Rossetti, William Michael, trans., Chaucer's Troylus and Cryseyde Compared with Boccaccio's Filostrato (London: N. Trubner & Co.)
Text name(s): Il Filostrato; Troilus and Criseyde; On Chaucer and his Troilu
Number of pages of primary source text: 301
Author(s):
Dates: 1338 - 1387
Archival Reference: BL MS Harleian 3943; BL MS Harleian 2280
Original Language(s):
- English - Middle English
- Italian
Translation:
- Translated into English.
- Original language included.
Translation Comments: the excerpts from Il Filostrato are in modern English translation, while Troilus and Criseyde is in Middle English
Geopolitical Region(s):
- England
- Italy
County/Region:
Record Types:
- Literature - Verse
Subject Headings:
- Literature - Epics, Romance
- War - Chivalry
- Women / Gender
Apparatus:
Comments:
This edition presents the whole poem Troilus and Criseyde next to comparable passages from Giovanni Boccaccio’s earlier poem Il Filostrato. Some portions of Il Filostrato are summarized in prose. The text assumes a fair knowledge of Middle English.
Troilus and Criseyde is a courtly romance about Troilus, a Trojan prince, and his love for Criseyde. Chaucer’s work is based on Boccaccio’s poem, which in turn was based on Benoit de Sainte Maure’s Roman de Troie. Il Filostrato was originally 5704 lines, while Troilus is 8246 lines; Chaucer used about 2730 of Boccaccio’s lines. The book also includes a poem by John Lydgate, a near contemporary of Chaucer, “On Chaucer and his Troilus”.
Considered by many to be one of the greatest poets of the English language, Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London in the 1340s. He was a page in the household of Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, who was married to Prince Lionel, one of King Edward III’s sons, and fought in France in 1359. After that he served Edward as a messenger and diplomat, customs agent, clerk of the king’s works (where he oversaw construction and renovation of the king’s houses and properties), and Justice of the Peace. His literary career began in translating works such as the Romance of the Rose and Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy into English, and his first original work, the Book of the Duchess, was written in 1369-70. He died in or around 1400; the date on his 16th-century tomb in Westminster Abbey is October 25, 1400.
Introduction Summary:
Cataloger: RLL
