"This book is a careful study of the acts and effects of penance in Chaucer's poetry. McTaggart exhibits particular discernment in her handling of the guilty conscience, a private passion that can be hard to distinguish from other moods and motivations. Ever threatening to dissolve into mere public performance whenever expressed or depicted, guilt is difficult to assess. How then does Chaucer approach the perennial ambiguities of guilt and shame? In a series of penetrating analyses, this book establishes that Chaucer is dubious about the possibilities of true confession even as he remains shamelessly, one can almost say committed to its ethical potential. The result is a sort of penitential poetic." - J. Allan Mitchell, University of Victoria

'McTaggart's lucid, engaging, and highly readable book brilliantly explores the shifting intersection of key affective modes across Chaucer's poetry. An illuminating contribution to the study of Chaucerian ethics, Shame and Guilt in Chaucer offers a richly contextualized and conceptually sophisticated perspective on Chaucer's narrative anthropology.' - Jamie C. Fumo, McGill University