Exhibition Closing

Chaucer Here and Now

ST Lee Gallery, Weston Library

Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, UK

8 December 2023 - 28 April 2024

This is a stunning example of a Chaucer manuscript, 'The Complaint of Mars'. The artist has been identified as the Abingdon Missal Master, who worked near Oxford in the mid-15th century (MS Fairfax 16). Image © Ian Wallman https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/chaucer

Misogynist. Feminist. Conservative. Radical. Respectful. Irreverent. Monocultural. Multicultural. Imperial. Domestic. English. European. Catholic. Protestant.

Chaucer Here and Now presents Geoffrey Chaucer as you haven’t seen him before. Not as the “Father of English Literature”, but as a dynamic, global author, whose works have been reworked and reinterpreted over time and around the world. Each generation reinvents Chaucer, taking inspiration from his work, and finding new meanings.

Drawing on material ranging from the earliest known manuscript of The Canterbury Tales to contemporary adaptions in theatre and film, this exhibition explores the many creative responses to Chaucer and asks why this medieval author still fascinates so many people today.

Come and reinvent Geoffrey Chaucer for yourself.

This exhibition is curated by Professor Marion Turner, JRR Tolkien Professor of English Literature and Language at the University of Oxford.

Free and no ticket required.

For more information about the exhibition, click here.