Chaucer to Spenser: A Critical Reader

This is a collection of previously published essays on late medieval and early modern literature, designed to act as a companion to "Chaucer to Spenser: An Anthology of Writings in English 1375-1575", edited by Derek Pearsall (1999). The object of that anthology is to provide representation of a variety of kinds of prose and verse, including some not traditionally regarded as canonically "literary," and also to trespass beyond the boundaries of the conventional medieval/early modern divide. This volume of essays will provide some of the critical backing for those decisions about the canon and about periodization, and also give evidence of the vigor of opinion and debate in the field in general. Most of the essays are from the last twenty years, and some are very recent, though space is also found for some earlier classics. The collection pays particular attention to those critics who have had the most powerful recent impact on our reading of the texts of the period: they are selected for their excellence and importance, whether in themselves or as representatives of an influential critical approach, and not for their adherence to any one school of interpretation. They will provide a companion to the texts in the anthology, a commentary and counterpoint to the views expressed in the editor’s headnotes and explanatory notes, and a perspective on the best that has been thought and said about the writing of these two extraordinary centuries of creativity, consolidation, and seed-sowing.