P. B. Taylor, Chaucer's Cosyn to the Dede

Taylor, P. B. "Chaucer's Cosyn to the Dede." Speculum, Vol. 57, No. 2. (Apr. 1982), pp. 315-327.

Taylor explores the problematic relationships between words, intentions, and action found in Chaucer by focusing on the narrator's apology in the Prologue of the Canterbury Tales. He first rejects the conventional understandings of the apology, and proposes a more complex, multi-layered reading. By tracing and analyzing Chaucer's sources (Boethius, Jean de Meun, and Chalcidius) back to Plato, Isocrates and Sallust, Taylor shows how Chaucer's "cosyn to the dede" actually encompasses two separate and different conceptions of the nature and use of words - that of Isocrates and that of Plato. Thus, Chaucer's apology, in its rejection of Isocrates/Sallust for Plato and when placed beside the appeal to Christ, simultaneously suggests and rejects that "words both clothe morality and reflect in their particular references a world of universals." Taylor follows up with other elements in the Tales that support his claim such as puns on the words "cosyn" and "dede" and different meanings for particular phrases and words. Lastly, Taylor argues, through examining the realism vs. nominalism debate found between the Parson's and Pardoner's Tales, that Chaucer is a "Christian Platonist" who aspires for intent to inform action through words. However, this ideal aspiration is always "sullied" in reality.

This is an excellent article, but it does assume a working knowledge of Latin and familiarity with the works of ancient and medieval philosophers.

Available on JSTOR.

-Chor