Geoffrey Chaucer: The Wife of Bath ed. by Peter G. Beidler (review)

STUDIES IN THE AGE OF CHAUCER PETER G. BEIDLER, ed. Geoffrey Chaucer: The Wife ofBath. Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism. Boston and New York: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1996. Pp. xiii, 306. $9.95 paper. If medievalists have been slow to claim and use newer forms of literary criticism in their scholarship, then they have been even slower to in­ troduce their undergraduate students to forms of criticism. These prac­ tices have been more commonly undertaken by scholars in later periods of literary history. Peter Beidler's volume on the Wife of Bath attempts to answer a lack of available materials for the medievalist on an impor­ tant text in a masterly way. The Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism series specifically targets important texts in British and American literature. The intent is not only to introduce undergraduate students to an authoritative text but also to present them with accessi­ ble examples of criticism from New Historicism, Marxism, psychoana­ lytic studies, deconstruction, and feminism. Beidler and the writers of the essays deserve commendation in their efforts. In addition to his role as editor of the volume, Beidler prepared the biographical and historical contexts sections as well as the text of the Prologue and Tale. Writing for the student who has little sense of late medieval history, Beidler addresses central issues of the Chaucer biog­ raphy and historical events, such as the Black Death and the reign of Richard II, briefly but without the sweeping generalizations that some­ times characterize introductory explorations of scholarly topics for non­ specialist readers. Perhaps most useful in this section are his translations of sources for the Prologue and Tale along with his comparisons of them with the Chaucerian text. Briefly but with the clarity of a seasoned scholar, he demonstrates Chaucer's artful manipulation of his sources. For this volume, he uses the Hengwrt as the base text, and in doing so, provides readers with some helpful comments on the enterprise of tex­ tual editing, medieval and modern. With glosses and explanatory foot­ notes, the Prologue and Tale are made quite accessible for readers who have little or no experience with Middle English. The second part of the volume is devoted to a critical history and to essays demonstrating various approaches to the Prologue and Tale. In his introductory essay in this section, Beidler traces succinctly the range of approaches to The Canterbury Tales in general and to the Wife ofBath's Prologue and Tale in particular. He notes many source studies, historical studies, and New Critical studies, in addition to more recent critical strategies that inform our understanding of the tale. Most helpful here 224 REVIEWS is his ability to explain various approaches and their conclusions in "jargon-free" language (p. viii). Readers looking for bibliographical ref­ erences will not be disappointed here or throughout the volume. After Beidler's introduction are more general introductions to the critical methodologies provided by Ross C. Murfin as part ofthe series; then essays devoted to the Prologue and Tale follow. There are a few spots of redundancy here, but particularly given the audience the volume is attempting to reach, the reinforcement will likely be welcomed. Readers ofChaucer scholarship will recognize the names Lee Patterson, Laurie Finke, Louise 0. Fradenburg, H. Marshall Leicester, Jr., and Elaine Tuttle Hansen. Clearly each has contributed to Chaucer scholar­ ship in the last decade, and in many cases, they have shaped the future ofChaucer studies. Thus, introducing students to these scholars is in it­ selfan important activity. The essays are original, rather than excerpted from longer works by the same authors. The essays were written for stu­ dents, yet they maintain scholarly rigor. Skillful instructors will be able to demonstrate to their students the similarities and differences in Patterson's New Historicist and Finke's Marxist essays. The same ac­ tivity could be done with Fradenburg's psychoanalytical, Leicester's de­ constructionist, and Hansen's feminist essays. More advanced readers of Chaucer will find new insights into the Prologue and Tale as well. Whether Beidler's volume is used in a literature survey, an introduc­ tion to literary criticism course, or a Chaucer course, it will prove a valu­ able...