The dream as problem-solving method in Chaucer’s The Book of the Duchess and The Parliament of Fowls [thesis]

243 Pages·1987·11.6 MB·English

by  Marilyn Shnider

THE DREAM AS PROBLEM.-SOLVING METHOD IN CHAUCER'S
IHJL-BflQlL Qf-XHE- m m a S AND' THE. PARLIAMENT QF FOWLS
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MARILYN SHNIDER - .
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
MCGI\J^L UNIVERSITY, MONTREAL
\ NOVEMBER, 1987
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate
Studies and Research in partial fulfillm ent of the
requirements for the degree of^Master of Arts
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^ . Marilyn Shnider
November, 1987
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ISBN 0-315-45938-7
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express gratitude to my thesis advisor,
Professor Paul Plehler whose graduate seminar -on the
Parliament of Fowls firs t introduced me to the profound
currents iq the medieval period and to the a rtistic mastery
of Chaucer's early dream poems. On a practical level
Professor Piehler's willingness to read drafts of my thesis
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mailed from abroad and to respond with tapes and letters
containing-* Useful criticism and scholarly advice, enabled me
to pursue my research to its conclusion.
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In addition, I wish to thank the many friends in both
Canada and Israel whose support and stimulating discussion
contributed to the progress of my work. My husband, Steve,
deserves-particular thanks for -the time he has takenfrom
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his own research to assist me in preparing the final
typescript. During the lengthy course of writing and
re-writing, his clear thinking and c ritic a l judgment
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provided a constant challenge for my ideas; his Unfailing
interest and encouragement were of immeasurable support to
me. '
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THESIS ABSTRACT
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THE DREAM VISION AS PROBLEM-SOLVING METHOD IN CHAUCER ',S
IHE..BDQIL QE THE DUCHESS AND THE PARLIAMENT QE .EQWXlS.-
In his early love^visions Chaucer transformed the
traditions'! allegorical dream poeih into an associative
structure more closely resembling the pattern of actual
dreams. His changes resulted in a new method of poetic
problem-solving which, while rooted in th e/earlier
philosophical allegories of Boethius, £Xain de L ille, and
Jean de Meun, was adapted to expressing the conflicting
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.truths C haracteristic of> late medieval thought-. By '
juxtaposing images associated with previous literary
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contexts, Chaucer communicated intuitively what hi'is
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.predecessors stated in direct, didactit; discourse.
My thesis consists of three parts. F irst, I examine
- - the allegorical visions of £our poets preceding Chaucer for,
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their .application of the dream convention ’to philosophical
problem-solving. Second, 'I examine the sim ilarities^ between
actual dreams and the artifice of allegory. I then
investigate (lhaucer's personal in te rest in the dream and
suggest how appropriation of neglected aspects of its
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„ structure led to a development in philbsophical poetry.
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_ Finally, I* examine two of Chaucer's dream poems,
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the Book of the Duchess and the ^Parlianant ol.Eowla
'■ to demonstrate his innovation in practice.
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. Rdsund de thdse
La vision onirique conne m^thode de solution de
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problemes dans les poAmep The Book of the Duchess e t
The Parliament of Fowls de Chaucer
Bans^ ses poemes de Jeunesse, Chaucer a modifid le
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poeme de songe allSgorique, poi^r lui donjier une forme
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plus ouverte, associative, qui ressemble a la structure
de veritables songes, Ses changements ont perrais un
nouveau mode de resolution 'Se problemes, qui reconnait
Ses racines dans les allegories, philflasophiques de
Boece, Alain de L ille, et Jean de Meun, mais qui peut
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projeter la colnplexite des vdrit^s incompatibles de la
society de la fin du moyen &ge. En juxtaposant des
images qui rapellent des contextes* idAologiques,
s Chaucer a su, communiquer de fapon -intuitive pe que sos
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pr^decesseurs enonpaient d'un discoura d irect et
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didactique. ■ *
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t A 1’appui de cette thAse, 1'a rtic le approohe
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1'oeuvre de Chaucer de trois perspectives.
Pjremierement, il montre cem ent les grandes lignes'de-
la convention ont leur racine^ians des allegories- ->
_oniriques pr6c6dentes. DeuxiAmenent il examine
il'adaption du reve a 1'allAgorie e t d6montre comment
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I'expression symbolique de vdritables r£ves afourni un
>V' . noddle & Chaucer. 'En dernier lieu , i l dtudie deux des
podnes oniriques de^Chaucer, The Book, qf the Duchess il
et The Parliament of Fowls, comme exenples dans la
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pratique de ses innovations. *
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Table of contents
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................., ............................‘.................. . . .l i
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THESIS .ABSTRACT .................................................... i i i
RESUME DE THESE VV-................y .....................................................................iv
Chapter 1/ V / I
I. I NTRODUCTIOIv/rSy^./A................................................................... .. .1
A New Approach to A ilegorxcal Problem-solving
* ' Jhe Dream as Context for Cultural Change
II. THE CONVENTION OF ALLEGORICAL DREAM VISION...........-10
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The Rhetorical Background to Poetic Problem­
solving
Boethius: The Consolation. of Philosophy
Ala/in de L ille: The Complaint of Nature
Prudentius: The Psvchomachia
Guillaume de Lorris: The Roman de la Rose:
( Development of the Dream as Fable
Jean de Meun: The Roman de la Rose: The
D ialectic of the Gloss
III. THE APPROPRIATENESS OF DREAM TO ALLEGORY..................79
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. The Adventure, Authority, and Didacticism
of Dreams
Chaucer's Position on the Authority of Dheams
Modern Dream Theory: Freud's Theory of Dreams
TheN(1eans of Representation in Dreams
and Allegory
Chaucer's Transformation of the Dream Convention
IV. .THE BOOK OF THE DUCHESS.........................................................118
Dream Real ism
The Narrator's D istress
The Book of Ceys and Alcyone: The Us^s of Jlyth
The Awakening into the Dream: The Garden
"Hert-hunl^ng".
The Dialogue between the Dreamer and the
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Man in Black - >
v The Eulogy of Blanche
V. THE PARLIAMENT OF FOWLS............................................... 156
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Thd C ritical Response
The N arrator's Distress
Contrasting Dream C lassifications
The Invocation of Venus
Africanus: The Poet's 'guide
Venus and Nature
The Bird Parliament
APPENDIX I: Modern C ritical (Discussion of th e .... 195
"Kernel-Shell" Approach to Medieval Poetry
APPENDIX I I : Chaucer and the Rhetoricians................... 199
FOOTNOTES. . .,.......................................................*................................. 202
BIBLIOGRAPHY V ? ....................................................... 223 .
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CHAPTER I
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INTRODUCTION
1. A New Approach to Allegorical Problem-solving
■*r Many men sayn th at in sweveningeB
Ther nys but fables and lesynges;
But -men may some swevenes sen ^
Whiche hardely that false ne ben, _ 9
But afterward ben apparadnt.
The Romaunt of the RoseCll. 1-5)
Throughout his life Chaucer was fascinated by dreams.
Evidence of his immersion in contemporary dream theory
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appears-everywhere in his poetry from his discussion bf
• Macrobius in the Parliament of Fowls to the humorous
interchange between Chauntecleer and Pertelote in the
Nun's P-ri^vt's T ale. .It is my thesis that Chaucer used
his understanding of the dream to transform the allegorical
dream convention to a more open, associative form resembling
the structure of actual dreams. His goal was to 'create a
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new technique of poetic probleip-solving which, while
* acknowledging roots in the earlier philosophical poets, was
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capable of projecting the conflicting truths characteristic
of late medieval thought.
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The allegorical dream poem as Chaucer inherited it
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Served as the transm itter of two important traditions. On
the one hand, writers such as Boethius, Alaih de L ille, and
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Jean de Meqp adapted the dream framework to a poetry of
philosophical debate. On the other, poets such as Guillaume
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de Lorris, Machaut, and Froissart chose the dream as an
idealized setting for courtly romances of quest and
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adventure. Both" lite ra ry traditions approached
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— problem-solving through discourse and dialectic and were
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explicitly didactic in their intention. In the philo­
sophical poems either an authoritative personification such
as Nature or Lady Philosophy visited the distressed poet in
a d^eam to lead him by rational argument to the truth; or. a
procession of counsellors such as Raison, Ami, the Dueana,
Nature and Genius in the Rqman de la Rose engaged in a
series of didactic monologues expounding th eir doctrines on
a topic-such as love. In the romance tradition the same
rhetorical approach appeared in the form of love casuistry.
In Machaut's Le Jugement; dou Roy de Behaingne. for ex­
ample, the dispute between a knight arid lady over who had
suffered most in love was debated in a court of love and
finally resolved by the King's verdict.' In either case, the
dream a rtific e gave credibility to the allegory while free-
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ing ‘the poet from the strictures of lcrgic and verisim ilitude
to pursue his philosophical argument-.
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Chaucer's fam iliarity with both the courtly and
philosophical aspects of dream alleg o ry -^n be seen directly
in his work. Early in his career he translated both
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Boethius' philosophical vision, the Consolation of
^ Philosophy, and Guillaume de L orris' courtly romance,
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