The Book of the Duchess is said to be a tribute, a eulogy of sorts. But as with any other story, there is more than one level to The Book of the Duchess. One of the things Geoffrey Chaucer seemed to do in The Book of the Duchess was to define refined love.
Chaucer gave the first pieces of his definition of refined love within the story of the King Seys and his wife Alcione. This first idea that Chaucer gives of refined love is of what one should feel when his or her love is gone longer than he or she should be. Seys had gone on a sea voyage, but instead of returning unharmed, a storm blew up and the ship sank, and Seys drowned. Alcione, obviously, did not take this well.
This lady, that was left at hom, / Hath wonder that the king ne com / Hom, for it was a longe terme / Anon her herte began to [erme]; / And for that her thoughte evermo / It was not wele [he dwelte] so, / She longed so after the king / That certes it was a pitous thing / To telle her hertely sorrowful lif / That she had, this noble wif, / For him, alas, she loved alderbest. Chaucer 331
The first piece of refined love Chaucer gives is that when the couple is apart, they should pine after each other. Both members of the couple should long only for the other, and for no one else.
Chaucer goes on to tell of the vow Alcione makes to eat nothing more until she hears word of how Seys fares. She sends men in every direction, to no avail, and weeps until it was pitiful to hear. Finally, in desperation, Alcione beseeches her goddess Juno to show her Seys, her beloved, in a dream, and in return, Alcione will give herself to Juno, heart, mind, body, and all. This gives the second piece of the definition of refined love. Someone in the grip of love would do anything, even give up his or her whole selves if needed, for his or her beloved.
The goddess Juno, hearing this plea from Alcione, called upon the god of sleep, her consort, Morpheus, to bring Seys body from the bottom of the sea so that Alcione might see and know that Seys is dead.
Nelson, Marie. "Biheste is Dette: Marriage promises in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales." 2001. Dept. of English, Wentworth University. 15 July 2003 <http://www.wentworth.edu/nelson/chaucer>
...He longs to always have her. Chaucer’s view on marriage as shown in the Miller’s Tale is that both sides can’t have power or the marriage is unequal. One will fall if there is not one major person with the significant power in the relationship.
Forbes, Shannon. "'To Alisoun Now Wol I Tellen Al My Love-Longing': Chaucer's Treatment of the Courtly Love Discourse in the Miller's Tale." Women's Studies 36.1 (2007): 1-14. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 May 2013
One of the interpretations attributed to the concept of love in this comedy, and often portrayed in Shakespeare's plays, is that of love as a kind of richness, as a commercial enterprise in which men and women trade. Under this light, the bond beaten lovers gains a mercantilistic value and may thus be regarded as a kind of contract...
Societal and environmental factors, even from the beginning of adolescence, shape people’s interpretation and comprehension of love (Hartup 8-13). This makes it decidedly difficult for people to notice a distinction between the different types of love. Not only do copious types of love exist, but also there are varying definitions of love (Rubin 2-4). Whilst some people may define love as immaturity, others may define it as a positive passionate emotion between two, occasionally multiple, people (1). The primary type of love, defined by the latter statement in the previous sentence, in King Lear is familial love — rather than the romantic love that a multitude of Shakespeare’s other plays revolve around. Bloom mentions
Courtly love is extremely evident throughout “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” and allows the development of each character within the plot. Courtly love was believed to be originated in France during the 12th century and eventually spreading to other countries in Europe, influencing authors, such as Geoffrey Chaucer, throughout. English courts, which handled marriages, practiced the art of courtly love from the 12th century to the 14th century, during which marriages were pre-arranged and had little to do with love. A marriage was not based on love, rather on what each participant brought to his or her spouse and families. As love and romance was not a portion of marriage, it became an acceptable practice to seek another romancer outside of the marriage, as long as the spouse adhered to the strict rules of chastity and fidelity (http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/courtly-love.htm). Furthermore, courtly love was only practiced between a man and woman of some sort of noble status, typically between...
The Definition of Love Love by definition is an emotion explored in philosophy, religion, and literature, often as either romantic love, the fraternal love of others, or the love of God based on the definition found in The Encarta Encyclopedia. As I explored the definitions through the Internet, books, and articles, I noticed the definitions changed quite a bit, but yet had the same basic understanding. The definition I found in The Encarta Encyclopedia is probably the most simple and most basic. It refers to love in the whole aspect, which is Godly, fraternal, and romantic. All of which can only be defined by one word and that is love.
Chaucer never speaks about his own experiences with love, but it is made evident in Troilus and Criseyde what his understanding of love really is: "Ek though I speeke of love unfelyngly, // No wondre is, for it nothyng of newe is" (T&C.II.19-20) He speaks of love as if it is nothing new.
Do you believe that Chaucer thinks courtly love provides a useful set of rules and behaviors to guide man and women in their relationship?
Love in this time period was portrayed in a different manner than in The Miller's Tale. Though Alison was not high in the class system, she could not have been considered "good" enough for any lord as a mistress or any common man as a wife, "For any lord to leggen in his bedde, Or yet for any good yeman to wedde", (Lines 161-162). Though, when Alison was wed to an older man she lacked any attraction and longed to be away from him. Alison is thought to be a newly budded youthful pear tree suggesting her childlike vibrancy and causing many to consider her desirable. Chaucer uses many statements that can be interpreted in a different manner with massive ambiguity. ...
...ionship dynamics exhibited in both the Wife’s prologue and in her knightly tale place male and female on equal footing; they are by turns equally despicable and commendable. As the Wife finds harmony with the one she loves and the hag provides a happy ending for both herself and for the knight, Chaucer seems to be presenting a balance between the masculine and the feminine: harmony is achieved through sacrifice on both parts. True love and a healthy relationship can never come about without this compromise, because both sexes desire control over the other. Something must be given up on each side. Chaucer implies that female triumph over a male’s control can still bring about a happy ending; as long as they think they’re on top, men will be content, and as long as they are given some semblance of power, women will happily devote themselves to the men they control.
This waxing and waning of Troilus' and Criseyde's happiness in love allows Chaucer to explore the different manifestations of love in his contemporary society, and what the costs of loving might be. In particular, Criseyde's fear of love, and betrayal of Troilus' love, raises the question: who is allowed to choose to love?
...not change the style of the tale, referring to the tone and language used, but also the way that he appoints this overrated thing that love posses. As in “The Miller’s Tale” does not exist the courtesy or any other important value for society, Chaucer tries to express his own opinion about courtly love through the tale of the Miller saying that this not happen in everywhere or part of the society, demonstrating that the ideals of being a knight is very far away of the convention of what he thinks is valuable to society.
It is well known that Shakespeare’s comedies contain many marriages, some arranged, some spontaneous. During Queen Elizabeth's time, it was considered foolish to marry for love. However, in Shakespeare’s plays, people often marry for love. With a closer look into two of his most famous plays As You Like It and Twelfth Night or What You Will, I found that while marriages are defined and approached differently in these two plays, Shakespeare’s attitudes toward love in both plays share similarities. The marriages in As You Like It’s conform to social expectation, while the marriages are more rebellious in Twelfth Night. Love, in both plays, was defined as
Courtly love was the term used to describe the courtship rituals between noble men and women. This usually involved a dashing knight falling instantly in love with a strikingly beautiful woman. Most of these relationships did not result in marriage because it was thought that love only existed outside the bonds of marriage. The ritual of courtly love had rigid codes of conduct associated with it. Shakespeare took his writing to new levels by subtly defying the codes of conduct and relating courtly love to relationships between both two men and a man and a woman.