The legendary story of Troilus and Criseyde is set against the backdrop of the Greek siege of Troy. When Chaucer turns his hand to re-telling the familiar tale, he lays siege to the genre of romance itself, undermining it at every turn. Chaucer’s Troilus is a lovesick warrior with plenty of shining armor and battlefield ‘cred’ but no amorous initiative. Chaucer’s Criseyde is a noble widow living quietly at home, who has scarcely noticed Troilus and evinces a distinct aversion to acquiring a lover. Enter Chaucer’s Pandarus – confidante of Troilus, uncle of Criseyde, and zealous architect of their affair, who eagerly pimps his niece to his friend to get things going. Spoiler alert - this uncourtly love affair does not end well! That is hardly surprising in an uncourtly world where betrayal is commonplace and mutability reigns, a world which feels startlingly modern. Join me in exploring how Chaucer, ever the destabilizing narrator, mingles tragedy with comedy, politics with philosophy, and deference to authority with subversive creativity to construct the dramatic arc of his masterpiece “from woe to weal, and after out of joy”.

Suggested Reading:

• If you are game to read the text in Chaucerian Middle English, I would recommend:
• Troilus and Criseyde (Penguin Classics), ed. Barry Windeatt, with introduction & notes. ISBN: 978-0140424218. If you prefer to read it in modern English, any of the following modern English versions of the text will be ok.
• Troilus and Criseyde in Modern Verse, translated with notes by Joseph Glaser; introduction by Christine Chism. ISBN: 978-1-62466-193-8
• Troilus and Criseyde ( Oxford World’s Classics) prose translation, introduction & notes by Barry Windeatt ISBN: 978019955079
• There is a free online modern verse translation of the text available through this link : https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/English/Chaucerhome.php

Mary Rogers received an honors AB in Philosophy and English from the University of Toronto, an MA in English from Seton Hall University, and an MA in Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. After a decade of teaching at Seton Hall University, she moved to the Berkshires and taught for a number of years at Monument Mountain Regional High School. She studied Arthurian literature on a summer NEH fellowship at the University of Puget Sound. She has been teaching for OLLI since 2018.

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