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Chaucer's God

Perry, Ryan M M (2019) Chaucer's God. In: Johnson, Ian. R, ed. Geoffrey Chaucer in Context. Literature in Context . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 157-166. ISBN 978-1-107-03564-5. E-ISBN 978-1-139-56514-1. (doi:10.1017/9781139565141.020) (Access to this publication is currently restricted. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:75282)

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Abstract

Chaucer’s God considers how characters invoke God, both in terms of the everyday language of late medieval England and in the ways that the idea of God is reflected in Chaucer’s fiction. Conventional, non theological utterances of the names for God by Chaucer’s characters as part of their, by turns, outwardly pious and unthinkingly impious phraseologies are discussed in the opening section, God Woot– God knows. Under the heading God Forwoot– God foreknows, some of the more challenging invocations of God are considered, such as the implications of divine foreknowledge and predestination on human free will in the Knight’s Tale, the Nun’s Priest’s Tale and Troilus and Criseyde. The concluding section, God in a Cruel World, asks whether in the Clerk’s Tale and the Franklin’s Tale, if Chaucer allowed his tales to reflect, and characters to reflect upon, the heretical notion of a God lacking in compassion for humanity.

Item Type: Book section
DOI/Identification number: 10.1017/9781139565141.020
Uncontrolled keywords: predestination; foreknowledge; theology; pagans; free will; destiny; cruelty; oaths; vernacular;
Subjects: P Language and Literature
P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN441 Literary History
P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of English
Depositing User: Ryan Perry
Date Deposited: 10 Jul 2019 13:24 UTC
Last Modified: 11 Dec 2023 14:45 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/75282 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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