Geoffrey Chaucer wrote “The Book of the Duchess”, a poem, between 1369-1372. This poem was written during Chaucer’s French Period. After Blanche, Chaucer’s first wife died, this work was composed for John of Gaunt. The first English elegy, “The Deth Blaunche The Dukess”, was called the poem at the time. The poem is structured around an octosyllabic dream motif. Chaucer uses the dream motif to emphasize the poem’s themes of brevity, obtuseness, and springtime.
Chaucer’s use of the dream motif is not an accident. The dream represents the disconnection between reality and the story. If Chaucer had written a wrong representation of the death of John of Gaunt’s wife, Chaucer might have insulted him. Chaucer can also write a creative, enticing work using the dream motif. Dreams are limitless because they were created by the dreamer. Because the action is something that was created by a dreamer, it cannot be challenged. The use of a dream motif can open up a world of possibilities for both the author and characters.
The poem has a general theme of accepting loss, death, and its inevitability. But the shortness of the love appears to bring about loss. When we first meet the dreamer, it is revealed that he has insomnia and suffers from unrequited affection. The dreamer does not understand the healing power of sleep or that of a lover who is no longer with him. The dreamer is intrigued by the romance of Ceyx & Alcyone. The story is read by the dreamer to maintain the romantic idea. The dreamer tells the audience that Alcyone, who has lost her beloved husband, cannot let him go. Ceyx & Alcyone also uses Chaucer’s dream motif in this story within a tale. Alcyone falls asleep in a state of grief after she calls Juno. Juno calls on Morpheus to bring closure to Alcyone. Ceyx appears in a dream and tells Alcyone that she should let go of the grief.
The story of Ceyx is Alcyone was only meant to be a diversion because the poem did not begin until it ended. The dream motif also separates the narrator from the dreamer even though the audience initially thinks they are the same character. The narrator first tells us the story, then falls asleep and wakes up dreaming. We are now the dreamer. The narrator is initially in a gloomy mood when we meet him. He is delusional as well as depressed. He wonders how he can still be alive when nature is usually calling for the death of anyone so sad and without sleep. John Rivers’s theory is also confirmed: “the poem is an imaginative dream vision, in which a poet-narrator who is troubled by the state of his life dreams about a revealing experience.” (Rivers 555) Dreamers are unaware of their surroundings. The narrator, after reading a story, finally drifts to sleep.
Dream motif makes the narrator seem more obtuse because he is aware that he has insomnia. We learn the same as the dreamer and we see the poem unfold before us in the same way. The dreamer’s purpose is to be dull and naive in order for him to become the character of another. The dreamer observes the Black Knight’s grief when he stumbles across him. The dreamer approaches Black Knight. When he hears his story, he is confused. — May! Yis, Be My Trothe!” (1309). The dreamer’s inability to understand the Knight’s language shows his social naivety. The dreamer’s attempt to appear courtly is a sign of his naivety.
John Gardner explains that Chaucer wrote during a time in which the official doctrine was to split people into schizophrenic personalities. As a result, it makes sense why Chaucer chose springtime for his dream theme. Springtime represents happiness, growth, hope, and warmth — none of which are associated with schizophrenia or insomnia. Chaucer again disconnects the character’s suffering from reality, this time using the springtime motif in his dream. The dreamer, who has been suffering from insomnia, dreams of waking up at dawn in May to the sound of birds singing. This is a dramatic change from his current reality. The springtime also represents love, fun, and joy, even though no one from “The Book of the Duchess'” has ever experienced these feelings. The Reverdie tradition and springtime are both represented by the dream motif.
Chaucer could not use the dream motif in his regular works. Chaucer uses this intimacy to justify the absurdity of his writings by claiming that they are dreams. Dreams allow for exploration and authenticity, as no one can doubt or question the validity of the dream. It is clear that the narrator has a stutter because he cannot understand why the Knight first tells him about the death his lady. The Book of the Duchess was perfectly structured by Chaucer because he used the dream motif. The theme created a story in a book that explored the brevity of romantic love, justified an obtuse personality, and incorporated the reverdie.
Works Cited
Chaucer Geoffrey Fisher. The Complete Prose and Poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York, 1989. Print.
Theodore Morrison, Geoffrey Chaucer and Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer’s works are now available in a condensed, easily portable edition. New York: Penguin, 1977. Print.
Gardner, John. An account of Geoffrey Chaucer’s life and works. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2009. Print.
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