These dramatic new readings of Old and Middle English texts explore the rich theoretical territory at the intersection of class and gender, and highlight the interplay of the critic, methodology, and the medieval text. Together, these essays ask how medieval English writings might pose in a distinctive way the question of a link between class and gender. Among the texts discussed are the Old English "Judith", riddles in the Exeter Book, Old English Elegies, "Piers Plowman," Middle English popular romances, and Chaucer's "Hous of Fame" and "The Pardoner's Tale". The contributors are Karma Lochrie, John W. Tanke, Helen T. Bennett, David Aers, Harriet E. Hudson, Britton J. Harwood, Clare E. Lees, and Allen J. Frantzen.
Author(s): Britton J. Harwood, Gillian R. Overing (eds.)
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Year: 1994
Language: English
Pages: XVI+156
City: Bloomington & Indianapolis
Foreword / Britton J. Harwood and Gillian R. Overing vii
Gender, Sexual Violence, and the Politics of War in the Old English "Judith" / Karma Lochrie 1
"Wonfeax wale": Ideology and Figuration in the Sexual Riddles of the Exeter Book / John W. Tanke 21
Exile and the Semiosis of Gender in Old English Elegies / Helen T. Bennett 43
Class, Gender, Medieval Criticism, and "Piers Plowman" / David Aers 59
Construction of Class, Family, and Gender in Some Middle English Popular Romances / Harriet E. Hudson 76
Building Class and Gender into Chaucer’s "Hous" / Britton J. Harwood 95
Gender and Exchange in "Piers Plowman" / Clare A. Lees 112
"The Pardoner's Tale", the Pervert, and the Price of Order in Chaucer’s World / Allen J. Frantzen 131
Contributors 149
Index 151
