American Chaucers

This study provides extensive readings of overlooked American reconstructions of Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales from the colonial to postmodern periods, demonstrating how these repackagings convey uniquely American ideas. "Soon after their nation's independence, Americans began remaking Chaucer into their own image. In the 1800s, publishers included bowdlerized Chaucers in parlor-room anthologies to exploit middle-class desires to appear well informed. Before WWI, dramatist Percy MacKaye adapted Chaucer to promote progressive ideals. After the war, James Hall deployed his reading of Chaucer to refract his prisoner of war experience. Until the Depression, women and Chaucer to circumvent educational barriers. Finally, a 2001 film adopted Chaucer to advocate calculated risk-taking, a quintessential American value. Together these popular appropriations tell the tale of Chaucer's pilgrimage from the books of England to the American marketplace"-- Book jacket Front Matter....Pages i-xv Introduction: Popular Audiences, America, and Chaucer....Pages 1-16 In the Parlor with Esq. Geoffrey Chaucer....Pages 17-41 Sir Geoffrey, Percy Mackaye, and Civic Art....Pages 43-92 Flying with the Poet....Pages 93-116 Geoffrey and the American Flapper....Pages 117-142 Fightin’ and Rockin’ with Geoff....Pages 143-153 Postscript: Choosing Chaucers....Pages 155-162 Back Matter....Pages 163-224 Cover 1 Title 6 Copyright 7 Contents 10 Illustrations 12 Acknowledgments 14 Abbreviations 16 Introduction: Popular Audiences, America, and Chaucer 17 1 In the Parlor with Esq. Geoffrey Chaucer 33 2 Sir Geoffrey, Percy MacKaye, and Civic Art 58 3 Flying with the Poet 108 4 Geoffrey and the American Flapper 132 5 Fightin’ and Rockin’ with Geoff 158 Postscript: Choosing Chaucers 169 Appendix 175 Notes 177 Index 232