Nature, Sex, and Goodness in a Medieval Literary Tradition

Description: Questions the notion that Nature was universally considered a positive force in the Middle Ages. Although depicted as God's vicar, Nature was also aligned with sexual impulses, complicating the image. White traces depictions of and attitudes toward nature and the natural in Latin tradition, English popular tradition, and French literature as they underlie the representations of nature in Gower's Confessio Amantis and Chaucer's works. Gower struggles to represent Nature as good but discovers that "such belief" is impossible to sustain. In ParsT and Mel, Chaucer expresses overt scepticism about the goodness of nature; in ManT and SqT, he uses Boethian material to suggest such scepticism. He provokes scepticism in his audience with BD and PF and employs similar strategies in PhyT and TC. Chaucer's view of the human condition is "stalked by despair."

Chaucer Subjects: Squire and His Tale.; Manciple and His Tale.; Book of the Duchess.; Parliament of Fowls.; Physician and His Tale.; Troilus and Criseyde.; Tale of Melibee.; Parson and His Tale.