'Priest' and 'Pope,' 'Sire and Madame': Anachronistic Diction and Social Conflict in Chaucer's Troilus

Author / Editor
Besserman, Lawrence [L.]

Title
'Priest' and 'Pope,' 'Sire and Madame': Anachronistic Diction and Social Conflict in Chaucer's Troilus

Published
Studies in the Age of Chaucer 23: 181-224, 2001.

Description
Various "titles, epithets, and images" in TC reflect Chaucer's "covert engagement" with political and religious contention. Pandarus and the narrator adopt priestly roles, Troilus is like an anti-Lollard zealot, and forms of address such as "madame" and "sire" carry political overtones in TC and CT. In TC, the title "servant of servants" engages polemics of the Great Schism.

Chaucer Subjects
Troilus and Criseyde.
Canterbury Tales--General.
Language and Word Studies.