Conjugal Rights in Flux in Medieval Poetry Page: 34
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Middle English Dictionary defines "sely" as both "unfortunate" and "innocent," (sely, 1 a. and
1b.). However, in his other works, like in his description of John in The Miller's Tale, Chaucer
has been known to shift the last meaning of "sely" from "innocent" to "ignorant."89 If we take
this latter meaning into consideration, Chaucer implicates Troilus in the tragic ending by
depicting him as foolish. Instead of understanding love, Troilus mocks it and then, after falling in
love, depends on Pandarus to help him navigate his relationship with Criseyde, revealing that he
never comprehended the possible consequences of falling in love like Criseyde did.
Although Pandarus imagines himself as a mediator, his actions align him more with the
role of a legal narrator who is only pleading Troilus's case. Pandarus tells Troilus that he will
serve the couple equally
Herafterward; for ye ben bothe wyse,
And konne it counseil kepe in swych a wyse
That no man shal the wiser of it be;
And so we may ben gladed alle thre. (I, 988-94)
His deeds, however, reveal that he does not consider Criseyde at all. The narrator makes it clear
that Pandarus was "Desirous to serve / His fulle frend," Troilus, not his niece, Criseyde (I, 1058-
9). A legal narrator's task was to recite the narratio, or "tale", "to relate it from the vantage point
of the defendant, and to engage in any argument that arose."90 Pandarus takes on an equivalent
role in the poem by choosing to align his fate solely with Troilus's to Criseyde,
But if ye late hym deyen, I wol sterve-
Have here my trouthe, nece, I nyl nat lyen-
Al sholde I with this knyf my throte kerve. (III, 323-5)
89 Geoffrey Cooper, "Sely John in the Legend of the Miller's Tale" JEGP 79 (1980): 1-12.
90 Mary Flowers Braswell, Chaucer's "Legal Fiction" (London: Associated University Press, 2001), 32.34
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Ward, Jessica D. Conjugal Rights in Flux in Medieval Poetry, thesis, May 2014; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500176/m1/39/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .