Chaucer from Prentice to Poet: The Metaphor of Love in Dream Visions and "Troilus and Criseyde"

Description: Condren explores similarities of theme and technique in BD, PF, HF and TC, focusing on numerical composition and Chaucer's "self-dialogue" on poetry and love. Biographical reading of BD reveals that the man in black is not Gaunt but the dreamer's own mourning self; the poem was originally written to commemorate Queen Philippa and adjusted later to Blanche. The "hidden code" of PF affirms the theme of harmony as a form of Neoplatonic love. HF is a contemplation of what constitutes "poetic truth" and was written as a "formal prologue" to TC, the man of "auctorite" being Chaucer himself. TC is a "metaliterary construct" in which the characters serve as aspects of the composition process. Pandarus speaks Troilus's thoughts, and close reading discloses sexual innuendoes in speeches of the two lovers.

Chaucer Subjects: Chaucer's Life; Book of the Duchess; Parliament of Fowls; House of Fame; Troilus and Criseyde