Overview

Introduces Skelton and his work to readers unfamiliar with the poet, gathers together the vibrant strands of existing research, and opens up new avenues for future studies. John Skelton is a central literary figure and the leading poet during the first thirty years of Tudor rule. Nevertheless, he remains challenging and even contradictory for modern audiences. This book aims to provide an authoritative guide to this complex poet and his works, setting him in his historical, religious, and social contexts. Beginning with an exploration of his life and career, it goes on to cover all the major aspects of his poetry, from the literary traditions in which he wrote and the form of his compositions to the manuscript contexts and later reception.

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9781843847816

Table of Contents

Reviews

Overall, the collection is a rigorous and generous portrait of a man whose creative vernacularizing force was instrumental in both defying and moulding his own time. -- PARERGON The book does an excellent job of situating Skelton in his literary, political, and cultural milieus. The essays are concise and accessible, and will serve as excellent springboards for more detailed study. Highly recommended. * CHOICE * This volume provides a much needed critical introduction to the important early Tudor poet John Skelton. * MEDIUM AEVUM * the chapters here strike an excellent balance between providing security, in the form of contextual scaffolding, and providing sharper edges, in the form of fresh or vivid accounts of how to understand Skelton's work. * CAMBRIDGE QUARTERLY * Skelton's myriad contradictions often frustrate rather than engage readers, so this concise but rewarding Critical Companion, featuring contributions from a dozen heavyweight scholars, sheds welcome light on this perplexing writer's perplexing paradoxes. The volume elucidates Skelton's quirks and peculiarities by locating him squarely in the intellectual climate that informs his writing. Cogency, polish, and organizing design-virtues rarely associated with Skelton-are the signature characteristics of this collection, an indispensable volume for any reader of Skelton. * SPECULUM *

Author Information

SEBASTIAN SOBECKI is Professor of Later Medieval English Literature at the University of Toronto. His research extends to a wide area of late medieval literary culture, especially law, travel, politics, authorship, manuscripts, and palaeography. JOHN SCATTERGOOD is Professor (Emeritus) of Medieval and Renaissance English at Trinity College, Dublin. A. S. G. Edwards is Honorary Professor of Medieval Manuscripts at the University of Kent at Canterbury. ELISABETH DUTTON is Professor of Medieval English at Fribourg, Switzerland. JOHN SCATTERGOOD is Professor (Emeritus) of Medieval and Renaissance English at Trinity College, Dublin. JULIA BOFFEY is Professor of Medieval Studies in the Department of English at Queen Mary University of London. SEBASTIAN SOBECKI is Professor of Later Medieval English Literature at the University of Toronto. His research extends to a wide area of late medieval literary culture, especially law, travel, politics, authorship, manuscripts, and palaeography.

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