Tragic love stories have fascinated humans since ancient times. They conquered the hearts of many and opened the ways for more love stories. Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – to October 1400) is one of the most famous English authors of the middle ages. Chaucer is considered the father of English literature and thrilled the mass with his literary works. His most famous works include the Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde. Yet, again a tragic love story that is still widely popular in the 21st century. Chaucer is one of the first authors to use the concept of courtly love as the main focus in his storyline.
Generally, the relevance of this topic for me is the ridiculousness and exaggeration of love during the medieval times. Usually, love …show more content…
Stephanie Dietrich claims that Troilus holds a superior position within the community since he is the prince and the military leader of Troy (206). The younger knights followed his lead and commands. He is presented very masculine and dominant in his community. However, as the story progresses the readers see Troilus as a lovesick and melancholic adolescence. He transforms from a very masculinized character into a very feminine character. He becomes very clingy, insecure and hyper sensible, more so, he is constantly antsy and paranoid. Saunders, explains that love is consistently imagined as a physical illness or wound by medieval writers. Love does not bring pleasure but pain to the lovers. More so, she states that for Troilus this bodily quality of desire is striking since love treats him like a disease. Therefore, it is to say that Troilus shows severe signs of “malady love,” such as weeping sighing, swooning, melancholy, and physical decline all due to his love for Criseyde. He is unable to move and lies in bed all day suffering and in pain …show more content…
In the end, his love for Criseyde destroyed Troilus, when they first met he was suffering like a sick person and when he finally conquered Criseyde he became very delusional. More so, Troilus was devastated after she betrayed him and left for the Greek camp. His state of mind is hazy and he feels like his life is ending because his love is now unrequited. Courtly love, hence, his love for Criseyde took the best attributes aways from Troilus. This passage particularly emphasis one the characteristics that were taken away from Troilus such as his worthiness, nobleness, fickleness. All of those attributes made Troilus the reputed knight in his community. Yet, as Chaucer suggests in this passage, everything good about Troilus took and end after Criseyde left Troilus. He is the shadow of the men he used to be. All the characteristics that made him this fierce and admired character have
Generally, the relevance of this topic for me is the ridiculousness and exaggeration of love during the medieval times. Usually, love …show more content…
Stephanie Dietrich claims that Troilus holds a superior position within the community since he is the prince and the military leader of Troy (206). The younger knights followed his lead and commands. He is presented very masculine and dominant in his community. However, as the story progresses the readers see Troilus as a lovesick and melancholic adolescence. He transforms from a very masculinized character into a very feminine character. He becomes very clingy, insecure and hyper sensible, more so, he is constantly antsy and paranoid. Saunders, explains that love is consistently imagined as a physical illness or wound by medieval writers. Love does not bring pleasure but pain to the lovers. More so, she states that for Troilus this bodily quality of desire is striking since love treats him like a disease. Therefore, it is to say that Troilus shows severe signs of “malady love,” such as weeping sighing, swooning, melancholy, and physical decline all due to his love for Criseyde. He is unable to move and lies in bed all day suffering and in pain …show more content…
In the end, his love for Criseyde destroyed Troilus, when they first met he was suffering like a sick person and when he finally conquered Criseyde he became very delusional. More so, Troilus was devastated after she betrayed him and left for the Greek camp. His state of mind is hazy and he feels like his life is ending because his love is now unrequited. Courtly love, hence, his love for Criseyde took the best attributes aways from Troilus. This passage particularly emphasis one the characteristics that were taken away from Troilus such as his worthiness, nobleness, fickleness. All of those attributes made Troilus the reputed knight in his community. Yet, as Chaucer suggests in this passage, everything good about Troilus took and end after Criseyde left Troilus. He is the shadow of the men he used to be. All the characteristics that made him this fierce and admired character have