Chaucer and His Times

A concise scholarly portrait reconstructs the poet's life and cultural milieu, then surveys and evaluates his corpus and literary sources. Chapters analyse methods of character-drawing, varieties of humour, and descriptive technique, and consider the poet's attitudes toward people and things and his subsequent influence. Practical editorial material includes notes on Middle English spelling and pronunciation and a bibliography for further reading. The work combines biographical narrative with close reading and is aimed at general readers seeking an accessible introduction to the author's art and historical context.