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The early works of the poet

The histories of literature conventionally divide Chaucer’s works into 3 periods designated as the French, the Italian and the English, according to the main source of their inspiration. However, there is no sharp boundary separating one period from another. The first period was predominantly French, but it is true that the French literature never ceased to affect the poet, even in the period of The Canterbury Tales. It was love lyrics and romances of French chivalry, and first of all, Roman de la Rose which attached Chaucer to an apprentice’s literary effort. He translated the poem, but whether he finished the task is not known.

Chaucer’s The Book of the Duchess (1369-1370) is written in 8-syllable lines rhymed in couplets, a form characteristic of French poetry. Almost beyond doubt, the poem is devoted to Blanche of Lancaster, the I wife of John of Gaunt who died a young and beautiful court lady. The narrative is organized as a dream vision about sorrowful Black Knight lamenting the loss of the beloved woman. The hero relives their I acquaintance, their happiness, gradually merging into an expression of grief. Chaucer looks successful in his I independent work: the tribute to the dead lady and nature descriptions, though faithful to established conventions, achieve the qualities of freshness and charm. The next 2 poems, The Parlement of Fowlesand The House of Fame (probably between 1374 and 1382) mark a great advance in Chaucer’s literary carrier. The Parlement of Fowles in a framework resembles The Book of the Duchess. It is introduced by the summary of a book being read before sleeping – in this case Dream of Scipio by Cicero. “Dream” itself sets rather solemn tone, for it is a vision of heavens and the spirits of departed people seen by Roman patriot Scipio. Then the accent shifts, Chaucer depicts Dame Nature seated on a hill of flowers and engaged in assigning birds to their mates. Her favourite, a royal female eagle, is the subject of contention by 3 male eagles, and Nature asks her to choose. The birds represent different classes of society – nobility and lower orders, all of them behave much as human beings might do in a real parliament. Unexpectedly humorous and lightly satirical treatment of courtly love reveals Chaucer’s critical attitude to it, his artist’s skill in depicting characters and stereotypes of medieval thought. The early poems show that Chaucer’s literary knowledge was remarkable: it pervaded his work – absorption of classical and medieval literature in 3 languages: Latin, French, and Italian. The poet referred to Cicero, Ovid, Macrobius (5thcentury), Dante and many others. During this period, he translated a number of meditative Latin works whose terms had been important in his own artistic terminology: Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy, Pope Innocent III’s On the Misery of the Human Condition and Life of Saint Cecilia.

To the II, the Italian periodTroillus and Criseyde, often called the finest of all medieval romances, and the Legend of Good Women, an unfinished series of 9 so-called lives of Cupid’s saints like Cleopatra and Dido, may be assigned. Chaucer’s Troillus and Criseyde (completed about 1385-1386) is partly translation, partly modification and partly innovation of Il Filostrato by Boccaccio, which was among the Italian texts acquired to him in Italy. In Boccaccio’s version, it is a passionate narrative in verse about a young man’s love affair with an experienced widow – at I tempestuously happy, later wretched and heartsick because of her infidelity. In Italian poet’s treatment, Troilo who resembles the courtly heroes in chivalrous romances is a conventional lovesick gallant, and the whole story is extremely simple. Instead of a straightforward chronicle of desire, consummation, and betrayal, Chaucer unfolds a record of subtle and intricate relations within and among human beings. The centre of his interest is Criseyde, her personality, hesitations and doubts, her emotional, sensual nature. The entire narrative is permeated with the idea of destiny: at almost every turn of events, there are references to the power of stars, and futility of trying to oppose what they (or gods) have decided. The realism of characterisation in the poem has also been highly praised. It is the realism of fidelity to the special setting and to the emotional and psychological processes of individuals within a definite and limited circle. Thus, from all points of view, Troillus and Criseyde is indisputably a supreme achievement in the realm of medieval storytelling.



 


Date: 2015-01-11; view: 923


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