The Legend of Medea and Hypsipyle
In the legend of Hypsipyle and Medea, Chaucer relates to these two women equally, seeing that they were treated shamefully by the same man, Jason. The narrator again refers his audience to his source: "Lat hym go rede Argonautycon, / For he wole telle a tale long ynogh" (1457-1458). Chaucer reports that Jason married Hypsipyle and had two children with her, what in fact turns out to be a mere fiction. In fact, he leaves her, and Hypsipyle writes him a letter "Which were to longe"(LoGW 1571).
The Medea section ends with an identical lament:
Wel can Ovyde hire letter in vers endyte, Which were as now to long for me to wryte. (LoGW 1678-1679)
Medea is best known for being an "uncontrolled murderess". Obviously, …show more content…
As the title indicates, the Legend should tell the stories of good women, unfortunately, the expectations of the readers may not be fulfilled, because the title does not quite agree with its content. Although, Chaucer briefly mentions about his good heroines, but more attention is given to men, presented them as false ones.
The Legend of Cleopatra and …show more content…
It can be safely concluded, that this poem is the most enigmatic of all Chaucer’s works, and therefore there were many noticeable inconsistencies, as well as many interesting aspects that I considered in my paper. Analysis of selected legends confirmed the hypothesis stated in the introduction, that the original title of Chaucer’s poem is not unequivocal with its content. The greater part of Chaucer's work focuses on presenting heroes as false men, while excessive and inappropriate glorification of women at the same time gives the whole rather the ironical dimension. Taking into account the fact that the author focuses far more on the description of false men, a more appropriate title of the work would be “The Legend of False Men”. Referring to the fiction of gender, legendary women in Chaucer's version, adopted features of legendary men and inversely. Feminist elements, implemented in the legends, are only a surface, while the perceptible irony shows the true antifeminist belief of the narrator. During the comparison authentic and modified biographies of heroes in the novel, came to light how and as many crucial facts have been omitted and changed in the poem. This phenomenon also confirmed my theory associated with an ironic approach and antifeminist attitude of Chaucer. Moreover, knowledge of the women’s position in the Middle Ages was
In the legend of Hypsipyle and Medea, Chaucer relates to these two women equally, seeing that they were treated shamefully by the same man, Jason. The narrator again refers his audience to his source: "Lat hym go rede Argonautycon, / For he wole telle a tale long ynogh" (1457-1458). Chaucer reports that Jason married Hypsipyle and had two children with her, what in fact turns out to be a mere fiction. In fact, he leaves her, and Hypsipyle writes him a letter "Which were to longe"(LoGW 1571).
The Medea section ends with an identical lament:
Wel can Ovyde hire letter in vers endyte, Which were as now to long for me to wryte. (LoGW 1678-1679)
Medea is best known for being an "uncontrolled murderess". Obviously, …show more content…
As the title indicates, the Legend should tell the stories of good women, unfortunately, the expectations of the readers may not be fulfilled, because the title does not quite agree with its content. Although, Chaucer briefly mentions about his good heroines, but more attention is given to men, presented them as false ones.
The Legend of Cleopatra and …show more content…
It can be safely concluded, that this poem is the most enigmatic of all Chaucer’s works, and therefore there were many noticeable inconsistencies, as well as many interesting aspects that I considered in my paper. Analysis of selected legends confirmed the hypothesis stated in the introduction, that the original title of Chaucer’s poem is not unequivocal with its content. The greater part of Chaucer's work focuses on presenting heroes as false men, while excessive and inappropriate glorification of women at the same time gives the whole rather the ironical dimension. Taking into account the fact that the author focuses far more on the description of false men, a more appropriate title of the work would be “The Legend of False Men”. Referring to the fiction of gender, legendary women in Chaucer's version, adopted features of legendary men and inversely. Feminist elements, implemented in the legends, are only a surface, while the perceptible irony shows the true antifeminist belief of the narrator. During the comparison authentic and modified biographies of heroes in the novel, came to light how and as many crucial facts have been omitted and changed in the poem. This phenomenon also confirmed my theory associated with an ironic approach and antifeminist attitude of Chaucer. Moreover, knowledge of the women’s position in the Middle Ages was