Situated within a larger discourse on childhood, Ages of Man theories, and debates about the status of the child in the late fourteenth century, Chaucer’s literary children—from infant to adolescent—offer a means by which to hear the voices of youth not prominently treated in social history.

Introduction.- Chapter One: Child Chaucer and the Play of Imagination.- Chapter Two: Infantasy and the Silent Child.- Chapter Three: Pueritia: Boysand Girls.- Chapter Four: Adolescentia: “For Youth and Elde is Often at Debaat”.- Chapter Five: Troubling Stages of Life: Child-Woman, Child-Man.- Chapter Six: An Afterword.

This book addresses portrayals of children in a wide array of Chaucerian works. Situated within a larger discourse on childhood, Ages of Man theories, and debates about the status of the child in the late fourteenth century, Chaucer’s literary children—from infant to adolescent—offer a means by which to hear the voices of youth not prominently treated in social history. The readings in this study urge our attention to literary children, encouraging us to think more thoroughly about the Chaucerian collection from their perspectives. Eve Salisbury argues that the child is neither missing in the late Middle Ages nor in Chaucer’s work, but is,rather, fundamental to the institutions of the time and central to the poet’s concerns.

“I tremendously enjoyed reading Salisbury’s Chaucer and the Child. It offers so many fresh insights into the poet and his culture that it was as if I were becoming reacquainted with one of my closest friends. Chaucer and the Child brings children from the shadows of obscurity to address social concerns at the heart of Chaucer’s vision. Salisbury is brilliant in her discussion of major figures and how they mirror the parent/child kinship of their progenitors. From issues of paternity and husbanding or wiving and mothering, to parenting and education, Salisbury takes us through the stages of life, from birthing to senility; some folk never do succeed in growing up.” (Russell A. Peck, University of Rochester, New York USA)

“In this sharp, innovative, and assiduously researched book, Eve Salisbury persuasively argues for the importance of childhood and adolescence in the Middle Ages. Children are, in fact, everywhere in the Chaucerian canon, and this thorough study shows us just how actively the child animates Chaucer’s inventive explorations of politics, religion, kinship, science, and selfhood. This book will generate new ways of understanding Chaucer, the late Middle Ages, and literary history.” (Jamie Taylor , Associate Professor, English Department, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania USA)

"I tremendously enjoyed reading Salisbury's Chaucer and the Child. It offers so many fresh insights into the poet and his culture that it was as if I were becoming reacquainted with one of my closest friends. Chaucer and the Child brings children from the shadows of obscurity to address social concerns at the heart of Chaucer's vision. Salisbury is brilliant in her discussion of major figures and how they mirror the parent/child kinship of their progenitors. From issues of paternity and husbanding or wiving and mothering, to parenting and education, Salisbury takes us through the stages of life, from birthing to senility; some folk never do succeed in growing up." (Russell A. Peck, University of Rochester, New York USA) "In this sharp, innovative, and assiduously researched book, Eve Salisbury persuasively argues for the importance of childhood and adolescence in the Middle Ages. Children are, in fact, everywhere in the Chaucerian canon, and this thorough study shows us just how actively the child animates Chaucer's inventive explorations of politics, religion, kinship, science, and selfhood. This book will generate new ways of understanding Chaucer, the late Middle Ages, and literary history." (Jamie Taylor , Associate Professor, English Department, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania USA)

Highlights the importance of childhood and children within Chaucer’s works Combines both history and theory to offer a comprehensive approach to a generally unacknowledged but pervasive theme in Chaucer’s works Connects to larger discussions about childhood within the late fourteenth century