‘Characterized by meticulous and undogmatic scholarship, Hugh White’s book will be an indispensable guide to the contradictoriness of Nature in medieval literature… Nature, Sex, and Goodness is a thoughtful, widely informed, open-minded book with a rare cohesion of purpose. Eschewing new historicist and other theoretical discourses, it moves tenaciously and lucidly among primary sources in a way that C. S. Lewis would have approved, while calculatedly shaking up the very medieval 'world view’ Lewis helped to construct.‘ -MEDIUM AEVUM 'Readers will be indebted to White not only for the meticulous and scholarly manner in which he presents his case, but also for the clarity and assurance of his writing. This is complemented by high standards of printing and presentation.’ -Review of English Studies ‘This is an interesting book, which provides a full and convincing account of a significant tradition in medieval writing.’ -Review of English Studies ‘User-friendly in more ways than one: it thoughtfully provides the dates of the writers it cites, as well as generous quotations from the primary sources, and indications of the secondary sources, which appear both in the footnotes and in the References section.’ -Notes and Queries'Nature’ is a significant term in medieval ethical discourse. This book examines the idea of the natural in the work of major writers, including Jean de Meun, Gower, and Chaucer. Often understood to be on the side of reason and the good, nature can also be associated with the animal, the non-rational, and as such can be seen as encouraging immoral behaviour.