Chaucer vs. Marlowe

Paper Summary:

The writer of this paper contends and explains how both authors use familiar images and themes to tackle complicated questions. This paper discusses the fact that both works of writing deal with the issue of marriage and the role of women, albeit in different contexts. This paper analyzes the manner in which both authors use historical mythical themes to illustrate and examine the concerns of the present day. Chaucer's writings occurred during a time when the relationship between men and women were often plagued by infidelities, due to the frequent absences on the part of the husbands, from their wives, while Marlowe's poem portrays marriage in a more romantic light. This paper discusses Marlowe's use of Greek mythology to address concerns of what constitutes an appropriate marriage. While Marlowe questions if and when young people should marry, Chaucer is far more concerned with who is the more dominant partner. This paper also analyzes Chaucer's use of personal narratives and prologues throughout his writings.

From the Paper:

"The intertextual use in Chaucer is more thematic than verbal. Chaucer calls upon the myth of the unavailable maiden not to defend virginity, as the woman is already married. Nor does she wish to transgress-rather, the idea of a woman attempts to get rid of him through the demanding of great tasks is combined with the convention of courtly love, where the common event of a military knight being called away from his wife and castle leaves her heart and body open to impingement by other men, usually of slightly lower orders such as squires, as in the case of "The Franklin's Tale." Like Marlowe deploys later with his use of Greek mythology, Chaucer deploys ancient myths and themes to illustrate 'real' truths, of the inevitable conflicts of divided loyalty between the genders bound by marital and feudal obligations."

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