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Chaucer's The Parlement Of Fowls And The Rejection Of The French Tradition, Patrick V. Day

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis examines Geoffrey Chaucer’s pioneering work as a distinctly English poet who wrote against the grain of French literary influence in the Middle Ages. Analyzing works such as The Parlement of Fowls and The Canterbury Tales, this thesis marks Chaucer as an English original, writing on everything from love and class to literature and politics. Furthermore, it argues Chaucer’s influence in making Britain into a more mature nation distinct from mainland Europe, and discusses how The Parlement of Fowls prepared Chaucer for his future writing.