The OA Companion is a virtual volume created by an international team of scholarly contributors. Essay chapters discuss the tales and prologues of the Canterbury Tales in relation to topics of broad general interest. Reference chapters provide readers with important context and background for understanding and approaching the Tales.
Essay Chapters
Cultural Crossings, Conflict, and Collaborations and the General Prologue by Elizabeth Scala
Brotherhood, Sisterhood, Friendship, and Fellowship in the Knight’s Tale by Christine Chism
Social Networks and Connections and the Framing Narrative by David Hadbawnik
Death, Disease, Illness, and Mortality in the Knight’s Tale by Julie Orlemanski
Travel, Transit, and Journeys in the Miller’s Tale by Shayne Legassie
Wages, Work, Wealth, and Economic Inequality in the Reeve’s Tale by William Rhodes
Race and Racism in the Man of Law’s Tale by Cord Whitaker
Love and Marriage in the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale by Emma Lipton
Animals in the Friar’s Tale by Karl Steel
Creating Gendered and Sexual Identities in the Summoner’s Tale by Ruth Evans
Authority (Familial, Political, Written) in the Clerk’s Tale by Susan Nakley
Landscape, Environment, and Nature in the Merchant’s Tale by Steven Swarbrick
Subsistence (Farming, Agriculture, Food) in the Squire’s Tale by Alexis Kellner Becker
Emotion, Feeling, Intensity, and Pleasure in the Franklin’s Tale by Emily Houlik-Ritchey
Childhood and Children in the Physician’s Tale by Daniel T. Kline
The Body and Its Politics in the Pardoner’s Tale by Kim Zarins
Interpretation, Deciphering, Coding, and Confusion in the Shipman’s Tale by Jennifer Culver
Relating to the Past, Imagining the Past, and Using the Past in the Prioress’ Tale by Emily Steiner
Imagining the World in Maps and Stories in Sir Thopas by William Storm
Local Government: Power, Lordship, and Resources in the Tale of Melibee by Kate Fedawa
Ability/Disability in the Monk’s Tale by Jonathan Hsy
Entertainment versus Education in the Nun’s Priest’s Tale by Alex Mueller
Language Politics and Translation in the Second Nun’s Tale by Candace Barrington
Invention, Discovery, Problem-Solving, and Innovation in the Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue and Tale by Samantha Seal
Feminism and Women’s Experience in the Manciple’s Tale by Myra Seaman
Religious Devotion and Spiritual Feeling in the Parson’s Tale by Krista Murchison
Religious Debate and Polemic in the Retraction by Christopher Roman
Reference Chapters
What Does it Mean to Read a Text from Medieval England? by Moira Fitzgibbons
Late Medieval England in a Global Context by Daniel Franke
Manuscripts and Manuscript Culture by Alexandra Gillespie
The Life of Geoffrey Chaucer by Bruce Holsinger
Chaucer’s Middle English by Simon Horobin
Daily Life in England c. 1390 by Kathleen E. Kennedy
Societ and Politics in England c. 1340-1400 by Noelle Phillips