Hatcher, Elizabeth R. “Chaucer and the Psychology of Fear: Troilus in Book V”

Hatcher, Elizabeth R. “Chaucer and the Psychology of Fear: Troilus in Book V”. EHL.40.3 (1973): 307-324.

Hatcher begins by examining anxiety in a historical context using examples from Thomas Aquinus, particularly his metaphor of anxiety as a town under siege. The two types of anxiety mentioned are anxiety of anticipation and the anxiety of loss. Hatcher examines the Troilus beside Il Filostrato, paying particular attention to the main character. Troilus is more anxious because he is actually in love with Criseyde as opposed to Troilo who simply is in lust. Chaucer also examines the effects of immoderate fear, a step that Aquinus does not take. Using the textual differences Hatcher shows how Troilus’s anxiety colors how characters such as Panderus interact with him, and thus change the shape of the book. While the anxiety theories aren’t as current because of when this article was written, it does fit well with Chaucer which can be a pain to use modern psychology to analyze.

On JSTOR. Rachel M