Semantic, Moral, and Aesthetic Degeneration in 'Troilus and Criseyde'

Author / Editor
Lockhart, Adrienne.

Title
Semantic, Moral, and Aesthetic Degeneration in 'Troilus and Criseyde'

Published
Chaucer Review 8.2 (1973): 100-18.

Description
In TC, Chaucer shows the "inter-relatedness of the moral and the aesthetic" by demonstrating the "corruption and debasement" of key concepts: "honour," "worthiness," "gentilesse," "manhood," and "trouthe." Such debasement reflects the inevitable failure of human pursuit of ideals and the parallel failure of the poet as creator to imitate the divine Creator.

Chaucer Subjects
Troilus and Criseyde
Language and Word Studies