robert R. Edwards 20 Other Thought-worlds 332 Susanna Fein 21 Pagan Survivals 349 John M. Fyler 22 Personal Identity 360 Lynn Staley 23 Science 378 Irma Taavitsainen 24 Social Structures 397 Robert Swanson 25 Style 414 John F. Plummer 26 Texts 428 Tim William Machan 27 Translation 443 Roger Ellis 28 Visualizing 459 Sarah Stanbury 29 Women 480 Nicky Hallett Index 495

This stimulating and accessible volume is a helpful, reliable and adaptable resource for students of Chaucer at all levels. Using an entirely new structure which highlights issues and themes, the Companion encourages movement across different Chaucerian compositions and beyond literary frames of reference, moving from textual analysis to cultural context and back again. Whether the reader of Chaucer is curious about language, Christianity, eroticism, astrology, concepts of the self, pilgrimage, violence, heresy, London, or any of a host of other topics, this book will provide food for thought. Each of these original and accessible essays, written by an internationally distinguished team of Chaucer scholars, provides an account of the key issues, applies these to specific passages in Chaucer's work and includes an annotated bibliography. The chapters are arranged alphabetically by topic, and broken down into compact sections for ease of use. The Companion is also fully cross-referenced, encouraging students to explore particular themes further. Designed both as a contribution to original research and as a text for students, A Companion to Chaucer is an essential resource for everyone involved in Chaucer studies.

‘This collection of accessible, informative essays provides students and teachers with a balance of textual analysis and cultural contexts designed to enhance the understanding of Chaucer's major and minor works . . . Both serious first-time readers of Chaucer and veterans looking for credible information on more recent avenues of inquiry will find this a valuable source of information and bibliography.' Choice "This work, the latest entry in Blackwell's "Companions to Literature and Culture" series. . . provides an inclusive and scholarly orientation to current theories and interpretation of Chaucer's works." "Each essay. . . places Chaucer's texts into cultural context by examining the medieval point of view, and includes notes, references, and suggestions for further readings." "The text. . . will serve well as a one-volume introduction for new students. It also provides access to original research and new ideas sought by graduate students and faculty." Library Journal "Overall, this is useful book. providing an up-to-date survey of the state of Chaucer scholarship on a wide range of issues...it will provoke interesting and educational debates in and out of the classroom." Reference Reviews "[This book] is both highly readable and rich in its diversity, a book which any Chaucerian, novice or seasoned, will often pick up simply for the pleasure of browsing[...] Every student of Chaucer, from undergraduate to emiritus professor, will want to have access to it." English Studies: A Journal of English Language and Literature