Troilus and Criseyde

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult | Published in 1385

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Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Book 1

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Book 3

Book 4

Book 5

Character Analysis

Themes

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Background

Authorial Context: Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet and civil servant who is well-known for establishing English as a literary language. Chaucer lived from 1343 to 1400, and during his life, he served as a custom’s official, diplomat, and courtier to the English throne. He is known for several major literary works including The Canterbury Tales, the Parlement of Foules, and The Book of the Duchess. Many of Chaucer’s works are inspired by French and Italian literature that he read while traveling, but Chaucer is notable for translating and adapting these works into English so that they could be read by a wider audience. Before Chaucer, many court poets wrote their literary works in French or Latin, even if they resided in England. After Chaucer, English became established as a literary language, and his influence caused a greater number of poems to be composed in the vernacular.

Many of Chaucer’s works explore the problems of romantic love in a patriarchal and rigidly hierarchical society. Chaucer was known to have an interest in astrology and its impact on both human temperament and fortune. He composed a work entitled A Treatise on an Astrolabe for his son, wherein he explains how to make astronomical calculations using medieval technology. Additionally, many of Chaucer’s literary works take the form of a dream vision, a popular medieval genre wherein all the events in the poem are framed as a dream experienced by the poet. Chaucer uses the form of the dream vision to draw a parallel between dreams and the art of poetry, suggesting that both require careful interpretation. Chaucer’s works often employ humor and self-deprecation, borrowing from low-brow comedic genres such as fabliau as well as the more prestigious genres of epic, courtly romance, and philosophy.

Literary Context: The Trojan War

The Trojan War is a prominent story from Greek mythology and became a major source for classical and medieval literary works. The narrative of the Trojan War depicts a conflict between the Greeks and Trojans that begins when Paris, a prince of Troy, abducts Helen, the wife of Spartan King Menelaus. Menelaus rallies other Greek leaders to help him besiege the city until Helen is returned, resulting in a long conflict that eventually ends with Troy being invaded and burned. The most famous literary adaptation of this legend is Homer’s Iliad, likely written in the seventh or eighth century BCE. Homer’s Odyssey follows the story of one of the Greek leaders returning from the Trojan War, while the Roman poet Virgil composed the Aeneid in the first century CE about the remnants of the Trojan leadership after the destruction of their home.

In the Middle Ages, the 12th-century French poem Le Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure was the most widely known source about the Trojan War. This literary work depicts the romance between Troilus and Criseyde, while earlier works such as Homer’s Iliad do not mention this story. Chaucer’s main source for the story of Troilus and Criseyde is Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th-century Italian version of the tale entitled Il Filostrato. While Chaucer’s adaptation is close to Boccaccio’s version of the story in terms of plot, Chaucer portrays Criseyde more sympathetically. The Trojan War would continue to be a major source of inspiration for literary works after Chaucer as well, providing the source material for the 15th-century poem Troy Book by John Lydgate, William Shakespeare’s 16th-century play Troilus and Cressida, and even contemporary novels such as Madeline Miller’s 2012 novel The Song of Achilles.

Philosophical Context: Boethius

Ancinius Manlius Severinus Boethius (480-524 CE) was a Roman philosopher whose works were hugely influential during the Middle Ages. During his life, he sought to translate Greek philosophical works and combine their ideas with Christian theology. After criticizing the Ostrogothic court in Rome, he was imprisoned and executed. During his imprisonment, he wrote a text known as On the Consolation of Philosophy, which would become his most influential work. On the Consolation of Philosophy takes the form of a dialogue between Boethius and the personification of the art of philosophy and seeks to answer questions of fate, free will, and divine providence through a Christian theological framework. In particular, On the Consolation of Philosophy explores why an all-powerful and all-knowing God would allow bad things to happen to virtuous people while allowing evildoers to go unpunished in their mortal lives. Boethius explains how free will can exist alongside predestination by suggesting that God does not experience time as linear.

Chaucer wrote an English verse translation of On the Consolation of Philosophy called Boece in the 1380s, at the same time that he was composing Troilus and Criseyde. The philosophy of Boethius can be seen in Troilus’ pondering over the nature of chance, fortune, and free will in the latter half of the narrative. Chaucer often borrows quotes directly from Boethius throughout Troilus and Criseyde, helping him to explore The Tension Between Free Will and Divine Providence within the poem.