Fortune, Providence, and Pity in the Works of Boccaccio, Chaucer, Lydgate, and Baldwin

Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Myhill, Nova

Keywords

Fortune, Providence, Pity, Boccaccio, Giovanni, De casibus virorum illustrium, Chaucer, Geoffrey, Monk's Tale, Lydgate, John, Fall of Princes, Baldwin, William, A Mirror for Magistrates, De casibus

Area of Concentration

British and American Literature

Abstract

I look at the changing descriptions of Fortune and providence in Giovanni Boccaccio�s De casibus virorum illustrium (1355), Geoffrey Chaucer�s "Monk�s Tale" from The Canterbury Tales (1400), John Lydgate�s Fall of Princes (1438), and A Mirror for Magistrates (1559). All of these works spring from the de casibus tradition which presents a didactic version of history. The authors give chronological history in which both guilty and innocent people fall due to either their own actions or the actions of either God or Fortune. In these works, Fortune is sometimes subordinated to the Christian God, while in others the authors give her powers equal to God�s powers. Changes in medieval definitions of tragedy and views of providence caused the de casibus tradition to move from narratives of deserved individual falls to tragedies that incite pity in their readers and politicized didactic providential histories. These shifts open the possibility that then the reader may question God�s plan for humankind (providence). I explore how each text depicts Fortune and utilizes her and providence in a manner which either questions God�s plan or places the reader at ease with his plan.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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