Date of Award

Spring 5-15-2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA English

Department

English

Advisor

Angela J. Weisl, PhD.

Committee Member

Mary Balkun, PhD.

Keywords

Chaucer, Medieval, Middle Ages, Feminism, Gender, Women’s Studies

Abstract

Geoffry Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde has divided readers and critics alike when addressing the main female protagonist: Criseyde. The poem follows Criseyde and her love interest Troilus, during the final days of the Trojan War, as the two are thrust together into a tragic affair then ripped apart by outside forces and the consequences of their own choices. By the end of the narrative, Criseyde’s autonomy is stripped from her as she is traded in a hostage exchange to the Greek army. In her last present moment in the poem, Criseyde comes to the realization that remaining true to Troilus is no longer viable. Her final act before her departure is to choose the Greek warrior Diomede, whose marriage will secure her safety. Because of her choice, Criseyde confounds the audience as she is read to be either a villainess or a victim who suffers at the hands of men and male power structures. However, when examining Chaucer’s portrayal of Criseyde—as well as the narratorial commentary throughout the poem—through the lens of feminist criticism, Criseyde becomes a representation of Chaucer’s critique of fourteenth century patriarchal power dynamics. Despite the poem taking place in antiquity, Troilus and Criseyde harshly comments on the fourteenth century aristocracy’s patriarchal manipulation of women. As this thesis contends, Chaucer is deliberately using the female characters of his poem to critique how women of the fourteenth century are promised autonomy—from both literature as well as structures in life—are then allowed to exercise that authority, and then have it subsequently ripped away. This arc of authority, which this paper seeks to coin as the phrase Chaucer’s Feminine Authority Arc, is most thoroughly demonstrated through Criseyde throughout the poem, yet the other women of his narrative must not be ignored. There is a lack of critical analysis on the other two female characters in Troilus and Criseyde, Helen and Cassandra. This thesis seeks to rectify this gap and examine how the three women are reflective of this authority arc, with Helen foreshadowing Criseyde’s ending and Cassandra’s single scene mirroring Criseyde’s own arc. This thesis attempts to map out how the women of Chaucer’s poem are representative of the different stages of the feminine authority arc. Rather than falling into the same anti-feminist and anti-Criseyde rhetoric as his predecessors, Chaucer distances himself and in doing so undermines and critiques the fourteenth century patriarchal mindset.

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