Did Chaucer Know Livy?
- Author/Editor
- Scala, Elizabeth
- Title
- Did Chaucer Know Livy?
- Published
- Scala, Elizabeth. "Did Chaucer Know Livy?" Notes and Queries 68 [266] (2021): 255-58.
- Review
- In effect, Scala's answer to her titular question is, "yes, through Gower." As she points out, critics have been divided on whether or not Chaucer knew Livy directly, or only came to Livy through later, medieval sources. Focusing upon the role of Virginia's mother (Virginius's wife) and upon the false charges about Virginia's legal status in "The Physician's Tale," Scala argues that Chaucer follows Gower's precedent (in his "Tale of Virginia" CA 7.5131-5306) of focusing upon Virginia's legitimacy. Following Livy far more closely than other medieval retellings (such as the "Roman de la Rose" or Boccaccio's "De mulieribus claris"), Chaucer's version reflects Gower's focus upon assuring the reader that Virginia is Virginius' legitimate child, and "in making such assurances in nearly the same terms Gower used in his earlier 'Confessio Amantis,' Chaucer reveals how he knew his Livy through this contemporary English source" (258). [BWG. Copyright. John Gower Society. eJGN 42.1]
- Date
- 2021
- Gower Subjects
- Influence and Later Allusions
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations
Confessio Amantis