'O brotel wele of mannes joie unstable!': Gender and Philosophy in Troilus and Criseyde

Chaucer transformed Boccaccio's Criseida to create a female character imbued with agency: his Criseyde mobilises Boethian philosophy in order to negotiate the pressures upon her. Not only is she characterised as vital to the poem's Boethian frame, but her agency and philosophical acuity provide an explanation for her 'betrayal' of Troilus. Yet ultimately, the incompatibility of Boethian philosophy with the romance genre results in Criseyde's exclusion from the poem's ending, as Troilus rejects the romantic love it has hitherto represented and privileges a Boethian perspective on the futility of earthly cares. Criseyde's absence from this problematic conclusion has tended to obscure her Boethian pragmatism and the significance of her agency.