Fortune And Free Will In Geoffrey Chaucer

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Despite the extensive presence of the Catholic church in the late Middle Ages, it seems as though society was still fixated on the opposition between Fortune and free will. It is common knowledge that Christianity preached free will to its people, and that the idea of Fortune or fatalism was a pagan idea condemned by the Church. Fortune as a concept, then, could only be explored through writing. Geoffrey Chaucer was one of many writers who wrestled with the opposition between free will and Fortune in their writing. He incorporated Fortune as a force controlling his characters into many of his poems, and this decision is one that still baffles people to this day. Some take the extreme stance of believing that this inclusion of Fortune means …show more content…
However, these opposing ideas—Fortune vs. free will—and the belief systems that held them—Christianity vs. paganism—is important to understand when analyzing “The Book of the Duchess” and “Troilus and Criseyde” with the intent to comprehend how Chaucer balanced Fortune vs. free will. In her article, "'God May Well Fordo Desteny': Dealing with Fate, Destiny, and Fortune in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur and Other Late Medieval Writing," Marilyn Corrie explains the dichotomy between the belief in Fortune and the belief in free …show more content…
However, there were other texts that may have had more of an effect on Chaucer, which then lend themselves to Chaucer’s poems “The Book of the Duchess” and “Troilus and Criseyde” leaning so heavily on Fortune.
Before Chaucer wrote “Troilus and Criseyde,” he translated The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, which is believed to have been a huge inspiration for Chaucer’s use of Fortune in “Troilus and Criseyde.” Boethius allows for Fortune and free will to coexist, and though Chaucer seemed to take hold of this idea, there are split opinions on it. The article "All fortune is good fortune: the role of Fortuna in a monotheistic literary world” says:
The Boethian model allows for choices to be made in the presence of Fortuna, especially since free-will was a gift of God. As stated earlier, Boethius has criticized as being a rather confused individual trying to mesh conflicting ideas together while not forming any sort of explanation for why these forces could

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