An introduction to the Canterbury tales : reading, fiction, context /

Although Phillips (Univ. of Glamorgan) treats the Canterbury Tales in the standard sequence, this is not merely a standard "introduction." Phillips employs the many contemporary, as well as traditional, critical approaches in an intramural mix that both challenges received interpretations and suggests (sometimes in detail) fresh, perceptive readings. Formal, gender, historical, historicist, psychological, religious, stylistic, and deconstructionist readings mix as Phillips develops a view of Chaucer capable of revealing several social levels and worlds simultaneously. Moreover, Phillips suggests that conflicting moralities within the text may reflect not Chaucer's social conservatism or easygoing tolerance but insteadto English economic and social tensions outside a tale. Further, divided responses by characters invites multiple reader responses. Phillips's treatments should contribute to more liberated approaches to reading Chaucer. Helpful notes; especially useful bibliography; index of names, topics, and works. Strongly recommended for literary and history collections of late medieval materials. Upper-division undergraduate and above. C. B. Darrell; Kentucky Wesleyan College