Feminist Readings in Middle English Literature: The Wife of Bath and All Her Sect

In recent years there has been a sustained growth of interest in medieval literary culture, and the range of critical activity within this field has expanded greatly, largely in response to the challenges of modern critical theory. Some of the most stimulating work has tackled the subject of sexual difference and gender construction in medieval texts. Reponding to this tendency, editors Rudy Evans and Lesley Johnson have gathered a singularly effective and impressive collection of essays ranging from writing on such figures as Margery Kempe, Christine de Pisan, Langland, and Chaucer. As one of the first texts ever published on theories of sexual difference and medieval literature, Evans and Johnson contribute incisively both to the debate and discussion of sexual difference in pre-modern literature.