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Many of the stories found in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer are adapted from other sources, a common practice amongst Medieval authors. But Chaucer often draws attention to his derivations by explicitly naming a source for the stories he uses. This strategy is employed in different ways. In Troilus and Criseyde, a false source is cited, but in the Clerk's Tale, Chaucer names the actual source of the story. In this thesis, identification and close examination of Chaucer's source materials reveal his changes to the derived texts, and an analysis of the role of the narrator in each case demonstrates the different narrative strategies he employs. Although Chaucer is clearly using different strategies in the two works, both raise questions about final authority over a text. These questions are the central issues explored in this thesis.

John R. Searle asks the following fundamental question at the beginning of Speech Acts: "What is the difference between saying something and meaning it and saying it without meaning it?" This dissertation demonstrates that Chaucer is interested in this same question and that his answer to it is essentially "modern." I show in a number of Chaucer's works, but primarily through a reading of the Friar's Tale, that Chaucer understands the intentional structure of all signs, based on the paradigm of language; that is, that signs are always simultaneously mind-related and world-related, that they possess what is called today a "three-level semantics." This semantics is at the heart of the dynamic play in Chaucer's poetry, and through it he is able to portray his characters psychologically. This being so, with Chaucer as an exemplar, this dissertation calls into question the widespread belief in a "medieval mentality" that is essentially "other" than a "modern mentality." / To support this argument in the context of medieval thought, I explain that Chaucer could have such a "modern" understanding of the psychological import of language by describing certain of the common, shared presuppositions and characteristics of medieval Judeo-Christian metaphysics: its thesis of intentionality, its personalism and existentialism, and its semiological nature. / The present study is of importance to Chaucerian studies in general because I argue that heretofore Chaucer's understanding of language has been inadequately, incorrectly, and confusedly described in terms of medieval nominalism and realism. Consequently, Chaucer has been seen as a nominalist thinker, a realist thinker or a combination of both. This dissertation lays these particular "Chaucers" to rest. I argue that Chaucer may be described as an "intentionalist realist," but the "realist" of this description is not identical with the "realism" of the scholastic debates on the nature of the universals. / This dissertation further suggests that the semantics which Chaucer consciously considers and exploits in his works on the level of language, speech and other human-directed signs may serve as a paradigm of a general Chaucerian "semantics" in an extended sense: Chaucer's understanding of a structure of meaning or logos of all reality. On an individual human level this translates into a structure whereby a medieval Christian may judge if a person, including his or her own self, is relating properly, or improperly, to other individuals, to other created things, and to God.

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The contention of the thesis is that Chaucer's approach to the story of Troilus and Criseyde was determined by a wish to examine pragmatically the essential value of courtly love as a way of life and that he used the Troilus as a poetic vehicle for this examination. Furthermore it is maintained that his view of courtly love would be conditioned by the current philosophical theory of the "double truth"—that a thing may be true according to reason but false according to religion. The code of courtly love had been condemned by the Church as being opposed to Christian morality, but extolled by many writers, especially Andreas Capellanus, as being not only in harmony with natural morality but even the summum bonum of life. In Troilus and Criseyde Chaucer is speculating on the validity of the latter position, which constituted a commonly recognized example of one aspect of a double truth. If this hypothesis can be substantiated it is reasonable to hope that it may shed light on the major critical problems of the Troilus, specifically the relevancy of Troilus's speech on free will, the apparent inconsistency in Criseyde's actions and the artistic value of the epilogue. To establish the hypothesis the thesis presents evidence of the prevalence of the Averroistic system of thought from which sprang the theory of the two truths and of Chaucer's undoubted awareness of this philosophical position. Textual evidence is then introduced to show that Chaucer intended to deal specifically with courtly love as a rational and complete way of life and examine its consequences in the dramatic unfolding of the story. He developed courtly love into a way of life by making it a quasi-religion. From this arises the relevancy of Troilus's speech on free will: it is a commentary on the determinism implicit in this religion. The major characters in the poem are then considered. Taken together the dramatic roles of the male protagonists are seen to exemplify a comprehensive, tri-partite view of courtly love—idealistic, sensual and light-hearted—none of which proves eventually productive of lasting happiness. Criseyde’s character, flawed by her fear of scandal, is a crux in the tragedy. Her insistence that the courtly commandment of secrecy be kept is responsible for the lovers' separation. Hence the demands of the code of love are responsible for the tragedy, and Criseyde's betrayal is consistent with the timidity of character she continually displays. Finally the epilogue is seen as a summary of the findings of Chaucer's philosophical experiment in fiction. Troilus's final enlightenment expresses the conclusion of the author: that courtly love is a false happiness not only on religious grounds but also on rational and pragmatic ones. The theory of double truth has thus been dramatically shown to be inapplicable to the defense of courtly love as a way of life. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

The medieval animal world was vast and included mythical creatures as well as birds, reptiles and other beasts. This dissertation confines itself mainly to mammals. It explores the numerous references to them in Chaucer's works and finds these to be consonant with his general treatment of the brute creation for literary purposes. By Chaucer's day, the traditional attitude towards animals was well defined. The fables, the Bible, hermeneutical writings, natural histories, encyclopedias and art all stressed the apparently human characteristics of animals and rarely demonstrated scientific interest in the assessment of them. In an age when the visible world existed to instruct "man in spiritual matters, the characteristics were stereotyped and used merely to throw light on human or divine nature. Chaucer, whether he draws from popular lore, expository writings or animal stories, whether he is translating or using knowledge seemingly derived from observation, appears to think primarily of the conventional ideas associated with animals and to find animals interesting mainly because they can illustrate humanity. Many of his analogies are meaningful solely because of the conventional attributes of animals which are either stated or implied. In his most successful figures he is able to make folklore, symbolism and realistic detail combine to vivify the complexities of human character and action. Despite the assumptions of a number of critics that Chaucer shows a personal liking for animals, the evidence examined reveals that his references, at best conventionally colorless, are generally depreciatory and that animals frequently serve to illustrate distasteful aspects of humanity. He selects pejorative proverbial expressions and reinforces them with equally unfavorable observations of his own. In the case of the mammals considered in detail in this dissertation, the hare, the dog, the horse, the wolf, the sheep and the lamb, only the lamb receives an unequivocally favorable presentation and this presentation is necessitated by traditional Christian symbolism. To some extent Chaucer1s attitude may be regarded as stemming from Boethius who regarded animals as exemplifying the baser passions of Man. But an analysis of the nature of Chaucer's references, both figurative and non-figurative, indicates that an additional reason must be found to account for what often appears to be a compulsive selection of unpleasant images. It is suggested that Chaucer's recoil is the result of an inner tension. He tries to repress the attraction which he feels for the uninhibited vitality of the animal world because he knows that, according to the teachings of his Church, the uncontrolled expression of the natural passions is to be condemned, and that the animal serves as a warning, illustrating what Man becomes when, to his eternal damnation, he permits the body to triumph over the soul. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

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