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Nature, Sex, and Goodness in a Medieval Literary Tradition Hugh White (CUF Lecturer in English, University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in English, CUF Lecturer in English, University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in English, St Catherine's College, Oxford)

Nature, Sex, and Goodness in a Medieval Literary Tradition By Hugh White (CUF Lecturer in English, University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in English, CUF Lecturer in English, University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in English, St Catherine's College, Oxford)

Summary

'Nature' is a significant term in medieval ethical discourse. This book examines the idea of the natural in the work of major writers, including Jean de Meun, Gower, and Chaucer. Often understood to be on the side of reason and the good, nature can also be associated with the animal, the non-rational, and as such can be seen as encouraging immoral behaviour.

Nature, Sex, and Goodness in a Medieval Literary Tradition Summary

Nature, Sex, and Goodness in a Medieval Literary Tradition by Hugh White (CUF Lecturer in English, University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in English, CUF Lecturer in English, University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in English, St Catherine's College, Oxford)

'Nature' is a highly important term in the ethical discourse of the Middle Ages and, as such, a leading concept in medieval literature. This book examines the moral status of the natural in writings by Alan of Lille, Jean de Meun, John Gower, Geoffrey Chaucer, and others, showing how-particularly in the erotic sphere-the influences of nature are not always conceived as wholly benign. Though medieval thinkers often affirm an association of nature with reason, and therefore with the good, there is also an acknowledgement that the animal, the pre-rational, the instinctive within human beings may be validly considered natural. In fact, human beings may be thought to be urged almost ineluctably by the force of nature within them towards behaviour hostile to reason and the right.

Nature, Sex, and Goodness in a Medieval Literary Tradition Reviews

Hugh White demonstrates convincingly that the concept of Nature inherited from the classical period and developed throughout the Middle Ages was morally equivocal. * Modern Language Review *
Characterized by meticulous and undogmatic scholarship, Hugh White's book will be an indispensable guide to the contradictoriness of Nature in medieval literature ... Nature, Sex, and Goodness is a thoughtful, widely informed, open-minded book with a rare cohesion of purpose. Eschewing new historicist and other theoretical discourses, it moves tenaciously and lucidly among primary sources in a way that C. S. Lewis would have approved, while calculatedly shaking up the very medieval 'world view' Lewis helped to construct. * MEDIUM VUM03/10/2002 *
Readers will be indebted to White not only for the meticulous and scholarly manner in which he presents his case, but also for the clarity and assurance of his writing. This is complemented by high standards of printing and presentation. * Review of English Studies *
This is an interesting book, which provides a full and convincing account of a significant tradition in medieval writing. * Review of English Studies *
User-friendly in more ways than one: it thoughtfully provides the dates of the writers it cites, as well as generous quotations from the primary sources, and indications of the secondary sources, which appear both in the footnotes and in the References section. * Notes and Queries *

Table of Contents

Academic Natures ; The Moral Status of the Natural in Middle English Vernacular Writings ; Natura Vicaria Dei ; The Roman de la Rose ; Further French Natures ; Gower ; Chaucer ; Works Cited ; Index

Additional information

NPB9780198187301
9780198187301
0198187300
Nature, Sex, and Goodness in a Medieval Literary Tradition by Hugh White (CUF Lecturer in English, University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in English, CUF Lecturer in English, University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in English, St Catherine's College, Oxford)
New
Hardback
Oxford University Press
2000-11-23
288
N/A
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