Humanities Lecture 19. Geoffrey Chaucer ( ) The Book of the Duchess (late 1360s)

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1 Humanities Lecture 19 Geoffrey Chaucer ( ) The Book of the Duchess (late 1360s) OR: A medieval English poet falls asleep over the Hum 2 syllabus BACKGROUND: Geoffrey Chaucer: the first major English poet whom we know by name; born into the English mercantile class; early in life sent to an aristocratic court where he becomes a trained serving courtier; Chaucer was trained in the diplomacy and courtesy of the English court which, in the late 1300s was STILL FRENCH SPEAKING WHY? After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the rulers of England were French: first, northern (or Norman) French; then, central French. From the period of the Conquest until the early 15 th century, FRENCH WAS THE LANGAUGE of the royal court; French was the language of the law courts and Parliament as well. English Parliament is not addressed in English until 1362 (and even then, the records were kept in French); English legal business is not conducted in English until the 1420s

2 Chaucer is one of the first English writers to attempt to write sustained poetry based on European models IN ENGLISH. Before Chaucer, poetry in English was largely based on native, local forms of lyric and romance, adventure stories, and chronicle. Chaucer is a great reader; during his apprenticeship at court, he clearly read a great deal; his first, known literary work is a partial translation of the Romance of the Rose (early 1360s). Later, he translated Boethius Consolation of Philosophy; after a diplomatic mission to Italy in the late 1370s, he read and adapted works by Italian writers (esp. Boccaccio, Petrarch, and DANTE). He knew Virgil s Aeneid inside and out. He knew the Old and New Testaments. He knew the major ideas of St. Augustine. SO: Chaucer spent his literary life reading, translating, recasting, and being inspired by the range of literary works WE HAVE READ. THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS IS HIS FIRST SUSTAINED POEM IN ENGLISH WRITTEN PROBABLY IN THE LATE 1360 S TO CELEBRATE THE DEATH OF BLANCHE OF LANCASTER, THE WIFE OF JOHN OF GAUNT, DUKE OF LANCASTER. JOHN IS CHAUCER S PATRON; JOHN S MISTRESS S SISTER IS CHAUCER S WIFE CHAUCER IS A MIDDLE CLASS GUY WHO MARRIES UP AND MAKES HIS WAY BY VIRTUE OF HIS INTELLIGENCE, WIT, VERBAL SKILL, TACT, AND CONNECTIONS

6 CHAUCER S ENGLISH Why care? Chaucer wrote and spoke a form of English that descended from the Anglo-Saxon Germanic languages of the British Isles, BUT was heavily influenced by the French of the Norman Conquest and afterwards The English language from the 7 th through mid 11 th century: OLD ENGLISH The English language from the mid 11 th through the late 15 th c: MIDDLE ENGLISH The English language from the late 15 th c on: MODERN ENGLISH CHAUCER S ENGLISH HAS A LARGE FRENCH VOCABULARY, ESPECIALLY FOR INTELLECTUAL, SOCIAL, AND INSTITUTIONAL CONCEPTS CHAUCER IS WRITING RHYMED VERSE (A FORM BORROWED FROM FRENCH) CHAUCER DEVELOPS A LITERARY PERSONA: THAT IS, A NARRATOR IN THE FIRST PERSON WHO IS BASED ON HIM BUT IS A FICTIONAL VERSION OF HIM THAT PERSONA IS A BOOKISH NARRATOR OF LITTLE EXPERIENCE

7 THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS HAS TO DO THE FOLLOWING: ANNOUNCE CHAUCER AS A MAJOR NEW POET IN ENGLISH TACTFULLY MOURN THE DEATH OF A SOCIAL SUPERIOR DIPLOMATICALLY ADVISE A NOBLE PATRON ON MOURNING ACCULTURATE A COMPLEX FRENCH LITERARY TRADITION INTO ENGLISH IT IS A DREAM VISION; IT IS AN ALLEGORY; IT IS A SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACT REMEMBER; DREAM AND POETRY ARE LINKED AS FORMS OF SYMBOLIC, ALLEGORICAL, OR ENIGMATIC NARRATIVES IN NEED OF INTERPRETATION; THEY ARE PRODUCTS OF THE HUMAN IMAGINATION SO: The poem begins with the narrator lamenting that he has not slept in a long time; insomnia is a kind of writer s block; the poet seeks inspiration; his insomnia is a kind of sickness; he is in need of healing; he tries to fall asleep, and in the process heal himself, BY READING: HE FINDS A ROMANCE: IN THIS ROMANCE BOOK HE FINDS THE STORY OF CEYX AND ALCYONE

9 THE STORY OF CEYX AND ALCYONE: Comes from Ovid s book called the Metamorphoses: tales of mythological transformations We know that Ovid s Metamorphoses was translated into French ( Romance ) in the 13 th and 14 th centuries and was widely read SO: odds are, Chaucer is reading Ovid in French King Ceyx goes on a sea voyage; there is a storm; his ship is lost; he dies Queen Alcyone is distraught; she prays to Juno; asks that a dream vision be sent to her to tell her what happened to Ceyx She falls asleep; Juno calls on Morpheus, the god of sleep, to visit her in a dream; Juno s messenger wakes up Morpheus (god of sleep; duh, he s sleeping); Morpheus animates the drowned body of Ceyx and appears to Alcyone in her sleep; I m dead he says; here s where my body is; find it, and bury me Alcyone says: Alas, and dies three days later The NARRATOR SAYS (IN EFFECT) wow, great story; wish I could fall asleep; well, he says, I d give Morpheus a really great set of clothes if he could help me sleep; and scarcely does he say this, than he falls asleep and has a dream AND HERE S MY DREAM

10 Seemed to me it was May (aha, Romance of the Rose) (291) I was in bed completely naked (293) Birds woke me up with beautiful song (295) I looked up; my bedroom was made of stained glass (322) The stained glass told the story of the Trojan War (326) And on the walls, the story and images were painted from the Romance of the Rose (334) I heard a hunting horn blow (345) I got up; I followed the sound; I found the hunters; it is the hunting party of the emperor Octavian (i.e., Augustus Caesar) (368) As I wandered around I saw a little dog ( whelp ); the dog came by and I followed it (389) The dog leads him to a mourning man in black (4450 The man in black is saying some sad things; clearly mourning; he has lost someone very dear and close to him (463) Narrator somewhat densely asks him what is wrong (522) After a long set of speeches back and forth, the man in black states: Fals Fortune hath pleyd a game Atte ches with me (618-19) He has played chess with Fortune and he has lost his queen

12 OK BIG ALLEGORY HERE: I HAVE PLAYED CHESS WITH FORTUNE AND LOST MY QUEEN BUT: THE NARRATOR TAKES THIS ABSOLUTELY LITERALLY; WHAT S THE BIG DEAL SO YOU LOST A CHESS GAME NO, NO, NO: I VE LOST MY QUEEN, DON T YOU GET IT? SHE WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL QUEEN IN THE WORLD! SHE COULD DO EVERYTHING; SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL (LONG STRETCHES OF BLAZON DESCRIPTION FOLLOW) Her name was goode faire WHITE She was very white OK, says the narrator; yeah, yeah, you lost a white queen; but it s only a chess game NO SAYS THE MAN IN BLACK You still don t get it Only at the very end of the poem does the man in black explain that he has lost a human lover; she s dead; the narrator disbelieves; the man in black affirms; the narrator understands; then he wakes up.

13 In our two classes on the Book of the Duchess, we need to understand How Chaucer develops the dream vision and literary allegory How he is able to create a politically and socially tactful way of writing to a superior How he uses his wide reading and knowledge of literature to make this poem How he uses the device of the blazon to describe the woman Blanche the Duchess: Blanche is French for White The Man in Black is John of Gaunt; Duke of Lancaster; he lives in A long castel with walles white Long Castle = Lancaster And, we need to understand why the poem begins with the story of Ceyx and Alcyone

14 Ceyx and Alcyone In Ovid s version of the story, which would have been known to EVERYONE, the gods take pity on Ceyx and Alcyone and turn them in to sea birds (kingfishers) who spend eternity flying and loving together. Chaucer retells this story but he cuts it off before he gets to the metamorphosis at the end But what she sayde more in that swowe I may not telle you as nowe; It were to longe for to dwelle ( ) Chaucer deliberately omits the conclusion of the story Here, there is no metamorphosis; ALCYONE must accept the death of her husband; she dies. in the classical world, we can imagine a life after death: metamorphosis, apotheosis In the Christian world, the dead will only rise at the day of Judgment; only Jesus can bring back the dead (literature cannot) THUS, in a Christian world (Chaucer is saying) we must accept death with the recognition that we will not see the dead again in our lifetime AND that the old classical metamorphosis idea is denied to us.

15 The lesson of the poem is to accept the loss of a loved one, not to imagine that the loved one will come back The challenge of the poem is to teach that lesson to a social superior Thus, CHAUCER MUST DO IT ALLEGORICALLY NEXT TIME: we will see how he does it the use of the man in black s own speeches the allegory of the chess game the blazon and the description of the woman in the words of the man in black the dialogue at the poem s end the creation of an obtuse, naïve narrator Virgil, New Testament, Augustine, Boethius, Romance of the Rose, and even a bit of Dante (mourning Beatrice) all are in this poem in various ways; how do we disentangle them? USING THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS TO REVIEW THE ENTIRE COURSE

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