Synopses & Reviews
Adopted at more than 1,000 colleges and universities, Bedford/St. Martin's innovative Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism series has introduced more than a quarter of a million students to literary theory and earned enthusiastic praise nationwide. Along with an authoritative text of a major literary work, each volume presents critical essays, selected or prepared especially for students, that approach the work from several contemporary critical perspectives, such as gender criticism and cultural studies. Each essay is accompanied by an introduction (with bibliography) to the history, principles, and practice of its critical perspective. Every volume also surveys the biographical, historical, and critical contexts of the literary work and concludes with a glossary of critical terms. New editions reprint cultural documents that contextualize the literary works and feature essays that show how critical perspectives can be combined.
Table of Contents
About the Series About This Volume
PART I. THE WIFE OF BATH: THE COMPLETE TEXT
Biographical and Historical Contexts
Introduction to the Text
The Complete Text
Description of the Wife of Bath from the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
The Prologue to the Wife of Bath's Tale
The Wife of Bath's Tale
PART II. THE WIFE OF BATH: A CASE STUDY IN CONTEMPORARY CRITICISM
A Critical History of the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
New Historicism and the Wife of Bath
What Is New Historicism?
New Historicism: A Selected Bibliography
A New Historicist Perspective:
Lee Patterson, "Experience woot well is it noght so": Marriage and the Pursuit of Happiness in the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
Marxist Criticism and the Wife of Bath
What Is Marxist Criticism?
Marxist Criticism: A Selected Bibliography
A Marxist Perspective:
Laurie Finke, "All is for to selle": Breeding Capital in the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
Psychoanalytic Criticism and the Wife of Bath
What Is Psychoanalytic Criticism?
Psychoanalytic Criticism: A Selected Bibliography
A Psychoanalytic Perspective:
Louise O. Fradenburg, "Fulfild of fairye": The Social Meaning of Fantasy in the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
Deconstructive Criticism and the Wife of Bath
What Is Deconstruction?
Deconstruction: A Selected Bibliography
A Deconstructionist Perspective:
H. Marshall Leicester, Jr., "My bed was ful of verray blood": Subject, Dream, and Rape in the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
Feminist Criticism and the Wife of Bath
What Is Feminist Criticism?
Feminist Criticism: A Selected Bibliography
A Feminist Perspective:
Elaine Tuttle Hansen, "Of his love daungerous to me": Liberation, Subversion, and Domestic Violence in the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
Glossary of Critical and Theoretical Terms
About the Contributors