The Countervailing Aesthetic of Joy in Troilus and Criseyde

Author / Editor
Hill, John M.

Title
The Countervailing Aesthetic of Joy in Troilus and Criseyde

Published
Chaucer Review 39 (2005): 280-97

Description
Hill argues that Troilus's pagan, earthly joy in the second half of Book 3 of TC is Chaucer's representation of "the maximum of good and beauty to be found outside of Christian belief and the dispensations of faith." The intense joy experienced by the lovers is the apex of worldly sufficiency, temporarily safe from worldly threat and rendered powerful through Chaucer's indications of universality.

Chaucer Subjects
Troilus and Criseyde.