Reading Women in Late Medieval Europe

Alfred Thomas is Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. He has published eight books, including, Anne's Bohemia: Czech Literature and Society (1310-1420); A Blessed Shore: England and Bohemia from Chaucer to Shakespeare; Prague Palimpsest: Writing, Memory, and the City; and Shakespeare, Dissent, and the Cold War.

Introduction 1. Devotional Texts for Royal Princesses in Late Medieval Bohemia 2. Writing Jews, Writing Women: "The Prioress's Tale" and the Sacred Drama of Medieval Europe 3. The Lady as Saint: "The Second Nun's Tale," Pearl, and the Czech Life of Saint Catherine of Alexandria 4. Dangerous Amazons: Sexual and Textual Rivalry in "The Knight's Tale" and The Dalimil Chronicle 5. Powerful Wives and Captive Knights: "The Wife of Bath's Tale," Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the Czech Chivalric Romances 6. Women Defended, Women Defamed: The Legend of Good Women, The Plowman from Bohemia, and The Little Weaver Conclusion