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Chaucers Litel Tragedye in its Theoretical and Literary Context

A NASEZHIDALGO Universidad de Valladolid

Chaucers address to hisTroilus and Criseyde as a tragedy has been admittedamong scholars as the generic label of the poem, although the lack oftheoretical tradition of this term in English has cast doubts on its usage. Myaim is to study the context in which Chaucer uses tragedy from a historical,theorical and literary point of view.

The fact that Chaucer refers toTroilus and Criseyde in the envoy of the poem

saying Go, litel boke, go, litel myn tragedye (TC 5.1786) has marked its generic

adscription. It has also become one of the more controversial points in the analysis of

the work, because this is the first recorded usage of the termtragedy in English, and it is

necessary to find out what Chaucer meant by the term, what features are acknowledged

by him as tragic, and the authors own acquaintance with the genre. In this paper I

intend to revise all these aspects in the light of medieval generic theories, paying special

attention to the meaning of Chaucers usage of the label tragedy forTroilus and

Criseyde in the context of the poem.

Scholars have resorted to classical and medieval notions of tragedy as well as to

texts assigned to this genre in order to identify the tragic elements Chaucer might have

used in his version of the story of Troilus and Criseyde. Thus, several traits in the poem

have been connected with it: dialogue, narrativity, high style, historical source material,

and, mainly, plot development.

AlthoughTroilus is not written in the classical dramatic mode, it has been

connected with it on account of the importance of dialogue in it; this hypothesis is


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grounded on the theory that the medieval understanding of classical theatre identified

dialogue as its distinctive feature (Windeatt 1989: 122; Kelly 1993: ch.3). In this sense,

it is generally agreed that Chaucer increased the number and length of the dialogues intranslating Il Filostrato , so that the new poem would have a more dramatic character.

Also, some manuscript marginal glosses resemble speech indicators or markers of

dialogue typical of dramatic texts (Windeat 1992: 162). However, themodum

dramaticum excluded the intervention of a narrator, a fundamental part ofTroilus .

Nevertheless, since Antiquity the term of one of the dramatic genres, tragedy,

was extended to classical narratives of suffering and misfortune (Clough 1982: 211),

and this tendency continued during the ensuing centuries, when the theatrical features

were no longer recognized (Kelly 1993: 50-65; Clough 1982: 211). The narrativity of

the genre is acknowledged in some Chaucerian definitions of tragedy, where it is called

storie ( MkP VII.1973) and dite ( Boece 2, pr.2.70, gloss).1 In Troilus , the central

role of the narrator or the story line have been identified as narrative devices.

High style was generally identified by medieval authors with epic texts, but it

was also considered suitable for any composition dealing with grave subjects and high-

status characters; that is why it was soon related to tragedy. Influential authors like

Vendme, Garland or Dante oppose tragic high style to the middle style of comedy. In

Troilus high style is found in linguistic and rhetorical passages of proems, invocationsto Muses and elaborate syntax. These elements are regarded in connection both with

epic and tragic features (Bestul 1980).

1. It is remarkable that some translations of classical and post-classical texts render the termtragedia adapting it to medieval genres, like chanson de geste, ditiez, roman or narracion (Kelly 1993:160ff.), which would mean that tragedy was considered an obsolete genre, and when a medievalcounterpart was sought, it was a narrative text that would fit with its characteristics.

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Historicity is mentioned by Chaucer as an attribute of tragedy in one of his

definitions of the genre: olde bookes ( MkP VII.1974) provide the tragic source

material. The story of the Trojans Troilus and Criseyde had already been told by the pseudo-historians Dares and Dictys, and rewritten inromans dantiquit by Sainte-

Maure and Colonne; Trevet opposed comic fiction and tragic historicity and

acknowledged that tragedies dealt with ancient deeds (Kelly 1993: 128). Also, some

medieval chroniclers told real stories with a sad outcome under the title of tragedies

(Kelly 1993: 87ff.; 1996: 45ff.). But probably, the closest example of historical tragic

narrative for Chaucer was Boccacccios De casibus virorum illustrium , the main source

of The Monks Tale , defined by the Chaucerian narrator as tragedies. Although the

Italian writer does not seem to connect history and tragedy, it was Chaucer who,

according to Kelly, reworked these stories under a new form and a new concept of the

genre (1996: 68). The interest in historical subjects was frequent in fourteenth-century

England and Chaucer connected it with tragedy not only inTroilus but also inThe

Knights Tale (Minnis 1982: 27-29).

The most common characteristic in the medieval concept of tragedy is the plot

design: the downfall from a good to a bad situation, or, as it is presented in the first

Troilus stanza, Fro wo to wele, and after out of ioie (TC 1.4). The Chaucerian poem

seems to fit the pyramidal structure of ascension, acme and fall established in twelfth-century commentaries to Boethius, especially after William de Conches. It is from this

moment that writers label literary and historical stories with a sad ending as tragedies.

The fact that this reformulation of tragedy is developed in commentaries on the

Consolation of Philosophy is noteworthy: two different interpretations of the genre arise

from the Boethian text, the tragedy of Fortune and the tragedy of the proud man; in

the former, the whims of Fortune cause the downfall; in the latter, with moral

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implications, the sinful hero provokes his own misfortune, usually as a result of his

pride (Erzgrber 1964; McAlpine 1978; Robertson 1952; Brewer 1989; Pearcy 2002:

270).Some elements inTroilus have been identified as typical of the tragedy of

Fortune: the description of the plot development at the beginning of the poem (TC 1.4),

the comparison of the rise-and-fall pattern with the climbing and descending of stairs

(TC 1.215-17), the idea of the inevitability of Fortune and Fate (TC 1.130-40; 4. 1-7;

5.1745) or the references to Fortunes wheel (TC 1.839; 4.323). However, the poem

cannot be regarded as deterministic: Troilus, Criseyde and Pandarus make use of their

free will and take decisions; this has led scholars to discuss the features connected with

the moral type of tragedy (Gordon 1973): Robertson considered Troilus guilty of sloth,

or neglect of duty, as well as pride (1952: 97). Other critics think that the characters in

Troilus are not presented as sinful, but as flawed in the Aristotelian sense: Criseyde is

excessively fearful and too concerned with her reputation; Troilus is blinded by a

stubborn fixity of his passion for Criseyde (Windeatt 1992: 160), he is too timid and

shows verbal insecurity (Kearney and Schraer 1988), and his inexperience makes him

naive (Graybill 1993).

In spite of the identification of all these tragic features inTroilus , this generic

adscription is questionable on different grounds. Elements like dialogue, high style orhistorical source material are not exclusively tragic, they are used in many other genres.

The plot design, the most characteristic element of medieval tragedies, has also been

questioned inTroilus : although it is true that the love affair ends in disaster, the hero of

the poem reaches a more blissful position when he ascends to heaven. Also, the reasons

for the misfortunes in the story are not clearly determined, whether they are due to

Fortune or to moral flaws, or to both; finally, Chaucers understanding of the Boethian

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ideas is considered literal by some, but humorous, decontextualized or manipulated by

others.

Although the narrative character of Chaucers poem is clear, this trait is not onlyconnected with tragedy. It could proceed from BoccacciosFilostrato (Schless 1974;

Windeatt 1989) and the popular narrativecantari in it (Wallace 1985: 73-105); or from

the roman antique (Nolan 1992); even epic could be the origin of its narrative features

(Anderson 1988, 1994; Boitani 1983, Bestul 1980). Therefore, the narrativity ofTroilus

could be modelled on genres other than tragedy, despite its generally accepted narrative

character during the Middle Ages. The reason for this is probably that medieval tragedy

tended to merge with other narrative forms, it has absorbed devices and techniques from

narrative genres.

Besides all these tragic features inTroilus , there are also passages related to

other genres: lyric songs, epic lines, comic elements and romance formulae (Windeatt

1992: 138-179). Therefore, the non-exclusivity of the characteristics considered typical

of medieval tragedy and the inclusion of other generic elements inTroilus have taken to

question the usage of this label. Also, the amorous subject and the context of Chaucers

label in the poem cast doubts on the generic adscription.

At the beginning ofTroilus , the poet presents its subject matter: in lovynge,

how his [Troilus] aventures fellen (TC 1.3). Monica McAlpine has pointed out thatthe controlling term in the initial description of Troiluss adventures seems to be

lovynge and love is not the usual subject of medieval tragedy (1978: 16), but of satire

or comedy. However, Ovid admitted the tragic possibilities of love (Tristia II.381-2);

and Ovidian tales of ill-fated love Heroides might be the origin of the medieval

and renaissance developments of tragedy (Clough 1982: 212; Steadman 1972: 90;

Ruggiers 1973: 93).

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The fact that the poems genre is identified only at the end of the work has cast

doubts on its real meaning, not only because the label is an invocation, but also because

it is in one of the most controversial and difficult parts of the whole work, the epilogue an apparent medley of disparate elements, with several textual problems. The stanza

is an envoy in which the author talks to his own work:

Go, litel bok, go, litel myn tragedye,Ther God thi makere yet, er that he dye,So sende myght to make in some comedye!But litel book, no makyng thow nenvie,But subgit be to alle poesye,And kis the steppes where as thow seest paceVirgile, Ovide, Omer, Lucan, and Stace. (TC 5.1786-92)

Although this type of envoy was usually addressed to persons at the end of brief

poems, here Chaucer combined the Ovidian tradition of the initial invocation to the

poem (Tristia I.i.1) with Boccaccios words in the last part of Il Filostrato , where he

talks to his own work calling it canzon mia pietosa ( Il Filostrato 9.2). But the context

of the English invocation differs from the Italian: Chaucer does not intend to get any

amorous benefit from his story the goal of Boccaccios work; what he does instead is

to connect his composition, his tragedye, with the classical tradition Virgil, Ovid,

Homer, Lucan and Statius. But why does Chaucer mention these classical authors and

the generic label of the poem in the same stanza? Before tackling all these questions, it

will be necessary to make a reflection about the medieval concept of genre.

The fact that certain features of medieval tragedy are common to other genres is

due to the medieval notion of genre; as Burrow has pointed out, the genres of Middle

English literature are not to be regarded as a fixed set of sharply distinguished

categories into which all texts can be comfortably fitted. The paucity and uncertainty of

their genre-terminology is enough to suggest that the writers themselves would not have

seen the matter that way (1982: 84; Jauss 1970). And even when modern scholars

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attempt to elaborate a taxonomy of medieval literary genres, they have to admit that

their usage was of a highly informal andde facto nature (Strohm 1980: 384; 1971).

However, some medieval scholars commented on classical typologies andsometimes tried to adapt them to contemporary texts; others created vernacular generic

taxonomies like Dante in his De vulgari eloquentiae ; finally, authors, scribes and

readers occasionally identified genres in marginal notes and glosses. Chaucer himself

defined tragedy ( MkP VII.1973-81; MkT VII.1991-98, 2761-66; Boece 2, pr. 2.70 &

gloss), but it is noteworthy the lack of consistency in these descriptions: although all of

them mention the passage from prosperity to adversity (Watts 1990: 57), it is sometimes

put down to Fortune, but in one case morality is implied, as in the tragedy of the proud

man: Be war by thise ensamples trewe and olde ( MkT VII.1998). Some definitions

admit the usage of prose or verse hexameter and others connect tragedy with

dite; and there is even a reference to a dramatic manner of recitation, biwaille ( MkT

VII.1991, 2762; Boece 2, pr. 2.70), and syngyng crie ( MkT VII.2762) (Axton 1992).

Finally, the subject of tragedy is connected to olde bookes, but some of the heroes in

the Monks stories are contemporary to Chaucer.

This inconsistency in definitions and in labels shows that the generic borderlines

were not clearly delineated and that diverse criteria could be applied: historicity,

veracity, subject-matter, oral character or literary tradition. Benvenuto da Imola, whencommenting DantesCommedia , recognized that the poem could have different

designations, depending on the features analysed (Kelly 1993: 49-50). Therefore

medieval generic designations apart from formes fixes should be regarded in the

light of this multiplicity of viewpoints and criteria, which allows the possibility of

different terms for the same work. This panorama results more complicated because of

the coexistence of reflections and references to classical genres and vernacular

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compositions. InTroilus , Chaucer uses a classical label, tragedy, but the definitions in

The Monks Tale and the Boece indicate a medieval concept of the genre.

It is now the moment to take up the discussion of the relevance of the context ofthe term tragedye inTroilus . The epilogue is a sequence of different elements,

generally considered atypical, because the narrative of Troilus end is interrupted by the

address to young women and the envoy of the book, and it will only continue after the

advice to scribes.2 Some consider that this arrangement corresponds to an artistic design

(Markland 1970: 147) and to a climactic progress of the epilogue (Steadman 1972:

146); others attribute it to textual factors: two manuscripts lack the stanzas of Troilus

flight to the eighth sphere, and one includes them on an inset leaf (Seymour 1992).

Besides, as it is possible to read the epilogue without the apotheosis stanzas, they could

be the result of authorial revision or composition in layers (Windeatt 1979) or some

other kind of correction (Kelly 1996: 133).

William Kamowski has considered that the final fourteen stanzas are not

ordered as the poet intended them, that Chaucer wanted his epilogue to follow a

conclusion of the story proper (1987: 405-6). After studying the problems of

syntactical, thematic and textual coherence in the last part ofTroilus , he concludes that

some stanzas must have been misplaced, although he is aware that manuscript evidence

is deficient.3

This would the emended order: the narrators referral of the reader to

2. Although scholars do not agree about the extent of the epilogue (Steadman 1972), I will consider it begins after Pandarus last words (5.1731-43). This is the order of elements as presented in authorizededitions: description of Troilus mood and deeds in arms, referral to Dares for a more detailed report(1744-71); apology for having written about Criseydes disloyalty (1772-85), envoy of the book (1786-92), warnings to the scribes that would copy the poem (1793-99), Troilus death (1800-6), his ascensionto the eighth sphere (1807-13) and his scornful laugh at the vanity of the world (1814-27), a conclusionabout it (1828-34), moral address to the audience (1835-55), dedication to Gower and Strode (1856-62),final prayer (1863-69).3. However, he considers possible that these stanzas were written on separate sheets to be inserted intoan existing early version or incomplete draft. They might then have been misplaced by a scribe whomisunderstood the poets intentions (Kamowski 1987:416). In this sense, Hannahs analysis of themanuscript transmission ofTroilus could be relevant (Hannah 1992): he demonstrates that theTroilus text

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Dares (5.1771), Troilus death and ascent to heaven (5.1800-34), the narrators excuses

for Criseydes disloyalty and condemnation of untruthfulness (5.1772-85); then, the real

epilogue: the address to the audience (5.1835-55), to the book (5.1786-99), and thededication to Gower and Strode and the prayer (5.1856-69).

This rearrangement seems more logical because it preserves the narrative action

unbroken and leaves the moral and the addresses for the end; it could also have

important implications for the understanding of the envoy, that would follow a

reflection about payen corsed olde rites (5.1849), pagan gods and the forme of olde

clerkis speche | In poetrie (5.1854-55), thus indicating a specific literary context:

classical literature. It is in this context that the label tragedy should be understood, at

the only point in which the narrator distances himself from the pagan world and

comments on their customs, their literary traditions, their most important writers and a

genre of classical origin, tragedy.

It has already been observed that medieval authors were aware of the antiquity

of this genre and of its obsolescence at least from a formal point of view; however,

thematically, tragedy was still used, and had been since the times of Homer, Virgil,

Lucan, Ovid and Statius, all of them mentioned in Chaucers envoy. Their works had

tragic potentialities because of their sad outcome and because, according to one of the

features in the Monks definition, they ben versified communely | Of six feet, whichmen clepenexametron ( MkP VII. 1978-79).

Therefore, taking into account that medieval generic designations seldom aim at

an exclusive labelling of a text but rather they apply to one aspect of it and that the

usage of the term tragedye is placed in the context of classical tradition, it is possible

was supplied in sections by a clearing-house, so that one scribe could handle different families ofmanuscripts in parts, which would make it possible that some quires were missed, in the wrong order or partially damaged in the process.

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to infer that Chaucer did not intend to define the genre ofTroilus in our modern sense of

generic labels, as a set or fixed group of formal and thematic features that describe the

whole poem. Instead, he was connecting his poem with the classical tradition; thisaffinity ofTroilus with Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Statius and Lucan is based on one aspect

of the poem: its unfortunate denouement. But it is not the lovers ending that is tragic;

for Chaucer, the tragedye is similar to those in the Ovidian Heroides , where what

ends in disaster is the love affair, the lovynge on which the narrator focuses in the

first stanza ofTroilus .

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Erzgrber, W. 1964: Tragik und Komik in ChaucersTroilus and Criseyde . Festschrift fur Walter Hubner . Eds. D. Riesner and H. Gneuss. Berlin: Schmidt. 139-163.

Gordon, I.L. 1973: Processes of Characterization in ChaucersTroilus and Criseyde .Studies in Medieval Literature and Languages in Memory of Frederick

Whitehead . Ed. W. Rothwell et al. New York: Barnes & Noble. 171-31.Graybill, R. 1993: Aristotelian Tragedy in Troilus and Criseyde. Proceedings of the

Medieval Association of the Midwest , II. Ed. M. Storm. Emporia, KS: EmporiaState UP. 90-98.

Hannah, R. III 1992: The Manuscripts and Transmission of ChaucersTroilus . The Idea of Medieval Literature: New Essays on Chaucer and Medieval Culture in

Honor of Donald R. Howard . Ed. J.M. Dean and C.K. Zacher. Newark:University of Delaware Press. 173-88.

Jauss, H.R. 1970: Littrature mdivale et thorie des genres.Potique 1: 79-101.Kamowski, W. 1987: A Suggestion for Emending the Epilogue ofTroilus and

Criseyde . Chaucer Review 21: 405-418.Kearney, M.and M. Schraer 1988: The Flaw inTroilus . Chaucer Review 22: 185-191.Kelly, H.A. 1996:Chaucerian Tragedy. Cambridge: Brewer.

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