Nnstructure and consolation in the book of the duchess

Written in octosyllabic couplets, the 1,335line poem is a veritable mosaic of several genresincluding allegory, dream vision, elegy, and romanceinfused with themes of love, loss, and consolation. The dreamer, the whelp, and the consolation in the book of the duchess. Traditionally debate focused on the quality of the work. Parallel between poets insomnia and knight according to the medieval dream theory and its classification system, the dream experience by the poet in the book of duchess seemingly belongs to that variety wherein the impression and concerns of the previous day are recycled during sleep macrobius 8890. Clemen reads the poem as offering consolation to gaunt by reviving the. In showcasing the knights complete lack of interest in the hunt, coupled by his general lethargy, chaucer effectively parallels the knights apathy to that experienced by the. And bade someone bring me a book, a romance, and this i took to read and drive the night away, 50 since i thought it better, i say, than chess or backgammon tables. The piece was composed for chaucers friend john of gaunt, duke of lancaster l. Challenges the traditional designation of book of the duchess as a consolation by arguing that the dreamer fails to aid the black knight. The book of the duchess is chaucers earliest dreamvision, written c. In geoffrey chaucers first major work, the book of the duchess c. Structure and consolation in the book of the duchess.

And in this book were written fables that scholars had in ancient times, and other poets, set in rhymes 55 to read and preserve in mind when men still lived by law of kind. The book of the duchess as a chaucerian consolation essay. The duchess was blanche white, the wife of john of gaunt, duke of lancaster long castle and earl of richmond rich hill, who was chaucers patron, and a son of edward iii. The book of the duchess washington state university. Initiates the modern recognition of book of the duchess as psychological consolation, examining the role of the narrator in the poem, and arguing that his grief is. Consolation in the book of the duchess by geoffrey chaucer.