An investigation into the role of the narrator in mediaeval English and Scottish love visions

Abstract

The role played by the narrator in Mediaeval English and Scottish love visions varies greatly. The narrator can establish the setting and momentum of the poem; he or she can add layers of complexity to the poem through questions which are raised by the relationship in which he or she stands to his or her vision; he or she can be an integral part of the poem's narrative and thematic structure. This thesis investigates a selection of poems in which the narrator seems to play one, two or all three of these roles. Obviously, establishing the character of the narrator is of primary importance in a discussion of this nature. I hope to show some of the ways in which poets can indicate the character of the narrator through a combination of use of convention and use of more individualising psychological justifications. The types of narrators discussed in this thesis range from the straightforwardly formulaic narrator of the Floure and the Leafe to the multi-faceted and often ambiguously-presented narrators of the love visions of Chaucer. It is important to realise that the craft of love is not the only craft with which the narrator of a love vision is concerned. The narrator is central not only because he or she is privileged to have a love vision, but also because he or she records that vision. At times the narrator may well be little more than a reporter, a channel for the "matere" of the vision, but at other times the narrator's assumption of the role of self-conscious poet can play a vital role in the love vision itself (as in the Conforte of Louers). Sometimes, the narrator's self-consciousness about his or her use of the craft of poetry can even cause the reader to become similarly self-conscious about the act of reading, as in the Golden Targe. Chapter I seeks to give a spectrum of the sort of roles which can be assumed by the narrator. In this chapter the interplay between love and poetry is important in the love visions discussed. In Chapter II, Chaucer's love visions are shown to be similarly concerned with the interplay between love and poetry, although, consistently, his love visions operate around a tension between the two crafts with Chaucer, in two of them, making full use of the fruitful ambiguity of the narrator who is not a lover nevertheless writing about love. In Chapter III the narrator as lover is less important. Douglas's and Skelton's love visions really concern themselves with the narrator as poet: like the House of Fame, the Palice of Honour is a poem about the education of a poet, and the Garland of Laurel combines comic discussion of Skelton's assertive claims that he deserves everlasting fame with more serious comment on the role of the poet as moral leader.