ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Chaucer’s first major work was The Book of the Duchess, an elegy for Blanche of Lancaster who died in 1368. Two other early works were Anelida and Arcite and The House of Fame. He wrote many of his major works in a prolific period when he held the job of customs comptroller for London (1374 to 1386).

Detailed explanation-2: -The Book of the Duchess, also known as The Deth of Blaunche, is the earliest of Chaucer’s major poems, preceded only by his short poem, “An ABC", and possibly by his translation of The Romaunt of the Rose.

Detailed explanation-3: -Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Book of the Duchess in 1369, about one year after the death of Blanche, the young wife of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster.

Detailed explanation-4: -Geoffrey Chaucer is considered one of the first great English poets. He is the author of such works as The Parlement of Foules, Troilus and Criseyde, and The Canterbury Tales. Humorous and profound, his writings show him to be an acute observer of his time with a deft command of many literary genres.

Detailed explanation-5: -The framework of the poem is a dream motif structured in octosyllabic couplets. Chaucer’s use of the dream motif contributes to the poem’s theme of the brevity of love, the obtuseness of the dreamer, and springtime.