In The Book of the Duchess, Chaucer uses the genre of the dream vision in order to show off his intellectual knowledge and his artistic capabilities. Therefore, true to his nature, Chaucer reveals not just one ‘truth’ but a series of truths as he emulates the work of other great poets and tries to appease the wishes of his patron, John of Gaunt and the memory of his departed wife, Lady Blanche the Duchess of Lancaster – whilst seeking recognition for his own literary greatness.
The Book of the Duchess was a eulogy written at John of Gaunt’s request in order to commemorate the death of his first wife Lady Blanche presumably at one of the later annual commemoration services he held in her memory. Written at the beginning of his career Chaucer …show more content…
Furthermore, Chaucer also goes into uncomfortable detail about Blanche’s looks including her “rounde brestes […] of good brede” (956) This is a seemingly unnecessary description that does not add to the perfection already described – if Chaucer had said this without a guise it would come across as extremely inappropriate and disrespectful, but in the words of a lover it serves to add to her beauty and shows how her forlorn lover has memorized every part of her from her “canel-boon” (943) to her “hyr hippes” (957) – it creates a full and perfect picture of his lost love making the tragedy of the loss all the more …show more content…
This would fit in with the extravagant tomb he commissioned for her and that after his death he asked to be buried beside her (not his other two wives) after his own death. As it the poem was read at a commemoration it might be silly to suggest gaunt did not really care for his first wife considering the effort he went to in order to preserve and praise her memory. As such the two seem to stand side by side Chaucer suggests that by missing the ending of Ovid’s tale of two lovers that to grieve properly does not mean to mourn forever and flatters gaunt ability to move on whilst planning his second marriage at the same time. Or as Hardman states "The Book of the Duchess is a tribute to both the loving husband and the dead wife” and in the making of it, Chaucer also memorialised himself as a great writer. It would also be tradition to have such a complicated and extensive ceremonial process to commemorate Blanche’s
The Book of the Duchess was a eulogy written at John of Gaunt’s request in order to commemorate the death of his first wife Lady Blanche presumably at one of the later annual commemoration services he held in her memory. Written at the beginning of his career Chaucer …show more content…
Furthermore, Chaucer also goes into uncomfortable detail about Blanche’s looks including her “rounde brestes […] of good brede” (956) This is a seemingly unnecessary description that does not add to the perfection already described – if Chaucer had said this without a guise it would come across as extremely inappropriate and disrespectful, but in the words of a lover it serves to add to her beauty and shows how her forlorn lover has memorized every part of her from her “canel-boon” (943) to her “hyr hippes” (957) – it creates a full and perfect picture of his lost love making the tragedy of the loss all the more …show more content…
This would fit in with the extravagant tomb he commissioned for her and that after his death he asked to be buried beside her (not his other two wives) after his own death. As it the poem was read at a commemoration it might be silly to suggest gaunt did not really care for his first wife considering the effort he went to in order to preserve and praise her memory. As such the two seem to stand side by side Chaucer suggests that by missing the ending of Ovid’s tale of two lovers that to grieve properly does not mean to mourn forever and flatters gaunt ability to move on whilst planning his second marriage at the same time. Or as Hardman states "The Book of the Duchess is a tribute to both the loving husband and the dead wife” and in the making of it, Chaucer also memorialised himself as a great writer. It would also be tradition to have such a complicated and extensive ceremonial process to commemorate Blanche’s