This guide offers students a comprehensive introduction to "Troilus and Criseyde". It includes: a full and convenient account of Chaucer's use of sources; an extended analysis of the poem's generic originality; and a commentary on all aspects of the poem.

The three Oxford Guides to Chaucer are written by scholars of international repute, with the purpose of summarizing what is known about his work and offering interpretations based on recent advances in both historical knowledge and theoretical understanding. Barry Windeatt's contribution to the series offers students the most comprehensive introduction to Troilus and Criseyde yet produced. It includes the fullest and most convenient account of Chjauser's use of sources, the first exteded analysis of the poem's generic originality, and an invaluable commentary on all aspects of the poem that is Chaucer's most ambitious single achievement - its structure, themes, characterization, and style. It also contains a survey of literary responses to Troilus in the three centuries following Chaucer's death. Combining the informative substance of a reference book with the coherence of a critical reading, the Guide has taken its place as the standard introduction to Troilus and Criseyde.