Chaucer and Trauma

Trauma is an inescapable condition of Chaucer’s works. From the ravaging of Troy and the abandonment of Dido to the devastating aftereffects of sexual assault, Chaucer portrayed the most unsettling, searing aspects of human experience. While the term “trauma” was not part of Chaucer’s vocabulary, the author was assuredly aware of its causes and consequences, its victims and symptoms.

This timely volume explores depictions of violence, victimhood, and overwhelming grief or loss in Chaucer’s most ambitious texts, Troilus and Criseyde and the Canterbury Tales. The authors examine layers of deep emotional suffering in Chaucer’s works, as well as those forces that perpetrate injustices against human beings. The essays scrutinize Chaucer’s narratives through close textual analysis and modern theoretical approaches, offering original perspectives and treating subjects relevant to contemporary concerns—rape, domestic violence, slavery, forced consent, family separation, natural catastrophe, pandemic, and more. Written by leading voices in the field, Chaucer and Trauma is designed to introduce readers of Chaucer to a topic of intense present interest.

Along with the volume editors, the contributors include Sarah Baechle, David K. Coley, Suzanne M. Edwards, Carissa M. Harris, Matthew W. Irvin, Kate Koppelman, Samuel F. McMillan, and Lynn Staley.

Contributor: David Raybin (Edited by), Susanna Fein (Edited by)

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.