The Tales of Acteon and Narcissus in the Confession Amantis.

Author/Editor
Cresswell, Julia

Title
The Tales of Acteon and Narcissus in the Confession Amantis.

Published
Cresswell, Julia. "The Tales of Acteon and Narcissus in the Confession Amantis." Reading Medieval Studies 7 (1981), pp. 32-40. ISSN 0950-3129

Review
This is a fairly detailed examination of Gower's adaptations of two tales from Book 3 of Ovid's Metamorphoses in Book 1 of the Confessio Amantis. Gower shortens and simplifies both tales, adapts them to the fourtenth century and to his moral instruction. Gower reduces violence, plays down change (metamorphosis), and tones down the divine nature of the characters. The study finds this typical of Gower's treatment of the twenty-eight tales he uses from Ovid's Metamorphosis. [Douglas J. Macmillan. Copyright the John Gower Society. JGN 2.2]

Date
1981

Gower Subjects
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations
Confessio Amantis