Oxford Guides to Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales

Recognised on its first appearance as the most comprehensive single-volume guide to The Canterbury Tales yet produced, this third edition brings the Tales up to date in relation both to recent criticism and to the changing expectations of modern readers. The Guide provide tale-by-tale information on textual variations and sources, together with a readable commentary on thematic issues, structure, style, generic affiliations, and the contribution of each tale to the work as a whole. It concludes with a survey of the many imitations of the tales down to the early seventeenth century. This new edition also takes account of the latest scholarship, theory, and criticism and new interpretations of the tales, including such matters as gender identity, consent, and racial and religious difference.

The book is the most comprehensive single-volume guide to the Tales yet produced, bringing together a wide range of disparate material and providing a readable commentary on all aspects of the work. It combines the comprehensive coverage of a reference book with the clarity and coherence of a critical account. Since its first publication in 1989, the Guide has established itself as an indispensable aid for any reader looking to develop their understanding of The Canterbury Tales.

Helen Cooper, Professor Emeritus of Medieval and Renaissance English, University of Cambridge

Helen Cooper is Professor Emeritus of Medieval and Renaissance English at the University of Cambridge. After a Research Fellowship at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, she was appointed to a tutorial fellowship at University College, Oxford, in medieval and early modern English in 1978, as their first woman fellow (and was later made an Honorary Fellow). She then moved to the Chair in Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge in 2004, at Magdalene College (Emeritus Professor and Life Fellow from 2014). She was a co-editor of Medium Ævum 1989-2002 and is a Fellow of the British Academy.

Introduction
The Canterbury Tales
FRAGMENT I
The General Prologue
The Knight's Tale
The Miller's Tale
The Reeve's Tale
The Cook's Tale
FRAGMENT II
The Man of Law's Tale
FRAGMENT III
The Wife of Bath's Prologue
The Wife of Bath's Tale
The Friar's Tale
The Summoner's Tale
FRAGMENT IV
The Clerk's Tale
The Merchant's Tale
FRAGMENT V
The Squire's Tale
The Franklin's Tale
FRAGMENT VI
The Placing of the Fragment
The Physician's Tale
The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale
FRAGMENT VII
The Placing of the Fragment
The Shipman's Tale
The Prioress's Tale
The Tale of Sir Thopas
The Tale of Melibee
The Monk's Tale
The Nun's Priest's Tale
FRAGMENT VIII
The Placing of the Fragment
The Second Nun's Tale
The Canon's Yeoman's Tale
FRAGMENT IX
The Manciple's Tale
FRAGMENT X
The Parson's Tale
Taking Leave: Chaucer's 'Retractions'
Imitations of the Canterbury Tales 1400-1615
General Bibliography
Index