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Clean Maids, True Wives, Steadfast Widows: Chaucer's Women and Medieval Codes of Conduct (Contributions in Women's Studies)
Clean Maids True Wives Steadfast Widows Chaucer's Women and Medieval Codes of Conduct - Contributions in Women's Studies Author:Margaret Hallissy Chaucer was a keen observer of the lives of women with a remarkable ability to see beyond his culture's preconceptions concerning their proper roles. Hallissy's lively and literate study traces Chaucer's female characterizations against a background of medieval rules and common assumptions governing women to determine where he adhered to or depa... more »rted from the behavioral norms. Applying insights from the works of modern social historians of the Middle Ages and ranging widely in sources from the visual arts, civil and canon law, homiletics, theology, architecture, fashion history, and medicine, Hallissy illuminates the preconceptions with which Chaucer's original audience would have encountered his work and brings her findings to bear on a close analysis of the text.« less