Queer Pandarus: Silence and Sexual Ambiguity in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde

Author / Editor
Pugh, Tison.

Title
Queer Pandarus: Silence and Sexual Ambiguity in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde

Published
Philological Quarterly 80.1 : 17-35, 2001.

Description
Although not lovers, Troilus and Pandarus express deep affection for each other, and Pandarus gains Troilus's dependence. In addition, Pandarus's speeches, silences, and gaze (staging sexual scenes for his pleasure), as well as more fluid medieval conceptions of gender and sexuality, allow for a queer reading. Ultimately, though, Pandarus's friendship, like Criseyde's love, fails Troilus.

Chaucer Subjects
Troilus and Criseyde.