Leading Ladies
This goddess rewards her devotees with the best of times and the worst of times--all depending on how she spins her wheel
Who is Fortune?
Chaucer translated this late-Roman author's Consolation of Philosophy, and frequently drew on its themes and characters in his other works
Who is Boethius?
This god gets angry when a Trojan prince belittles love and lovers--and aims his arrow at the unfortunate prince
Who is Cupid?
Characters in this medieval genre often suffer from intense physical and spiritual symptoms, falling into a kind of love that looks a lot like disease
What is courtly romance (or chivalric romance)?
"The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen
That was the kyng Priamus sone of Troye,
In lovynge, how his aventures fellen
Fro wo to wele, and after out of joie [happiness]
My purpos is, er that I parte fro ye.
Thesiphone, thow help me for t'endite [to write]
Thise woful vers, that weepen as I write." [verses or lines / weep]
What is Troilus and Criseyde?
This regal goddess presides over (among other things) the Valentine's Day mating rituals of some birds, ensuring that each ends up with its proper "kinde"
Who is Nature?
In his Commentary on Scipio's Dream, this late-Roman author outlines five types of dream--and elaborates on their origins and credibility
Who is Macrobius?
This fierce Greek soldier kills both of Troy's finest fighters--who also happen to be brothers
Who is Achilles?
The Book of the Duchess and Parliament of Fowls are both examples of this literary genre, as is Cicero's account of Scipio's Dream
What is a dream vision?
“So whan I saw I might nat slepe
Til now late this other night [just the other night]
Upon my bedde I sat upright
And bad oon recche me a booke, [bade someone fetch]
A romaunce, and he it me tooke [brought]
To rede and dryve the night awey...” [pass the time]
What is The Book of the Duchess?
This unlucky seer interprets her brother's dream about a boar--though it doesn't win her much fraternal gratitude
Who is Cassandra?
After the narrator in Book of the Duchess bids someone to fetch him some reading material, he falls asleep reading a "romaunce" about this mythological couple
Who are Ceyx/Seys and Alcyone?
Who is Adam Pinkhurst?
Rhyming ababbcbc, this Chaucerian stanza structure takes its name from a tragedy-loving pilgrim in The Canterbury Tales
What is the Monk's stanza?
“‘Ye knowe wel how, Seynt Valentynes day,
By my statut and thurgh my governaunce, [authority]
Ye come for to chese—and flee your way— [choose / fly]
Your makes, as I prik yow with pleasuance. [mates / excite / desire]
But natheles my rightful ordenaunce [due process]
May I nat lete, for al this world to winne, [abandon / even if it were to win the whole world]
That he that most is worthy shal beginne.’” [he that is worthiest]
What is The Parliament of Fowls?
Who is Blanche of Lancaster?
Although Chaucer borrowed liberally from Boccaccio's Il Filostrato, the narrator gives credit throughout Troilus and Criseyde to this fictitious author instead
Who is Lollius?
Chaucer leaves several hints that this Trojan--whom the Greeks trade for Criseyde in a prisoner exchange--will eventually turn traitor
Who is Antenor?
Chaucer uses this seven-line stanza structure--rhyming ababbcc--in, for instance, "The Complaint of Chaucer to His Purse," Troilus and Criseyde, and The Parliament of Fowls
What is rhyme royal (or rime royal)?
"Than seide he thus: 'O paleys desolat,
O hous of houses whilom best ihight, [formerly called the best]
O paleys empty and disconsolat,
O thow lanterne of which queynt is the light, [extinguished]
O paleys, whilom day that now art nyght, [formerly]
Wel oughtestow to falle, and I to dye,
Syn she is wente that wont was us to gye!'" [accustomed / guide]
What is Troilus and Criseyde?
Chaucer addresses a ballade to this ruby-cheeked girl, whom critics sometimes associate with the child-bride of Richard II
Who is Rosemounde? (from "To Rosemounde")
This mysterious (maybe French?) medieval author traces the origins of amor to the Latin word for "hook"--and composes a list of 31 rules for courtly love
Who is Andreas Capellanus?
This god, who is often depicted as the conductor of souls, escorts Troilus's spirit into heaven’s “seventhe spere" [sphere]
Who is Mercury?
What is an envoy?
“O prince, desyre to be honourable,
Cherish thy folk and hate extorcioun! [your people, subjects]
Suffre nothing that may be reprevable [Permit / blameworthy]
To thyn estate, don in thy regioun. [high office / to be done]
Shew forth thy swerd of castigacioun [sword of punishment, correction]
Dred God, do law, love trouthe and worthinesse, [Fear / enforce]
And wed thy folk ageyn to stedfastnesse.” [marry]
What is "Lack of Steadfastness"?