Abstract

Considered the most philosophical of Geoffrey Chaucer's poems, Troilus and Criseyde manifests through its Boethian elements an interest in the absolutes of truth, goodness, and love. A close analysis of the anachronistic characterizations of Troilus, Criseyde, and Pandarus and of the images, words, and discourse of the poem offers the possibility of interpreting the Troilus as Chaucer's deliberate response to the sceptical philosophy of Ockhamism. Recent scholarship delves into the matter of Ockhamist/nominalist features in the poem with the conclusion that Chaucer himself was a nominalist thinker. After discussing such features as representative of Chaucer's familiarity with the philosophical problems of his time, I arrive at the contrary conclusion that Chaucer was not a nominalist but a traditional scholastic thinker. ;Chapter One is a general introduction to the philosophy of Troilus and Criseyde and a review of scholarship relating to the nominalist aspects of the poem. Chapter Two is a comprehensive study of Ockhamism and Chaucer's exposure to its influence. Chapter Three studies the main characters according to Chaucer's unique conception of them in the light of truth and scepticism. Chapter Four offers interpretations of certain images, words, and discourse of the poem as double meanings or truths in philosophical definitions of the universal and the particular. Chapter Five summarizes the premisses of the foregoing chapters to project the conclusion that Chaucer's response to Ockhamism was indeed negative and that other works by Chaucer may have been influenced by this view. ;Since authorial intention is a consideration in this dissertation, Chaucer's end achieved through the means of the Troilus, the textual analyses are actually contextual. My philosophical base of interpretation is traditionally scholastic and may challenge relativist interpretations of Chaucer's works. However, just as I have benefitted from the particular insights of studies that may differ from my general perspective, I hope others with contrary approaches will appreciate my perceptions