Humanities 2 2017Lecture 19

Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400)The Book of the Duchess (late 1360s)

OR:A medieval English poet falls asleep over the Hum 2 syllabus

BACKGROUND:Geoffrey Chaucer: the first major English poet whom we know by name; born

into the English mercantile class; early in life sent to an aristocratic courtwhere he becomes a trained serving courtier; Chaucer was trained inthe diplomacy and courtesy of the English court – which, in the late 1300swas STILL FRENCH SPEAKING

WHY? After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the rulers of England wereFrench: first, northern (or Norman) French; then, central French. From the period of the Conquest until the early 15th century, FRENCH WAS THE LANGAUGEof the royal court; French was the language of the law courts and Parliament as well. English Parliament is not addressed in English until 1362 (and even then, therecords were kept in French); English legal business is not conducted in English untilthe 1420s

Chaucer is one of the first English writers to attempt to write sustained poetry basedon European models IN ENGLISH. Before Chaucer, poetry in English was largelybased on native, local forms of lyric and romance, adventure stories, and chronicle.

Chaucer is a great reader; during his apprenticeship at court, he clearly read a greatdeal; his first, known literary work is a partial translation of the Romance of theRose (early 1360s). Later, he translated Boethius Consolation of Philosophy;after a diplomatic mission to Italy in the late 1370s, he read and adapted worksby Italian writers (esp. Boccaccio, Petrarch, and DANTE). He knew Virgil’sAeneid inside and out. He knew the Old and New Testaments. He knewthe major ideas of St. Augustine.

SO: Chaucer spent his literary life reading, translating, recasting, and being inspired bythe range of literary works WE HAVE READ.

THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS IS HIS FIRST SUSTAINED POEM IN ENGLISHWRITTEN PROBABLY IN THE LATE 1360’S TO CELEBRATE THE DEATHOF BLANCHE OF LANCASTER, THE WIFE OF JOHN OF GAUNT, DUKE OFLANCASTER.

JOHN IS CHAUCER’S PATRON; JOHN’S MISTRESS’S SISTER IS CHAUCER’S WIFE

CHAUCER IS A MIDDLE CLASS GUY WHO MARRIES UP AND MAKES HIS WAY BYVIRTUE OF HIS INTELLIGENCE, WIT, VERBAL SKILL, TACT, AND CONNECTIONS

CHAUCER’S ENGLISHWhy care?

Chaucer wrote and spoke a form of English that descended from the Anglo-SaxonGermanic languages of the British Isles, BUT was heavily influenced by theFrench of the Norman Conquest and afterwards

The English language from the 7th through mid 11th century: OLD ENGLISHThe English language from the mid 11th through the late 15th c: MIDDLE ENGLISHThe English language from the late 15th c on: MODERN ENGLISH

CHAUCER’S ENGLISH HAS A LARGE FRENCH VOCABULARY, ESPECIALLY FORINTELLECTUAL, SOCIAL, AND INSTITUTIONAL CONCEPTS

CHAUCER IS WRITING RHYMED VERSE (A FORM BORROWED FROM FRENCH)

CHAUCER DEVELOPS A LITERARY PERSONA: THAT IS, A NARRATOR IN THE FIRSTPERSON WHO IS BASED ON HIM BUT IS A FICTIONAL VERSION OF HIM

THAT PERSONA IS A BOOKISH NARRATOR OF LITTLE EXPERIENCE

THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS HAS TO DO THE FOLLOWING:

ANNOUNCE CHAUCER AS A MAJOR NEW POET IN ENGLISH

TACTFULLY MOURN THE DEATH OF A SOCIAL SUPERIOR

DIPLOMATICALLY ADVISE A NOBLE PATRON ON MOURNING

ACCULTURATE A COMPLEX FRENCH LITERARY TRADITION INTO ENGLISH

IT IS A DREAM VISION; IT IS AN ALLEGORY; IT IS A SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACT

REMEMBER; DREAM AND POETRY ARE LINKED AS FORMS OF SYMBOLIC,ALLEGORICAL, OR ENIGMATIC NARRATIVES IN NEED OF INTERPRETATION;THEY ARE PRODUCTS OF THE HUMAN IMAGINATION

SO: The poem begins with the narrator lamenting that he has not slept in a long time;insomnia is a kind of writer’s block; the poet seeks inspiration; his insomnia isa kind of sickness; he is in need of healing; he tries to fall asleep, and in the processheal himself, BY READING:

HE FINDS A ROMANCE: IN THIS ROMANCE BOOK HE FINDS THE STORY OFCEYX AND ALCYONE

THE STORY OF CEYX AND ALCYONE:Comes from Ovid’s book called the Metamorphoses: tales of mythological

transformationsWe know that Ovid’s Metamorphoses was translated into French (“Romance”)

in the 13th and 14th centuries and was widely readSO: odds are, Chaucer is reading Ovid in French

King Ceyx goes on a sea voyage; there is a storm; his ship is lost; he diesQueen Alcyone is distraught; she prays to Juno; asks that a dream vision be sent

to her to tell her what happened to CeyxShe falls asleep; Juno calls on Morpheus, the god of sleep, to visit her in a dream;

Juno’s messenger wakes up Morpheus (god of sleep; duh, he’s sleeping);Morpheus animates the drowned body of Ceyx and appears to Alcyone in her sleep;

“I’m dead” he says; here’s where my body is; find it, and bury meAlcyone says: “Alas,” and dies three days laterThe NARRATOR SAYS (IN EFFECT) wow, great story; wish I could fall asleep;

well, he says, I’d give Morpheus a really great set of clothes if he could help mesleep; and scarcely does he say this, than he falls asleep and has a dream

AND HERE’S MY DREAM

Seemed to me it was May (aha, Romance of the Rose) (291)I was in bed completely naked (293)Birds woke me up with beautiful song (295)I looked up; my bedroom was made of stained glass (322)The stained glass told the story of the Trojan War (326)And on the walls, the story and images were painted from the Romance of the Rose (334)I heard a hunting horn blow (345)I got up; I followed the sound; I found the hunters; it is the hunting party of the emperor

Octavian (i.e., Augustus Caesar) (368)As I wandered around I saw a little dog (“whelp”); the dog came by and I followed it (389)The dog leads him to a mourning “man in black” (4450The man in black is saying some sad things; clearly mourning; he has lost someone

very dear and close to him (463)Narrator somewhat densely asks him what is wrong (522)

After a long set of speeches back and forth, the man in black states:

Fals Fortune hath pleyd a gameAtte ches with me (618-19)

He has played chess with Fortune and he has lost his queen

OK BIG ALLEGORY HERE: I HAVE PLAYED CHESS WITH FORTUNE AND LOST MY

QUEEN

BUT:THE NARRATOR TAKES THIS ABSOLUTELY LITERALLY; WHAT’S THE BIG DEALSO YOU LOST A CHESS GAME

NO, NO, NO: I’VE LOST MY QUEEN, DON’T YOU GET IT? SHE WAS THE MOSTBEAUTIFUL QUEEN IN THE WORLD! SHE COULD DO EVERYTHING; SHEWAS BEAUTIFUL (LONG STRETCHES OF BLAZON DESCRIPTION FOLLOW)Her name was “goode faire WHITE”

She was very white

OK, says the narrator; yeah, yeah, you lost a white queen; but it’s only a chess game

NO SAYS THE MAN IN BLACK

You still don’t get it

Only at the very end of the poem does the man in black explain that he has lost ahuman lover; she’s dead; the narrator disbelieves; the man in black affirms;the narrator understands; then he wakes up.

In our two classes on the Book of the Duchess, we need to understand

How Chaucer develops the dream vision and literary allegory

How he is able to create a politically and socially tactful way of writing to a superior

How he uses his wide reading and knowledge of literature to make this poem

How he uses the device of the blazon to describe the woman

Blanche the Duchess: Blanche is French for WhiteThe Man in Black is John of Gaunt; Duke of Lancaster; he lives in

“A long castel with walles white”

Long Castle = Lancaster

And, we need to understand why the poem begins with the story of Ceyx and Alcyone

Ceyx and Alcyone

In Ovid’s version of the story, which would have been known to EVERYONE,the gods take pity on Ceyx and Alcyone and turn them in to sea birds (kingfishers)

who spend eternity flying and loving together.

Chaucer retells this story but he cuts it off before he gets to the metamorphosis at the end

But what she sayde more in that swoweI may not telle you as nowe;It were to longe for to dwelle (215-217)

Chaucer deliberately omits the conclusion of the story

Here, there is no metamorphosis; ALCYONE must accept the death of her husband; she dies.

in the classical world, we can imagine a life after death: metamorphosis, apotheosisIn the Christian world, the dead will only rise at the day of Judgment; only Jesus can

bring back the dead (literature cannot)

THUS, in a Christian world (Chaucer is saying) we must accept death with the recognition that we will not see the dead again in our lifetime AND that the oldclassical metamorphosis idea is denied to us.

The lesson of the poem is to accept the loss of a loved one, not to imaginethat the loved one will come back

The challenge of the poem is to teach that lesson to a social superior

Thus, CHAUCER MUST DO IT ALLEGORICALLY

NEXT TIME:we will see how he does itthe use of the man in black’s own speechesthe allegory of the chess gamethe blazon and the description of the woman in the words of the man in blackthe dialogue at the poem’s endthe creation of an obtuse, naïve narrator

Virgil, New Testament, Augustine, Boethius, Romance of the Rose, and even a bitof Dante (mourning Beatrice) – all are in this poem in various ways; how dowe disentangle them?

USING THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS TO REVIEW THE ENTIRE COURSE