The Transformation of Chaucer’s Narrator in the Book of...

A dream vision is a widely utilised literary device that provides an author with an avenue to explore the intricacies of the subconscious mind that effectively allows for its narrator to overcome some obstacle that seemed to be insurmountable prior to entering into the dream. In other words, the dream vision acts as an allegoric representation of the subject’s waking life and, in moving through the dream, is able to overcome the hurdle that lay before him previously. As a result, although being faced with a philosophical or moral dilemma, the narrator of a dream vision gains the ability to move on and conquer their ailments. This connotes the idea that there may not only be character development, but also a complete overhaul on their†¦show more content†¦There is overwhelming evidence that the Book of the Duchess was written as a commemorative poem to honour the death of the wife of one of Chaucer’s patrons. As such, the poem was written as an occasional poem, dedicated to the tragic early death of the Blanche of Lancaster, the wife of the duke of Lancaster John of Gaunt, who was left grieving over his loss (Palmer 255). The poem was Chaucer’s poetic response to a problem that confronted him following the death of his patron’s wife. Faced with the task of comforting her grieving husband, yet unable to assume the appearance of superior emotional wisdom, Chaucer worked obliquely by manipulating the narrative style he inherited from French and Spanish dream-vision literature into a suitable memorialisation of Blanche and Gaunt’s love for her (Bahr, 43). This is made apparent by the famous punning lines that identify the subjects of the poem: â€Å"A long castel with walles white, / Be seynt Johan! on a ryche hil† (1318-19). The first line identifies Blanche of Lancaster for Lancaster or â€Å"long castel† was her title which her husband assumed, and the second line suggests John of Richmond or â€Å"ryche hil†, which was Gaunt’s own title (Palmer 255). The idea that the character of the Black Knight and the lady that he mourns are