Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

are made ultimately manifest because this is the result of his following the advice of this pseudo-counselor
throughout the majority of the poem. The relationship between the two men is a deliberate inversion of
the counselor/counseled binary and the model of virtuous friendship framed in the Consolation. In his
depiction of Pandarus and his accompanying relationship with Troilus, Chaucer also lambasts the lofty
expectations of the chivalric romance, asserting that the two male protagonists are unable to reach their
ultimate, singular goal of bringing Troilus “bliss” through his possession of Criseyde. Pandarus is, in
essence, pimping for Troilus, the deviant, and this act inverts the honorable, idealized expectations of the
romantic genre. Their depraved aims – and their subsequent failures – can be nothing more than a flawed
performance for the audience to wonder at.
Unlike Troilus and Pandarus, Criseyde is not an inversion of any specific character in the Consolation,
which only features discourse between Boethius and Lady Philosophy. Chaucer, somewhat paradoxically,
creates Criseyde as both an embodiment of Boethian pragmatism and the unfortunate object of Troilus‟
affection. For despite Criseyde‟s ultimate loss of honor and lack of agency in the poem, she proves to be
the only character with rationality and any semblance of a moral compass. In the narrative, she represents
the virtuous qualities that the character of Boethius eventually embodies in the Consolation, including
practicality and wisdom. From the outset, Criseyde does not hesitate to tell Pandarus her feelings in
regards to his intimations to “do wey your barbe” and “lat us daunce.” (Chaucer II. 110, 111). As a young
widow, Criseyde reasonably wants to retain her honorable reputation. In reply to Pandarus, she exclaims,
“„I! God forbade! Be ye mad? / Is that a widewes life? / … / It satte me wel bet ay in a cave /To bidde and
rede on holy seyntes lives‟” (Chaucer II. 113-114, 116-117). Rather than submitting to Pandarus‟ request,
Criseyde asserts herself through her principles, which, as a widow with an absentee father and a conniving
uncle, are truly her only possessions.
Her most assertive moments in the text, such as the exchange with Pandarus alluded to above, come
when Criseyde‟s loyalty to her faith, as a pious widow, is put to the test. Indeed, Criseyde‟s faithful
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