The Intersections of Chaucerian Virtue

Abstract

This thesis interrogates how virtuous identities are constructed in the literature of Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400) by bringing to light the key ethical concerns explored in his literature. It proposes that, in Chaucer’s works, virtue is intersectional — occupation, gender, and class produce different understandings of what it means to behave virtuously, and this is reflected in the diverse social identities represented in Chaucer’s literature. In the chapters that follow, ‘The Shipman’s Tale’, ‘The Man of Law’s Tale’, ‘The Second Nun’s Tale’, ‘The Knight’s Tale’, Troilus and Criseyde, and many of Chaucer’s shorter poems are approached from a new direction, using contemporary cultural sources to reconstruct what virtue looked like for Chaucer and his contemporaries. When brought into dialogue with evidence of late medieval ideology and practice, these texts take on new meanings, and Chaucer’s holistic, human-centred approach to virtue is fully realised. This thesis thus moves away from treating Chaucer as a philosophical poet and instead proposes a new way of looking at Chaucerian virtue as inspired by the ideals and practices of everyday life.

Date of Award	9 Dec 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Cathy Hume (Supervisor) & Kate A McClune (Supervisor)