The French Fetish from Chaucer to Shakespeare [Paperback]

Deanne Williams traces the cultural legacy of the Norman Conquest in England from 1350 to 1600.The French Fetish from Chaucer to Shakespeare traces the cultural legacy of the Norman Conquest in England from 1350 to 1600. Deanne Williams demonstrates how English literature emerged out of a simultaneous engagement with, and resistance to, the presence of French language and culture in medieval and early modern England. Chapters on Chaucer, the Corpus Christi Plays, William Caxton, early Tudor poetry, and Shakespeare examine a variety of English responses to, and representations of, France and ' the French'.The French Fetish from Chaucer to Shakespeare traces the cultural legacy of the Norman Conquest in England from 1350 to 1600. Deanne Williams demonstrates how English literature emerged out of a simultaneous engagement with, and resistance to, the presence of French language and culture in medieval and early modern England. Chapters on Chaucer, the Corpus Christi Plays, William Caxton, early Tudor poetry, and Shakespeare examine a variety of English responses to, and representations of, France and ' the French'.Tracing the cultural legacy of the Norman Conquest in England from 1350 to 1600, Deanne Williams demonstrates how English literature emerged out of a simultaneous engagement with, and resistance to, the presence of French language and culture in medieval and early modern England. Chapters on Chaucer, the Corpus Christi Plays, William Caxton, early Tudor poetry, and Shakespeare examine a variety of English responses to, and representations of, France and the French .List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Introduction. Barbarous intimations; 1. Pardon my French; 2. Sympathy for the devil; 3. My fair lady; 4. A fine romance; 5. Roan Barbary; Conclusion. No man's Elizabeth; Notes; Index. ...the originality of the main thesis, the breadth of learning, the theoretical sophistication, and the conceptual vitality of Deanne Williams all contribute to make her bool3½