Adversarial Relationships between Humans and Weather in Medieval English Literature

Description: After examining weather patterns during the Middle Ages, suggests that the late fourteenth century experienced lower than normal temperatures and increased precipitation that would have affected harvests. Since inclement weather plays a role in BD, TC, and MilT, speculates that the trope of the idealized spring setting, particularly in GP, acts as a type of escapism, or perhaps is Chaucer's response to a year of unusually good weather.

Chaucer Subjects: Background and General Criticism
General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
Miller and His Tale
Book of the Duchess
Troilus and Criseyde