Chaucer's Sense of an Ending

Author / Editor
Donnelly, Colleen.

Title
Chaucer's Sense of an Ending

Published
Journal of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association 11 (1990): 19-32.

Description
Chaucer's "open-endedness" and "lack of an ending" relate to the fact that he was writing in a "time of crisis" (the Black Death, the corruption of the church). He sought to confront conditions of his time through pluralism, and his lack of closure reflects the instability of the era.
Donnelly examines HF, BD, and PF in detail and comments on CT and TC.

Chaucer Subjects
Background and General Criticism.
Book of the Duchess.
Parliament of Fowls.
Troilus and Criseyde.