Includes bibliographical references and index.

Focuses upon the aspects of Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Troilus and Criseyde' which criticize erotic love, tracing the poem's transformations of Boccaccio's Filostrato and assessing external and internal evidence of attitudes towards love and sexuality. Contemporary negative opinions of love, especially those of John Gower (to whom Troilus is dedicated) clarify the proper subordination of human love to human will and the significance of Troilus's debasement. Venus's domination of the action -- more evident than in Filostrato -- indicates the sexual nature of the lovers' attraction, while traditional recurrent images associated with the three major characters underscore the immorality of such love.

Also issued online.

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