This book addresses portrayals of children in a wide array of Chaucerian works. Situated within a larger discourse on childhood, Ages of Man theories, and debates about the status of the child in the late fourteenth century, Chaucer's literary childrenfrom infant to adolescentoffer a means by which to hear the voices of youth not prominently treated in social history. The readings in this study urge our attention to literary children, encouraging us to think more thoroughly about the Chaucerian collection from their perspectives. Eve Salisbury argues that the child is neither missing in the late Middle Ages nor in Chaucer's work, but is,rather, fundamental to the institutions of the time and central to the poet's concerns.

Highlights the importance of childhood and children within Chaucer's works Combines both history and theory to offer a comprehensive approach to a generally unacknowledged but pervasive theme in Chaucer's works Connects to larger discussions about childhood within the late fourteenth century

Autorentext
Eve Salisbury is Professor of English at Western Michigan University, USA. She has edited four volumes for the Middle English Texts Series and authored numerous essays on topics ranging from medieval marriage to institutionally sanctioned violence. She is the consulting editor for Comparative Drama, co-founder of Accessus: A Journal of Premodern Literature and New Media, and co-director of the Gower Project.

Inhalt
Introduction.- Chapter One: Child Chaucer and the Play of Imagination.- Chapter Two: Infantasy and the Silent Child.- Chapter Three: Pueritia: Boysand Girls.- Chapter Four: Adolescentia: For Youth and Elde is Often at Debaat.- Chapter Five: Troubling Stages of Life: Child-Woman, Child-Man.- Chapter Six: An Afterword.