A Companion to Chaucer

* 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. 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. Designed as both a contribution to original research and as a stimulating and accessible text, this volume is a helpful, reliable, responsive and adaptable resource for students of Chaucer at all levels.