Category: Geoffrey Chaucer

‘Qhua wait gif all that Chauceir wrait was trew?/Nor I wait nocht gif this narratioun/Be authoreist’. In his Testament for Cresseid, inspired by Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, Henryson’s narrator presents an almost immediate challenge to the truth of his literary predecessor, consequently plunging the authority of his own narrative into doubt and humbling himself before…

Allusions to are sprinkled within all genres of writing. Many authors have built upon the ideas of these well-known tales and adapted them into new crafts of literature. One such author if Geoffrey Chaucer. In nearly all his works, Chaucer weaves in aligning tales from famous mythology to accentuate his themes and further his point.…

“The dream-vision appears personal and private.” Discuss Despite their frequent internal contradictions and their transitive, pseudo-empirical character, dreams can make inexplicably authoritative claims to factuality. Accordingly, the dream-vision writers of the late medieval period recognised that the dream-world’s transcendental interiority presented them with a conceptually uninhibited and immediate setting for fantastic secular allegory and religious…

Most of Chaucer’s works contain references to famous historical, classical, and mythical figures. This trend holds true in Chaucer’s Book of the Duchess. Most strikingly, The Black Knight plays a hefty role in the story. Because of the character’s emotional state as well as his personal connection with Chaucer, The Black Knight proves an intriguing…

Values are defined as things that you believe are important in the way you live and work. However, values of those in the middle ages differ from values today. Values such as religion, loyalty, forgiveness, and humility were present during this time period. Literature such as The Pardoner’s Tale, The Wife of Bath’s Tale and…

But if, Sir Knight, you let me know The cause of this tremendous ill, As sure as God gives help, I will, If power is granted to me, remove it… “The Book of the Duchess” 548-551 Throughout the study of , certain trends define the genres. Whether the hero be of a certain estate, conquer…

Fin amors, or refined loving is a staple within medieval literature. Showcasing the romantic relationships of noblemen, fin amors expresses the struggles and games that are played between a man and woman during courtship. Similar to unrequited love, fin amors focuses itself around women holding the power in a relationship, and therefore remaining aloof to…

Carpenters are traditionally regarded as hard-working, rugged men with calluses on their hands and dirt beneath their fingernails. They are strong and silent; they take pride in their work and are generally self-assured. One of the main characters in “The Miller’s Tale” from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, however, breaks the typical carpenter mold. John the…

The Pardoner’s Tale: Evil, Greed, Death Author of The Pardoner’s Tale, Geoffrey Chaucer, uses the symbol greed to portray his lesson, “Money is the root of all evil.” The parable introduces 3 men at a pub who are enraged upon learning a mutual friend was killed. A pact was made to hunt for Death, who…

In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer portrays the actual practice of alchemy to be a ruse. In the Canon Yeoman’s Tale and the Franklin’s Tale, transformation is merely an illusion when one attempts to go against the forces of nature. In the Wife of Bath’s Tale, an old lady transforms into a beautiful young wife…