Theme: Geoffrey Chaucer’s "Canterbury Tales" as a panorama of English society Contents: Introduction

1.2. Methods of the Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” as a panorama of English society
³In contrast to these clever personifications of traditional love, Chaucer frames the courtly love influences in these texts as negative forces, contrary to how they are conventionally portrayed in chivalric romance tales. In “The Franklin’s Tale,” for example, the Franklin frames the appearance of Aurelius, a genuine courtly lover, as an obstacle to the couple’s marriage, rather than a noble, devoted suitor as Capellanus’ treatise describes. Aurelius, the only character in the poem who is “demonstrably a courtly lover,” is actually “the villain,” or “an impediment to happiness,” as Mandel continues: “he is the adversary who must be overcome, since his adherence to courtly love threatens the married love we [the readers] have been led to applaud” (Mandel 281). The Franklin details Aurelius as the "lusty [squire], servant to Venus " (Chaucer ll. 937). He possesses the devoted passion for his object of adoration (Dorigen) that Capellanus stresses in his treatise, pleading with Dorigen to “have mercy, sweete [sweet], or ye wol do me deye [you will make me die]” (Chaucer l. 978), reflecting the laws of courtly love that did not apply to Arveragus: “the true lover is continuously obsessed with the image of his beloved . . . every action of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved” (Capellanus 7). This courtly lover, however, is presented as the antagonist of the story, or a “threat” to Dorigen and Arveragus’ marriage (Mandel 281); he implores Dorigen to be unfaithful to her husband and love him (Aurelius) instead (Chaucer ll. 970-75), but is met with difficulty, not reciprocal affection. Dorigen instead presents the courtly lover with an impossible task in order to gain her affection (Chaucer ll. 993-95), and her answer affirms her commitment to her husband and the institution of marriage:

“By thilke God that yaf me soule and lyf,

Ne shal I nevere been untrewe wyf
In word ne werk, as fer as I have wit.
I wot been his to whom that I am knit.”
(Chaucer ll. 983-86)[9]

Her response solidifies the courtly lover’s place as an outsider and adversary to tradition; consequently, the Franklin’s portrayal of Aurelius (the one true courtly lover in the tale) presents courtly love in a satirical light, not as the romantic, chivalrous dynamic outlined in Capellanus’ treatise.

Additionally, in “Parliament of Fowls,” the “natural” dynamic that the goddess Nature intended, the reflection of tradition as discussed earlier, is interrupted as the male eagles battle through courtly language and boastful discourse, and their chivalric game reflects the “art of courtly love” outlined by Capellanus in “A Treatise on Courtly Love.” During this parliament, the highest of the fowls’ class hierarchy, the royal eagles, become entangled in a courtly game of chivalric boasting, lacking authentic love; “the only bird with any choice in the matter is the female eagle, a perfect and beautiful specimen who must choose, with Nature’s supervision, among three male suitors” (Williams 171); thus, she becomes the idealized female figure in the courtly love tradition, pursued by her courtly admirers. The male eagles are described as “royal and superior” (Chaucer l. 394), and they must compete to determine who is the worthiest (Chaucer l. 392), reinforcing their regal class and the reference to the game of courtly love. The first eagle states that he belongs wholly to the female eagle, “and ever wol hir serve,/Do what hir list, to do me live or sterve” (Chaucer ll. 419-420)10. His alleged dedication to the female eagle reflects the courtly love that Capellanus describes in his treatise, as the French scholar outlines that a courtly lover must be entirely devoted to his love in every capacity: “the true lover believes only that which he thinks will please his beloved . . . is continuously obsessed with the image of his beloved” (Capellanus 6, 7). Each suitor continues to boast in similar fashions, vowing to sacrifice their lives for the affection of their “beloved," and in their “egoistic fencing [they become] courtly lovers, making [themselves] obedient to [the] ‘lady sovereyne [sovereign]’” (Peck 301). As Williams argues, though, “the debate that follows . . . undermines the validity of such speeches” (Williams 171). They promise their absolute devotion at any cost, but they do so only to invoke jealousy in their opponent and win the courtly game. This courtly discourse between the eagles, then, disrupts the parliament and creates a dispute between nature and “politics” as Peck describes (Peck 295) — this conflict indicates the shallow nature of the upper class, suggesting that their courtly games are only facades.