A Place among the Leaves: The Manuscript Contexts of Chaucer’s Parliament of Fowls

A consideration of the manuscript contexts of Chaucer’s Parliament of Fowls provides a window onto the possible medieval reception of poem. Due to the content of the poem, many modern interpretations of the Parliament variously describe the poem as one devoted to courtly love, common profit, or some admixture thereof. However, a more contextual and contemporary vision of the poem emerges by analyzing the Parliament in terms of the texts with which it travels. An analysis of the fourteen manuscript contexts of this dream vision reveal that the poem more typically functions as either as part of a general miscellany or as part of an author-anthology devoted to Chaucerian works. Ultimately, rather than suggesting a single thematic approach to the Parliament, the investigation of its manuscript contexts suggests the need to approach each manuscript on its own, unique terms.