In this blog post, we will examine Geoffrey Chaucer’s life and major works, with a particular focus on the plot and analysis of ‘Troilus and Criseyde’.
The Life of Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400)
Known as the “Father of English Literature,” Geoffrey Chaucer was a leading poet of medieval England, and his reputation remains highly regarded in the history of world literature to this day. Born in 1343 into a wealthy family in the wine trade, he established ties with the court at an early age through his family’s connections as suppliers of wine to the royal household.
Chaucer lived through the reigns of several kings, including Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV. He was a writer and philosopher who occasionally took an interest in alchemy and astronomy, and he also served in public office as a courtier, diplomat, and administrator. This diverse and complex career greatly contributed to the depth of his literary world, resulting in numerous masterpieces such as ‘Troilus and Criseyde’ and ‘The Canterbury Tales’. There are reports that he was executed for political reasons in October 1400, and the fact that he was the first poet to be interred in the “Poets’ Corner” at Westminster Abbey alone attests to his literary stature.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Major Works
Chaucer’s works are generally divided into three periods—early (French period), middle (Italian period), and late (English period)—based on the cultural influences he absorbed. Among his early works, his translation of the popular French “Roman de la Rose” is particularly well-known; his representative work from this period is “The Book of the Duchess,” written to commemorate the death of his guardian, the Duchess of Gaunt.
The work representative of his middle, Italian period is the long romance ‘Troilus and Criseyde’, set against the backdrop of the latter stages of the Trojan War; Chaucer’s literary fame at the time stemmed primarily from this work. Other works from this period include ‘The House of Fame’ and ‘The Legend of Good Women’, though some of these remain unfinished.
During his later period in England, he wrote ‘The Canterbury Tales’, which is today considered his most representative work. In fact, this work embodies a vast plan that had been conceived since his earlier period, but it remained unfinished due to Chaucer’s sudden death.
The Plot of ‘Troilus and Criseyde’
In ‘Book I’, Troilus, the prince of Troy, attends the spring festival in April with his retinue and scorns men who are suffering from lovesickness. However, the moment he sees Criseyde, who has come to watch the festivities, he falls in love at first sight and finds himself afflicted by lovesickness as well. Upon returning home, he regrets his previous contempt for lovesickness, begs forgiveness from Cupid, the god of love, and suffers in his longing for Criseyde. His friend Pandaros, who is also Criseyde’s uncle, notices the situation and offers to help.
‘Book II’ The next day, Pandarus visits Criseyde and informs her that Troilus is on the verge of death from love. Criseyde worries that his intentions might not be honorable, but Pandarus insists that Troilus’s love is genuine and urges her to accept his sincerity. Following Pandarus’s advice, Troilus leads his men past her house, displaying his chivalrous bearing, and she eventually agrees to accept him as a friend. Pandarus then arranges for the two to meet by inviting them to a banquet attended by various members of the royal family, where Troilus receives Criseyde’s consent to his courtship.
‘Book 3’ Troilus’s love, unsatisfied with mere service, grows even deeper. To arrange a private meeting between the two, Pandarus chooses a day when rain and thunder are forecast and invites Chryseis, along with her servants, to his home for a feast. When rain suddenly pours down as they are about to leave, Criseyde, at Pandarus’s urging, decides to spend the night at his house. Troilus, who had already been hiding there, meets her secretly as part of Pandarus’s plan, and they spend the night together. They exchange rings, and she pins a brooch to his clothes; through such tokens of love, they become deeply devoted lovers.
Around this time in “Book IV,” a major battle breaks out between Greece and Troy, and several Trojan generals are taken prisoner by the Greeks. The two sides agree to a truce and proceed with a prisoner exchange; at the suggestion of the Greeks, they decide to exchange Chryseis—the daughter of the prophet Calchas—for the Trojan general Antenor. Despite Hector’s opposition, the Trojan council accepts the exchange, and the fate of the two lovers hangs in the balance. Troilus falls into despair, and Pandarus brings the two together again to seek a solution. Chrysais faints upon seeing Troilus; after regaining consciousness, she swears to remain faithful to him forever and promises to go to Greece and return within ten days.
‘Book 5’ Troilus leads his men to escort Chryseis to the exchange site and hands her over to Antenor; she is then handed over to Diomedes, the Greek escort. Returning to Troy, Troilus anxiously awaits her return, but Diomedes persistently courts her and eventually wins her heart. Criseyde gives Diomedes the brooch and the chestnut horse she received from Troilus, and though Troilus expresses his love in a letter, he gradually senses her changing heart. One day, he discovers the brooch—which Diomedes received from her when they parted—among the piles of equipment left by soldiers returning from battle. Realizing that Criseyde has betrayed him, he curses his fate and rushes madly onto the battlefield.
Commentary on ‘Troilus and Criseyde’
Estimated to have been completed in the mid-1380s, ‘Troilus and Criseyde’ is regarded as the literary masterpiece with the highest artistic achievement among Chaucer’s works. This epic poem, comprising approximately 8,200 lines, centers on the passionate love and tragic parting between Troilus, Prince of Troy, and Criseyde, daughter of the prophet Calchas.
However, this story itself is not entirely Chaucer’s original creation. Around the 12th century, Saint-Maur in France featured them in “The Tale of Troy,” and Boccaccio of Italy also addressed the same subject matter in “Il Filostrato.” Chaucer was particularly influenced by Boccaccio and followed his creative approach; Boccaccio chose to focus on a single episode in detail rather than adopting a chronological narrative in the style of Homer.
Nevertheless, Chaucer’s work displays far richer and more intriguing characteristics than other medieval works on the same subject. This is due to Chaucer’s vivid imagination and exceptional storytelling; he captivates readers by combining the conventions of courtly love with the realistic psychology of love. Furthermore, by introducing a narrator to maintain an objective distance from the content and boldly omitting parts of the plot to stimulate the reader’s imagination, he lends consistency and clarity to the narrative flow.
Another notable feature of this work is that Chaucer created highly distinctive and vivid characters. He does not simply seek to embody social conventions or conservative ethical standards of love, nor does he idealize or oversimplify the love between Troilus and Criseyde. Instead, through the two protagonists, he seeks to portray the passion, obstacles, hope, anxiety, joy, and sorrow that humans experience through love exactly as they are.
In conclusion, Chaucer develops two characters who had never met into lovers and depicts the psychology of love realistically and in depth from a medieval perspective. As they read the work, readers unconsciously find themselves empathizing with the emotions of Troilus and Criseyde, and through this, they artistically confront universal experiences such as the joy and pain of love, separation, and despair. Through this narrative, Chaucer compels readers to confront fundamental questions such as “What is love?”, “Who are men and women?”, and “What is life?”
