CLASSICAL GODS AND CHRISTIAN GOD: RELIGIOUS ALLUSIONS AND THE MORAL OF CHAUCER'S "TROILUS AND CRISEYDE" (FOURTEENTH CENTURY, AMBIGUITY).
Item
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Title
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CLASSICAL GODS AND CHRISTIAN GOD: RELIGIOUS ALLUSIONS AND THE MORAL OF CHAUCER'S "TROILUS AND CRISEYDE" (FOURTEENTH CENTURY, AMBIGUITY).
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Identifier
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AAI8614712
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identifier
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8614712
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Creator
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WEJKSNORA, LOUISE R.
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Contributor
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Robert O. Payne
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Date
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1986
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Medieval
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Abstract
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Geoffrey Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde makes pervasive use of references to the Christian God and medieval Christianity, classical gods and myths, and medieval personifications as goddesses. Explicating the meaning and significance of these varied and complex religious allusions is a useful key for unlocking the poem's theme(s) and moral.;Chapter I examines the pagan scene, the medieval figures of Fortuna and Natura, courtly love matter and its deities, and the Christian God and Christian rites in the Troilus, presenting findings of previous research and determining that a syncretistic study of the full set of religious references and all their possible implications has not previously been undertaken.;Chapter II defines and examines different types of religious allusions in the Troilus: colloquial language and Christian allusions, references to gods and goddesses, astrological passages, and Narratorial expressions. A range of casualness and seriousness in each group of references is identified, and the possible meanings and functions of each type of reference are explicated. Other medieval literature is used to support the point that multiple possible meanings, and complexity and double-meaning, were well within Chaucer's received tradition.;Chapter III examines the Troilus linearly, analyzing important groups of religious allusions in each Book and establishing the cumulative impact of each group of references within the text and in relation to each other. Cupid, Venus, Fortuna, and Jove, colloquial language and allusions to Christianity, infernal references, less significant classical gods, Narratorial judgemental statements, astronomical and astrological passages, and Boethian allusions are each considered in context. Possible implications of each group as they actually appear are defined. The love gods' benignity of presentation, and Chaucer's strategy of consistently using references with multiple possible meanings and leaving all the possibilities open, are revealed.;Chapter IV posits that the Troilus is a doubly-focussed poem: it can properly and accurately be read as presenting a Christian viewpoint and moral; or equally correctly be understood as a poem celebrating human love; both these readings are simultaneously present and valid. Both readings are set forth to show how each fully accounts for all of the poem's religious allusions.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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English
