Life in Words

"Jill Mann is the best reader and critic of Middle English literature of her generation. I have never read anything by her which left me unenlightened or uninspired by the activity of intelligence at the highest level. Rasmussen's introductory essay is not only a measured assessment of Mann's work as a critic: it also places that work, with great skill and learning, in the context of the history and development of criticism over the past thirty years." -- Derek Pearsall, Gurney Professor of English Literature Emeritus, Harvard University "The essays in Life in Words are models of sensitive close reading, impeccable scholarship, and beautiful and accessible writing. Mark David Rasmussen has made an intelligent and coherent selection from Jill Mann's publications and manages both to introduce the individual pieces and to indicate the achievement they represent." -- Ad Putter, Professor of Medieval English Literature, University of Bristol

This volume collects fifteen landmark essays published over the last three decades by the distinguished medievalist Jill Mann.

This volume collects fifteen landmark essays published over the last three decades by the distinguished medievalist Jill Mann. Bringing together her essays on Chaucer, the Gawain-poet, and Malory, the collection foregrounds the common interest in the semantic implications of key vocabulary such as “authority,” “adventure,” and “price” that links them together.

Mann, one of the finest critics of Middle English literature in her generation, uses the concepts suggested by the language of medieval literature itself as a way into the masterpieces of Middle English, including The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Criseyde, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the Morte Darthur.

An extended introduction by Mark Rasmussen brings out the nature of the themes that run through the collection, analyses the critical methods in play, and assesses their significance in the context of Middle English studies over the last thirty years.