Troilus and Criseyde

“O blynde world, O blynde entencioun!

How often fallen al the effect contraire

of surquidrie and foul presumpcioun.”

Chaucer employs an apostrophe—directly addressing an abstract concept—and personification in the first line of this quote, calling out to the world and to intention as though they were human and associating them with the human trait of blindness. This quote refers to the irony with which pride and confidence are often subverted. In the case of Troilus, his proud determination to never fall in love was ironically undermined when he fell in love with Criseyde.

“A fool may ek a wis-man ofte gide.”

This line spoken by Pandarus features irony, as a fool serving as a guide to a wise man is contrary to expectations. Pandarus uses self-deprecating humor here, referring to himself as a fool to persuade Troilus to trust him. Later in this speech, Pandarus will use the same rhetorical technique to persuade Troilus that he has a chance of becoming a successful lover, claiming that those who are the greatest sinners often become the most faithful converts.

“What knowe I of the queene Nyobe?

Lat be thyne olde ensaumples, I the preye.”

Troilus critiques Pandarus’ use of literary allusions, telling him to stop relying on examples from old books. Niobe was a queen in Greek mythology who bragged about her numerous children, angering the twin gods Artemis and Apollo. The gods killed her children in revenge, and Niobe became distraught, begging the gods for a merciful death until she was turned into a stone that continued to weep. This allusion is drawn from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a text that Chaucer often references throughout Troilus and Criseyde.

“Owt of thise blake wawes for to saylle,

O wynd, O wynd, the weder gynneth clere;

For in this see the boot hath swych travaylle,

Of my connyng, that unneth I it steere.”

The beginning of Book 2 uses a metaphor, comparing Chaucer writing the poem to a sailor steering a ship through stormy waters. This metaphor creates a tone of menace, foreshadowing the dangerous and even deadly aspects of the love affair between Troilus and Criseyde.

“Ye knowe ek that in forme of speche is change

Withinne a thousand yeer, and wordes tho

that hadden pris, now wonder nyce and straunge.”

Chaucer addresses the reader using the second-person perspective in this quote as part of his attempt to persuade his audience to accept some of the cultural differences between their society and ancient Trojan society. He compares the change in social norms to the change in language that occurs over time, reminding his audience that after a thousand years, common words sound strange and ridiculous.

“Do wey youre book, rys up, and lat us daunce,

And lat us don to May som observaunce.”

Pandarus encourages Criseyde to go out and enjoy the pleasures of spring as part of his plan to help Troilus win her love. This quote helps establish the setting of the poem, indicating that the spring season is significant to the themes and plot. In medieval love poetry, May was the traditional time for courting and romance, in part because of the associations between spring and the influence of the planet Venus. Venus is named for the Roman goddess of love, and medieval astrologers would have believed that falling in love was more likely when Venus was visible in the sky.

“Forthi hire wit to serven wol I fonde.”

This line from Pandarus’ internal monologue indicates his skills with persuasive rhetoric as well as his sexist attitudes. Pandarus suggests that because Criseyde is a woman, she will not be able to follow a complex and intricate argument. Therefore, he decides that his attempt to help Troilus seduce her will be more successful if he speaks plainly and with an emphasis on emotion.

“Now myghte som envious jangle thus:

‘This was a sodeyn love; how myght it be,

That she so lightly loved Troilus

Right for the firste syghte, ye parde?’”

Chaucer utilizes a straw man argument—ascribing characteristics or attitudes to an imagined opponent in a debate—to anticipate the response of a reader critical toward the poem. By giving voice to the criticism that Criseyde’s sudden attraction to Troilus must mean that she loves him shallowly and unrealistically, Chaucer is better able to contradict this potential response. He goes on to explain that the moment when Criseyde first sees Troilus is simply the beginning of her attraction to him, which later leads to love.

“A nyghteyngale, upon a cedre grene

Under the chambre wal ther as she ley,

Ful loude song ayein the moone shene,

Peraunter in his briddes wise a lay

Of love, that made hire herte fresshe and gay.”

The nightingale was a traditional symbol of courtly love in medieval poetry. In particular, the song of the nightingale represents the song of a lover and the power of the arts to inspire tender feelings. While Criseyde is initially suspicious of Troilus’ love for her, this symbol shows her gradually softening and implies that love is a part of nature and therefore inevitable for all people.

“Ne scryvenyssh or craftyly thow it write;

Biblotte it with thi teris ek a lite;

And if thow write a goodly word al softe,

Though it be good, reherce it nought to ofte.”

Pandarus advises Troilus on how to write a love letter, recommending that he express genuine and authentic emotions. This quote uses irony to create humor, as Pandarus’ crafty strategizing has guided Troilus and Criseyde together, and yet he recommends emotional honesty as the best tactic for securing a woman’s love.

“O blisful light of which the bemes clere

Adorneth al the thridde heven faire!”

Chaucer begins the third book of the poem with an invocation to the goddess Venus, equating her with the planet. He references the third heaven, which in medieval geocentric cosmology would be Venus (after the moon and Mercury). The light from the stars and planets symbolically represents the light of divinity, suggesting that the love experienced by mortals is related to the love of the divine in heaven.

“Caliope, thi vois be now present,

For now is nede: sestow nought my destresse,

How I mot telle anonright the gladnesse

Of Troilus, to Venus heryinge?”

Chaucer’s invocation to Calliope is an allusion to the muse of epic poetry. These lines convey that Book 3 of the poem will be the happiest point of the narrative. Unlike other books, which invoke the furies or other underworld gods at the beginning, Chaucer now calls upon the conventional and expected muse for an epic poem such as Troilus and Criseyde. He employs a rhetorical question directed to the muse, asking her how he can write of Troilus’ gladness.

“O Fortune, executrice of wierdes,

O influences of thise heveynes hye!”

Chaucer employs personification and allegory in his depiction of fortune, referring to the concept of fate as a feminine personage who represents the arbitrary and changeable nature of luck. This quote also features alliteration, the repetition of sounds at the beginnings of words. The alliteration of “heveynes” and “hye” draws attention to the influence of the stars and planets influence over human fates.

“And now swetnesse semeth more swete,

That bitterness assaid was byforn;

For out of wo in blisse now they flete;

Non switch they felten sithen they were born.”

Describing the union of the lovers Troilus and Criseyde, Chaucer includes alliteration, the repetition of the “S” sound in the first line. The use of alliteration compliments Chaucer’s rhyme scheme, making this passage sound musical to highlight the beauty of the moment. This quote is also notable since it refers back to earlier language about The Paradoxical Nature of Love, which Troilus claims is both bitter and sweet at the same time.

“O ye Herynes, Nyghtes doughtren thre

That endeles complaeignen evere in pyne,

Megera, Alete, and ek Thesiphone,

Thow cruel Mars ek, fader to Quyryne,

This ilke ferthe book me helpeth fyne.”

Chaucer signals the change in tone that will occur in Book 4 by asking the furies, goddesses of vengeance, and Mars, the god of war, to help him compose the story. Rather than the happy and romantic tone of Book 3, this allusion to the classical deities associated with revenge and warfare foreshadows that the coming book will take on a darker and more tragic tone.

“This town hath al this were

by ravysshyng of wommen so by myght,

It sholde nought be suffred me to erre,

As it stant now, ne do so gret unright.”

Troilus realizes that he cannot refuse to allow Criseyde to return to her father without facing the anger of his own people due to the context of the Trojan War. Chaucer relies on his audience’s familiarity with the cause of the conflict—Helen’s abduction by Paris—in Troilus’ rationalization. The literary parallel between Criseyde’s and Helen’s situations helps emphasize the ways in which love rules over human behavior.

“The swifte Fame, which that false thynges

Egel reporteth lik the thynges trewe,

Was thorughout Troie yfled with preste wynges

Fro man to man, and made this tale al newe.”

Chaucer uses allegory in his description of fame, personifying the concept as a winged being that flies through the city and reports information. This allegorical Fame shares attributes with the version from Chaucer’s poem The House of Fame, wherein Fame is depicted as a woman with partridge wings. This allegory indicates how swiftly information spreads throughout the city, allowing the news to reach Criseyde before Troilus can talk to her.

“How sholde a fisshe withouten water dure?

What is Criseyde worth, from Troilus?

How sholde a plaunte or lyves creature

Lyve withouten his kynde noriture?”

Criseyde uses a series of rhetorical questions to indicate that she cannot live without Troilus. She employs comparisons between her situation and those of other living creatures forced into environments where they cannot survive, indicating that her love feels so natural that she cannot sustain herself without it.

“Ek I am nat of power for to stryve

Ayeyns the god of Love, but hym obeye

I wole alwey; and mercy I yow preye.”

Diomede attempts to seduce Criseyde using the same rhetorical techniques that Pandarus employed earlier in the narrative. By portraying his attraction to Criseyde as uncontrollable and divinely motivated, he suggests that she must be merciful toward him because he has no power to change his feelings. Here, Chaucer suggests the darker side of erotic attraction, indicating that it may lead to conflict due to its involuntary nature.

“Wher is myn owene lady, lief and deere?

Wher is hire white brest? Wher is it, where?”

Troilus employs repetition and rhetorical questions to convey his desperation and grief. By having Troilus repeatedly ask an unanswerable question, the poem indicates how tormented he is by the fact that she has not yet returned or explained why she has delayed.

“And for they kan a tyme of sorwe endure,

As tyme hem hurt, a tyme doth hem cure.”

Hoping to comfort Troilus, Pandarus uses repetition to convey the significance of time. He phrases his advice as a paradox, indicating that time is both the cause of Troilus’ pain and its potential cure. This paradox suggests that while waiting for Criseyde is causing Troilus to suffer, enduring for long enough will eventually cure his sadness. However, Pandarus is proven wrong when Troilus’ love for Criseyde does not wane with time and distance.

“O paleys desolat,

O hous of houses whilom best ihight,

O paleys empty and disconsolat,

O thow lantern of which queynt is the light.”

Troilus laments as he sees Criseyde’s empty house, using symbolism and repetition to indicate his extreme grief. Throughout the poem, light and stars have been symbols for Criseyde, so seeing her house without any lights represents a house without Criseyde for Troilus. The repetition of “paleys” and “hous” signifies how fixated Troilus is on this last remaining reminder of Criseyde that he has left in Troy.

“And syn he best to love is, and most meke,

Whatnedeth feynede loves for to seke?”

Chaucer asks a rhetorical question as a part of his persuasive conclusion to the poem. By comparing earthly love and divine love, Chaucer questions why a person would want to prioritize earthly love when Christ is a far better person to offer love to. While earthly love is temporal, Christ is an infinite and faithful lover. This conclusion shifts the poem into a didactic mode, teaching its audience about the importance of Christian devotion.