Amoral Gower and Its Impact (A Roundtable)
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Gower Project
Organizer Name
Georgiana Donavin
Organizer Affiliation
Westminster College
Presider Name
Eve Salisbury
Presider Affiliation
Western Michigan Univ.
Paper Title 1
Transgressions
Presenter 1 Name
María Bullón-Fernández
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Seattle Univ.
Paper Title 2
Choosing the Sword: Gender Development in the Tale of Achilles and Deidamia
Presenter 2 Name
Lacey M. Wolfer
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Western Michigan Univ.
Paper Title 3
Amoral Gower and (Mis)Reading Medieval Literature
Presenter 3 Name
Amy Louise Morgan
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Univ. of Surrey
Paper Title 4
What Twenty-First-Century Gower Owes to Amoral Gower
Presenter 4 Name
Malte Urban
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Aberystwyth Univ.
Paper Title 5
An Amoral Canon
Presenter 5 Name
Roberta Magnani
Presenter 5 Affiliation
Swansea Univ.
Paper Title 6
Session Respondent: Amoral Gower Revisited
Presenter 6 Name
Diane Watt
Presenter 6 Affiliation
Univ. of Surrey
Start Date
11-5-2019 3:30 PM
Session Location
Fetzer 2020
Description
Since Geoffrey Chaucer dedicated Troilus and Criseyde to “moral Gower,” readers of John Gower’s trilingual oeuvre have emphasized sermonic qualities in the verse. With this conservative representation, Gower’s reputation suffered against a seemingly more ironic and secular Chaucer, and into successive eras literary critics reinscribed Gower’s moral conservatism. In this context Diane Watt’s Amoral Gower is published by the University of Minnesota Press (2003). Watt cuts against the grain of traditional readings of the Confessio Amantis by emphasizing its sympathetic pluralism. Amoral Gower breaks ground in gendered, ethical, and political perspectives, showing why the poet appeals to such diverse audiences. The book has inspired queer, feminist, and ethical interpretations of the Confessio and has shown how Gower’s language cannot be contained by expectations for preaching. This roundtable brings together scholars whose work has been influenced by Amoral Gower and offers a response to their assessments by the author. Georgiana Donavin
Amoral Gower and Its Impact (A Roundtable)
Fetzer 2020
Since Geoffrey Chaucer dedicated Troilus and Criseyde to “moral Gower,” readers of John Gower’s trilingual oeuvre have emphasized sermonic qualities in the verse. With this conservative representation, Gower’s reputation suffered against a seemingly more ironic and secular Chaucer, and into successive eras literary critics reinscribed Gower’s moral conservatism. In this context Diane Watt’s Amoral Gower is published by the University of Minnesota Press (2003). Watt cuts against the grain of traditional readings of the Confessio Amantis by emphasizing its sympathetic pluralism. Amoral Gower breaks ground in gendered, ethical, and political perspectives, showing why the poet appeals to such diverse audiences. The book has inspired queer, feminist, and ethical interpretations of the Confessio and has shown how Gower’s language cannot be contained by expectations for preaching. This roundtable brings together scholars whose work has been influenced by Amoral Gower and offers a response to their assessments by the author. Georgiana Donavin