San Antonio College Library

This unique study is the result of the combined efforts of six eminently qualified scholars of medieval literature. Through intensive analysis of the major genres -- lyric, romance, allegory and fabliau -- the authors trace the evolution of the fascinating and complex phenomenon known as "courtly love". The authors do not attempt to explain the historical origins of courtly love -- avoiding the controversies that have resulted in conflicting and confusing...

"These essays examine the central role played by Ovid in medieval amatory literature. In so doing, they address the theoretical problems of the entrenched "aesthetics of reception" long tied to the Ovidian Middle Ages, while they also seek at times to overturn many of the prior critical perceptions associated with Ovidian persuasive discourse -- in particular the unproblematized assertion of male will and the erasure of female voice. Responding to...

Focuses upon the aspects of Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Troilus and Criseyde' which criticize erotic love, tracing the poem's transformations of Boccaccio's Filostrato and assessing external and internal evidence of attitudes towards love and sexuality. Contemporary negative opinions of love, especially those of John Gower (to whom Troilus is dedicated) clarify the proper subordination of human love to human will and the significance of Troilus's debasement....