Browse Hierarchy ESH5003: Chaucer: Gender, Faith, Identity

The works of Geoffrey Chaucer defined English literature for generations of authors to come. The range of his writing encompassed many possibilities. Described by one follower as 'all women's friend' (it wasn't meant as a compliment), Chaucer wrote poetry that raises complex, unresolved, questions about gender. A European author, deeply influenced by French, Italian, and classical literature, Chaucer framed his most famous work, The Canterbury Tales, as a Christian pilgrimage. Yet its stories include representation of Muslims and Jews, and are by turns comic, pious, and learned in tone. With dedicated sessions on how to understand and translate Chaucer's Middle English, this module uses The Canterbury Tales to introduce and explore Chaucer's multiple identities.