The Legend of Good Women (1380s Chaucer), poetry (ms.)
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The Legend of Good Women (1380s) is a manuscript poem by Geoffrey Chaucer.
Abstract
Chaucer was directly inspired by Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris (1374). The poet recounts ten stories of virtuous women in nine sections. The legends are: Cleopatra, Thisbe, Dido, Hypsipyle and Medea, Lucrece, Ariadne, Philomela, Phyllis, and Hypermnestra. The only "biblical" woman mentioned in the poem is Esther, to whom however no specific "legend" is dedicated. The poem looks unfinished, but it is hard to say whether the author ever planned to write a section on Esther.
Editions
Translations
Contents
- Prologe
- Balade
- I. The legend of Cleopatra
- II. The Legend of Thisbe
- III. The Legend of Dido
- IV. The Legend of Hypsipyle and Medea
- V. The Legend of Lucretia
- VI. The Legend of Ariadne
- VII. The Legend of Philomela
- VIII. The Legend of Phyllis
- IX. The Legend of Hypermnestra