Troilus and Criseyde is regarded as the most successful work by the Father of English literature – Geoffrey Chaucer. The poem blends in itself the characteristics of several genres – heroic poem, calamity, history, psychological geographic expedition and love affair which makes it an unforgettable piece. The adept combination of those meets the readers with courtly love, strong desire, powerful emotions, knighthood, knightly codification and war. Chaucer shows his readers how strong, lay waste toing and tragic love can be – even more tragic than the on-going Trojan War. Despite that the chief characters obey the regulations of knighthood and courtly love boulder clay the terminal and ne’er uncover their love affair to the universe.

Troilus and Criseyde was most likely finished in the 1380s. It is Giovanni Boccaccio`s verse form Filostrato which was written around 1335 and 1340 that inspired Chaucer to compose his chef-d’oeuvre. Furthermore, those two subsequently inspired even Shakespeare to compose his drama – Troilus and Cressida. However, many critics regard Chaucer`s tragic love narrative as the most attractively written of the three. It truly is a reasonably interesting piece of work which, on the one manus, tells the narrative of the unsuccessful love of Troilus and Criseyde that takes topographic point during the Trojan War and, on the other manus, uses some subjects characteristic of the mediaeval period, such as courtly love, knighthood and knightly codification.

The verse form is written in rime royal which is a riming stanza foremost introduced by Chaucer. Stanzas consist of seven lines and the rime is a-b-a-b-b-c-c ( en.wikipedia.org – Rhyme royal ) . The work consists of five books ; each of them represents a stage in the love between the two chief characters. The books are structured like a mirroring frame of the strength of love between the two, since “ It is good known that love is ever increasing or diminishing ” ( Capellanus, 184 ) . In the first two books there is step of love. First, Troilus loses his bosom to Criseyde after being shot with the pointer of the God of Love – Cupid which changes his destiny everlastingly. Then, measure by measure Criseyde besides falls in love with Troilus, even though reluctant at first. The 3rd book is the flood tide of their love which burns like fire in the lovers ‘ Black Marias. Furthermore, this is the portion where they eventually consume their love physically. After that their relationship becomes stronger than of all time and they can non wait to run into each other once more. In the 4th and particularly in the 5th book, there is an anticlimax of their feelings towards each other. It is clip for them to divide and this separation makes Criseyde colder measure by measure merely the same manner as she fell in love. For Troilus, nevertheless, the separation and the unsuccessful love have more annihilating effects and after larning Criseyde is unfaithful and will non come back to him he falls in a conflict.

It is the first stanza of Book I that suggests the tragic development of the whole verse form.

The dual sorwe of Troilus to tellen,

That was the male monarch Priamus sone of Troye,

In lovinge, how his aventures fellen

Fro wo to wele, and after out of Ioye,

My purpos is, er that I parte fro ye.

Thesiphone, 1000 aid me for tendyte

Thise woful vers, that wepen as I wryte! ( Chaucer 1.1-7 )

Right from the start the readers are told what is to go on with the supporter. He non merely meets sorrow, he meets dual sorrow, and all that happens because of love. Both times Criseyde is the ground – the first clip he is sorrowful because he loves her and she does non cognize, and the 2nd clip because she is gone and finds another love. And it is precisely love that is the chief and most of import subject in the work. However, it is non any type of love but courtly one. This is one of the features of the mediaeval literature used in the verse form. Courtly love is a game and as every game it besides has certain regulations which the participants should obey. First, courtly love is to be found between lovers, and non between a hubby and a married woman. One of its regulations is that it should be kept secret because “ when made public love seldom endures ” ( Capellanus, 185 ) . In the beginning, another of the thoughts of courtly love was to be Platonic, nevertheless, this subsequently changed and it became passionate and sexual. Furthermore, the lovers should be of baronial beginning – this is love between a knight and his lady. Their dealingss are particular – he should move like a retainer to the lady, showing the strength of his love and hurting. While the love of the lady is “ conceptualized as an act of commiseration ” ( Brown, 289 ) This is precisely what we find in the love calamity Troilus and Criseyde. Troilus is the Prince of Troy who would make anything for his darling lady Criseyde, a diffident widow reading love affairs, who starts their dealingss reluctantly out of commiseration because otherwise Troilus and her uncle Pandarus will decease. This is so because love is regarded as a awful illness that brings hurting and decease. In Book II Troilus is represented as a existent sick person who will decease without his lady. However, there are certain things that stop Criseyde at first – she wants to maintain her honor and good name and go on enduring as a widow, since:

How ofte tyme hath it y-knowen be,

The treson, that to womman hath be do?

To what fyn is swich love, I can nat see,

Or wher bicometh it, whan it is ago ;

Ther is no creature that woot, I trowe so,

Wher it bycomth ; lo, no creature on it sporneth ;

That erst was no-thing, in-to zero it torneth. ( Chaucer 2.792-798 )

But if she does non get down loving him, her scruples will non merely be troubled by his decease but besides by her uncle ‘s decease. Finally, when the relationship between the two lovers develops, her love seems to be forced and unreal, as if she is truly doing a via media to love Troilus because otherwise he will decease from sorrow. The whole relationship is planned by her uncle Pandarus from the really beginning, so that Criseyde can be caught in his agreements and go an active participant in the game of courtly love. Everything is planned to such an extent that even the first clip the lovers consume their love physically is because of her uncle ‘s actions. It is no admiration that when Criseyde leaves Troy and her uncle is no longer near her to carry on her behavior and love she does non endure long and shortly her feelings get colder. This is what putting to deaths Troilus spiritually.

Troilus ne’er reveals what the ground for his agony is to anybody else. His love has developed as a spiritual devotedness and he remains faithful, though aggrieved, till the terminal ( Brown, 61 ) . Faithful courtly love and honors are portion of the features of the knightly codification, together with knighthood virtuousnesss. It is precisely knighthood that is another really of import subject in the verse form. Knights should detect the knightly codification and be strong, brave and ever ready to protect their people and particularly the darling lady. Furthermore, they should be fine-looking, every bit good. Troilus is an incarnation of all these. Even though, he is represented as an ever weeping and down animal that will decease without his lady ‘s love in Books I and II, every bit shortly as Criseyde gives him her love, he is one time once more ready to contend the Greeks and kill every bit many as possible. He protects the honor of his lady and ne’er brings shame on her by uncovering their relationship or being untruthful. As a theoretical account knight Troilus obeys the regulations of the two games – knighthood and courtly love boulder clay his last breath. Criseyde, nevertheless, leaves one courtly love to another – that of the knight Diomedes and she obeys the regulations, every bit good, since being unfaithful is portion of the thought of courtly love. Besides, it is a well-known fact that “ A new love puts to flight an old 1. ” ( Capellanus, 185 ) It is of import to advert that it is non explicitly said that she falls in love with Diomedes but the readers can easy acknowledge the same form between her dealingss with Diomedes and with Troilus before that. Her love is non sudden but develops measure by measure. The loss of his lady devastates Troilus and in the concluding lines of Book V he is killed both spiritually by Criseyde and physically by Achilles. So, his game of courtly love and knighthood comes to its terminal.

In his love calamity Troilus and Criseyde Chaucer shows how strong and annihilating emotions can be. The readers are given insight to the strength of love, how painful and passionate it can be. This is represented in the feelings of the brave knight Troilus. He is cursed by Cupid to play the game of courtly love and knighthood at one time on the background of the Trojan War. This mixture of history and medieval characteristics creates a existent chef-d’oeuvre.