As anyone who has read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales knows, Middle English literature is rife with sexually explicit language and situations. Less canonical works can be even more brazen in describing illicit acts of sexual activity and sexual violence. Such scenes and language were not, however, included exclusively for titillation. In 'Obscene Pedagogies', Carissa M. Harris argues instead for obscenity's usefulness in sexual education. She investigates the relationship between obscenity, gender and pedagogy in Middle English and Middle Scots literary texts from 1300 to 1580 to show how sexually explicit and defiantly vulgar speech taught readers and listeners about sexual behaviour and consent.