We begin by locating Chaucer’s dream vision poetry and Troilus and Criseyde against the cultural and literary background of the late fourteenth century. By the time Chaucer was writing his dream vision poems the genre had a long and established pedigree. Ever alert to literary experimentation in the vernacular, Chaucer creates works which use dream vision as a vehicle to discuss love, fortune and story-telling. In Troilus and Criseyde we shall see how Chaucer deliberately takes a well-known story in order to test the reader’s awareness of their own foreknowledge and thereby create the first sympathetic portrayal of Criseyde in medieval literature. We will read primarily in translation although attention to Chaucer’s language and poetic art will form a part of each class.
Before Canterbury: Chaucer's Dream Visions and 'Troilus and Criseyde'
This is an In-person course which requires your attendance to the weekly meetings which take place in Oxford.
Overview
Programme details
Courses starts: 22 Apr 2025
Week 1: Chaucer’s English and Continental influences. What is dream vision
Week 2: The Book of the Duchess: the pursuit of love (and knowledge)
Week 3: The House of Fame: Chaucer and authority
Week 4: The Parliament of Fowls: Nature and the (un)natural world
Week 5: Troilus and Criseyde: Long ago and far away - the Trojan setting and pagan antiquity
Week 6: Troilus and Criseyde: ‘Go litel bok’ – Chaucer as narrator
Week 7: Troilus and Crisedye: Chaucer and the challenge of foreknowledge
Week 8: Troilus and Criseyde: Chaucer and Boethius
Week 9: Troilus and Criseyde: Chaucer’s poetic art
Week 10: Troilus and Criseyde: Rehabilitating Criseyde.
Recommended reading
All weekly class students may become borrowing members of the Rewley House Continuing Education Library for the duration of their course. Prospective students whose courses have not yet started are welcome to use the Library for reference. More information can be found on the Library website.
There is a Guide for Weekly Class students which will give you further information.
Availability of titles on the reading list (below) can be checked on SOLO, the library catalogue.
Preparatory reading
- The Cambridge Companion to Chaucer / Boitani Piero and Jill Mann
- Geoffrey Chaucer, Love Visions / Stone, Brian (trans)
- Chaucer. A European Life / Turner, Marion
- Troilus and Criseyde / Windeatt, Barry (ed)
- Troilus and Criseyde / Windeatt, Barry (trans)
Certification
To complete the course and receive a certificate, you will be required to attend at least 80% of the classes on the course and pass your final assignment. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course Fee | £285.00 |
| Take this course for CATS points | £30.00 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Tutor
Dr Victoria Condie
Victoria Condie has taught courses in medieval and Old English literature for OUDCE and currently teaches medieval language and literature at the University of Cambridge.
Course aims
Course aim: To read and gain an understanding of the the major influences and themes of Chaucer's dream vision poetry and Troilus and Criseyde, together with an appreciation of Chaucer's poetic art.
Course objectives:
- To read carefully, both in translation and partly in the original Middle English, extracts from the chosen works to encourage students to gain a deeper understanding of Chaucer’s methods and intentions.
- To provide students with the contextual background against which they can situate these texts.
Teaching methods
Teaching methods will include exposition with slides and paper hand-outs. Students will be encouraged to participate in discussion, facilitated by set reading for each week’s class together with a discussion topic. Students will also be encouraged to make short (10 minute) presentations on an agreed topic.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course students will be expected to:
- understand the context of Chaucer’s dream vision poems and Troilus and Criseyde and to engage with the poems' major themes and poetic art.
- evaluate and analyse the texts for their meanings, effects and affective resonance.
- gain in confidence in their own critical voices and acquire both independent and collaborative learning skills.
Assessment methods
**Tutors, please add your assessment methods above the below paragraph within this text box***
Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work the required standard.
Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form
Option A:
Five 500-word close reading exercises submitted over the course of the term. These will allow students who wish to work carefully with language the opportunity to consider the formal and literary aspects of Chaucer’s writing. Each exercise will be marked formatively and returned to the student the following week.
Option B
A single piece of work of 1,500 words. If a student wishes, they can make a short presentation to the class on an aspect of their work before it is submitted. Formative feedback will be provided.
Application
To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment Form (Word) or Enrolment Form (Pdf)
Level and demands
The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.
Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)
To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.
Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.
No prior knowledge of Chaucer's poetry is required for this course.