Ambiguity and Understanding of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde
One of the aspects of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde that seemed most confusing at first was the apparent ambiguity or complete lack of motivation that the author provides for the main characters. Chaucer provides little explanation for why his major characters act the way that they do; when he does, his explanations are often ambiguous or contradictory. Pandarus is an excellent example of a character whose motives are ambiguous. The only motives clearly attributable to him based on the poem's text seem to be the friendship and affection he and Troilus have for each other, which is supported by the narrator's claim that "Pandarus ... [was] desirous to serve his fulle frend." (Chaucer 1.1058-9); a voyeuristic instinct (which could be supported by pointing out that Pandarus seems to arrange opportunities for Troilus and Criseyde to tryst, as much as possible, in his presence -- for instance, his presence for an unspecified length of time during the night Troilus and Criseyde spend in his guest room); and a wish to vicariously fulfill, through his friend Troilus, those romantic desires which have been thwarted throughout life. This last (and perhaps most supportable) explanation is suggested by the constant identifications that Pandarus makes with Troilus, by saying "myn avys anoon may helpen us" and in asking Troilus if "Fortune oure joie wold han overthrowe," and by his explanation that "I ... nevere felte in my servyse / A frendly cheere or lokyng of an eye." (1.620, 4.385, 4.397-8) All of these motives for Chaucer's Pandarus could be supported, but none seems clearly to be more plausible than any of the others. However, for these vaguely defined motives,...
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...uld be portrayed as less happy: he has lost Criseyde, has been denied revenge against her new lover, and is dead. It is hard to imagine a more forceful combination of facts with writing to make a point. As if to drive it home, Chaucer's narrator then refers to "Jove, Apollo, ... Mars" as "swich rascaille," or rabble.
Subtleties of middle English can be confusing for a new reader and first, and "entente" is a word with subtle variations in meaning and a variety of connotations. Properly understood, though, it adds a great deal to an understanding of Chaucer's Troilus.
References
Chaucer, Geoffrey. Troilus and Criseyde in The Riverside Chaucer. General Ed. Benson, Larry D. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987.
Tatlock, John S.P., and Arthur G. Kennedy. A Concordance to the Complete Work of Geoffrey Chaucer. Gloucester: Peter Smith, 1963.
The Merchant's revealed nature, however, combats the very destruction of creation and individual that he tried to attain. As the Merchant tries to subsume the reality of marriage, love, and relationship under his own enviously blind view, Chaucer shows us another individual, significant and important in his own way. Instead of acting as a totalizing discourse, Chaucer uses the Merchant's tale to reveal his depraved envy and to reveal him as no more than a wanton cynic. Thus, Chaucer provides the very perspective that the Merchant tries to steal from his audience.
Toswell, M.J. "Chaucer's Pardoner, Chaucer's World, Chaucer's Style: Three Approaches to Medieval Literature." College Literature 28.3 (2001): 155. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Feb. 2011.
Boardman, Phillip C. "Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400)." Enduring Legacies: Ancient and Medieval Cultures. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson Custom Pub., 2000. 430-54. Print.
I do agree with this view in some ways as the Nazis did use some
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. In the Riverside Chaucer. Larry D. Benson, ed. Boston: Houghton, 1987.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. Prentice Hall Literature The British Tradition Timeless Voices Timeless Themes. Trans. Nevill Coghill. Platinum ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. Print.
Mandell, Jerome. Geoffrey Chaucer : building the fragments of the Canterbury tales. N.J. : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1992.
Howard, Donald R. Chaucer: His Life, His Works, His World. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1987.
Yet despite the readers' foreknowledge of a tragic ending, Chaucer's skill is in exploring this theme, while making the outcome of the story seem anything but fixed. He "directs our responses and controls the narrative situation,"3 so that we are in constant anticipation. One scene in particular strikes me as a powerful example of Chaucer's ability to evoke this feeling of uncertainty and infinite possibility suddenly coalescing into the next inevitable movement of the plot.
New York: Washington Square Press, 1971. Print. Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Prologue.”
Chaucer uses two parallel relationships to establish his point. The plot of the story itself and the dichotomy between Griselda and Walter (a vie for dominance) set up the base of his argument. Chaucer uses the position of the Clerk to Petrarch (a vie for literary authority) to twist the way the story creates meaning. This leads directly into an interpretation of the tale that resists Petrarch’s authority/interpretation. As Griselda relishes in her misery and enjoys her penitent suffering she is able to control Walter through her seeming “goodness” and lack of pride. This stance is really nothing but an internal perversion of faith as she uses humility to convince Walter of his inferiority, because he is not as selfless or virtuous. Griselda’s use of submission is subverting because it dislocates the abil...
Mitchell, J. Allan. (2005). Chaucer's Clerk's Tale and the Question of Ethical Monstrosity. Studies in Philology. Chapel Hill: Winter 2005. Vol.102, Iss. 1; pg. 1, 26 pgs
Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Project Gutenberg EBook of Troilus and Criseyde." 12 July 2008. Project Gutenberg. Web. 27 November 2013.
...eveals insecurities of him in the process while that itself tells us more about the popular culture in this time. Chaucer, along with many of the other pilgrims attempts to place themselves in a socially desirable or even superior position. With the Narrator having the responsibility of articulating the tales to us in a coherent fashion, he might feel pressure to present himself as all-knowing or superior to his companions rather than show us an honest and unbiased point of view. After all, he is telling the story; the Narrator can ultimately choose to tell us whatever he pleases. The Narrator plays the role of telling tales and providing the groundwork for this pilgrimage story, but since his ideas and opinions are designed in such a particular way; he indirectly tells us so much more about not only about the pilgrimage but of this time period’s culture as a whole.
we see how Chaucer the pilgrim has been swayed and convinced by what the other pilgrims tell him. So much so that he reports qualities that are often the opposite of the true personalities of the characters he is describing. This ambiguity reveals a very clever sort of irony on behalf of the writer - while Chaucer the pilgrim is easily drawn in by their deliberate misrepresentations, it is up to the readers to see how wrong he is and draw their own, more accurate, conclusions. It shows many of the pilgrims to be very different people than those symbolised by the ideal qualities they want others to see.