Description
Book SynopsisGeoffrey Chaucer’s most significant literary accomplishment may well be
Troilus and Criseyde, a single, profoundly philosophical narrative of a tragic love affair. Set in ancient Troy and telling the story of the rise and fall, in love and war, of the prince Troilus, Troilus and Criseyde is an archetypal medieval romance. The widowed Criseyde is a powerful woman, complex and intelligent, and the naïve Troilus is ambushed by his overwhelming love for her; Pandarus, Troilus’s friend and the enabler of the couple’s love, provides comic relief. Chaucer used his familiarity with the works of Giovanni Boccaccio and Benoît de Sainte-Maure to build his own historical world, depicting pagan beliefs and myths with sympathy and imagination.
This edition is based on the Corpus Christi College Cambridge manuscript of
Troilus and Criseyde; as with Robert Boenig and Andrew Taylor’s Broadview Edition of
The Canterbury Tales, the manuscript text is preserved as much as possible and the original Middle English text is used. Difficult words are conveniently glossed in the margins, and explanatory footnotes help with references and allusions.
Trade Review“James Dean and Harriet Spiegel have produced an elegant edition of Chaucer’s masterpiece that will stand next to the Broadview Canterbury Tales as the most widely adapted classroom edition. It wears its considerable learning lightly and lets Chaucer’s poetry speak for itself, while still providing helpful notes and glosses to guide the reader. Spiegel is widely known as a translator of medieval literature and Dean is one of the most respected scholars and editors of his generation. Together they make a great team, and it shows on every page and every line of this edition. It will be on my syllabus, and I recommend it to everyone who teaches the Troilus.” — John Ganim, University of California at Riverside
“Everything a reader of Troilus would want: generous glossing; a lucid review of critical history; excerpts from Boccaccio and Benoît de Sainte-Maure; and a full text and translation, prepared specifically for this edition, of Henryson’s Testament. And much more.” — Sarah Stanbury, College of the Holy Cross
“Our students deserve to encounter the Troilus more often than they do, and this impressive edition will make such encounters possible. Its price (digital and print) takes into account the exigencies of student budgets. Thoughtfully accommodating all the dimensions of accessibility, the editors and press have given us a clear, up-to-date edition whose single-text editorial approach will make it useful not only in courses in medieval literature, but also those in textual studies or editorial theory. Everyone who teaches Chaucer should acquire this edition.” — Karla Taylor, Arthuriana
“The Broadview Troilus is an excellent edition for undergraduate students, helpful in its glossing and rich in its commentary.” — John C. Hirsh, Georgetown University
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Introduction
Geoffrey Chaucer: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text
Troilus and Criseyde
- Book I
Book II
Book III
Book IV
Book V
Glossarial Index of Characters in Troilus and Criseyde
Glossary
Appendix A: The Story of Troilus and Criseyde
- From Benoît de Sainte-Maure, Le Roman de Troie (1160)
- From Giovanni Boccaccio, Il Filostrato (1335–40)
- Robert Henryson, The Testament of Cresseid (1532)
Appendix B: Other Influential Literature
- From Ovid, Metamorphoses (7 CE)
- From Ovid, Ars Amatoria (3 BCE)
- From Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy (524 CE)
- From Andreas Capellanus, On Love (1185–90)
- From Jean de Meun, The Romance of the Rose (c. 1275)
- Francis Petrarch, Sonnet 132 (c. 1370)
Appendix C: Medieval Science
- From Constantine the African, Viaticum (c. 1060)
- From Gerard of Berry, Glosses on the Viaticum (late 12th century CE)
- From Bona Fortuna, Treatise on the Viaticum (early 14th century CE)
- From Macrobius, On Dreams (c. 400)
- The Ptolemaic Universe (c. 1539)
Select Bibliography
