Two Notes on Chaucer and Cultural Tradition

Author / Editor
Jember, Gregory K.

Title
Two Notes on Chaucer and Cultural Tradition

Published
Geardagum 19 (1998): 1-17.

Description
In BD and HF, Chaucer uses the "symplegades" or "clashing rocks" motif, which is related to the "Cliff of Death" theme in Germanic literature, as identified by Donald K. Fry.
However, in Chaucer's texts, the motif reflects the "polarity between knowledge and ignorance" (17) rather than movement between life and death.
Chaucer's concern with boundaries places him in a "liminal tradition" (1).

Chaucer Subjects
Book of the Duchess.