During the Medieval period, a highly religious time, it was common practice for works to advocate a disdain for earthly things. Known as “contemptus mundi,” this idea of scorn for the material world was often expressed in a variety of different ways and for a variety of different purposes. One such example of this can be found in Chaucer’s Parliament of Fowls. Within the work Chaucer advocates contemptus mundi as a means to becoming a better king; this is particularly evident in his portrayal of Nature as she presides over the birds in the narrator’s dream.
Wisdom from Scipio’s Dream
Chaucer begins the work by referencing Scipio’s Dream from Cicero’s De Republica. It is important to take a look at the message of Scipio’s Dream in order to understand why Chaucer would choose to reference this particular piece. His intentions become clearer when his narrator is summing up Cicero’s work, relating the advice Africanus the Elder gave to Scipio in lines 46-49: “…what man, lered or lewed/That loveth comune profyt, wel ythewede/He shal unto a blysful place wende/There joy is that lasteth without ende.” The implication of the quoted lines is that to find everlasting peace, a king must turn away from selfish and material desires so that he may better cater to the good of society as a whole, the “common profit.” Therefore, one can look at the second half of the poem as support of this idea. It is here that Chaucer’s depiction of Nature comes so powerfully into play.
Nature as a Negative Symbol of Leadership
Nature is, both literally and symbolically, the embodiment of the natural world and therefore all is meant as advice on how to be a good king, any figures of authority within the work would have to be the subjects of close scrutiny. That being said, Nature hardly seems to be a good example of what a leader of Parliament should be. Indeed some of the first words Nature speaks, in lines 390-392, allude to class structure and ideas of the earthly: “my ryghtful ordenaunce/May I not let, for al this worlde to wynne:/That he that most ys worthy shal begynne” and then goes on to claim that the best bird is the eagle who is a “foule royal aboven yow in degree.” It would seem that Chaucer is offering these lines as an example of the judgments a poor king might make - judgments based in the material and physical and therefore out of accord with the idea of the common good.
Furthermore, it is particularly telling that Nature quickly loses control of the debates when the other birds grow weary of the long, courtly speeches the male eagles make to woo the female eagle. As the voices of dissent rise up, Nature does nothing to stop the name-calling and insults each group slings at one another. Finally Nature steps in and tells the female to choose who she desires most, but offers her a suggestion in lines 632-635: “wolde y/Counseylle yow the royal tercel to take - /…As for the gentilest and moste worthy.” Again, Nature highlights class structure and earthly desires by suggesting that one bird is more worthy than another based solely on status.
Nature’s Failure
Ultimately, Nature is portrayed as an unsuccessful leader not only because of her inability to lead and control the birds but because the matter at hand is never fully settled: the female eagle asks for more time rather than coming to a decision. In other words, not all the fowls managed to partner up and mate. If one were to interpret this in conjunction with Chaucer’s earlier statements about the makings of a good statesman, it would seem that Nature’s poor abilities as a leader and her failure to resolve the issue are a result of being a ruler focused, by her very nature, in the material world. It takes a leader who can turn away from worldly desires and look ahead to the common good to rule justly and successfully.
Sources
Chaucer, Geoffrey, Helen Phillips, and N. R. Havely. Chaucer's Dream Poetry. London: Longman, 1997.
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Margaret Sauble - Margaret Sauble has loved words and language since childhood, knowing from an early age that she wanted to be a writer. Her education in ...
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