Chaucer and 'Pite'

Author / Editor
Gray, Douglas.

Title
Chaucer and 'Pite'

Published
Mary Salu and Robert T. Farrell, eds. J. R. R. Tolkien: Essays in Memoriam (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1979), pp. 173-203

Description
"Pite" and its synonym "routhe" occur almost always in their original erotic context in Chaucer's earlier works: Pity, TC, PF, and FranT. It may be equated with "generous self-sacrifice" on the part of the lover. As Chaucer broadens the concept, there emerge comic and serious uses, as in the MilT and the KnT, but "pite" retains its connections with love, which remains fundamental to its understanding.
It becomes a quality of mind desirable in the ideal knight and Christian. Chaucer the poet exhibits "pite" himself and the concept is at the core of such "pitous" tales as that of Griselda, where the conventions and assumptions associated with it are difficult for the modern reader to accept.

Alternative Title
J. R. R. Tolkien: Essays in Memoriam.

Chaucer Subjects
Language and Word Studies.