While covering all the major work produced by Geoffrey Chaucer in his pre- Canterbury Tales
career,
Chaucer from Prentice to Poet
seeks to correct the traditional interpretations of these poems. Edward Condren provides new and provocative interpretations of the three

dream visions

Book of the Duchess ,
Parliament of Fowls , and
House of Fame
- as well as Chaucer’s early masterwork
Troilus and Criseyde .Condren draws an arresting series of portraits of Chaucer as glimpsed in his work: the fledgling poet seeking to master the artificial style of French love poetry; the passionate author attempting to rebut critics of his work; and, finally, the master of a naturalistic style entirely his own.This book is one of the few works written in the past century that reevaluates Chaucer’s early poetry and the only one that examines the Dream Visions in conjunction with the Troilus. It should frame the discourse of Chaucer scholarship for many generations to come.