Latin Structure and Vernacular Space: Gower, Chaucer and the Boethian Tradition

Author / Editor
Wetherbee, Winthrop.

Title
Latin Structure and Vernacular Space: Gower, Chaucer and the Boethian Tradition

Published
R. F. Yeager, ed. Chaucer and Gower: Difference, Mutability, Exchange (Victoria B.C.: University of Victoria, 1991), pp. 7-35.

Description
There are significant differences between Chaucer's and Gower's appropriations of the Roman de la Rose and its Latin antecedents. Gower's priestly Genius is an authority figure in the tradition of Boethius's Consolation. Chaucer's rejection of authority figures is one of the most important signs of his modernity, giving point to the contrast commonly drawn between Gower's supposed conservatism and Chaucer's more open vision.

Alternative Title
Chaucer and Gower: Difference, Mutability, Exchange.

Chaucer Subjects
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations.