Nature

초록

Though the words nature and kynde appear frequently in Chaucer's texts, this chapter will focus on a few places where the poet's (non-)engagement with nature is particularly instructive. The Chaucerian poem that most obviously resonates with contemporary ecological concerns is The Former Age. It expresses nostalgia for pre-technological life and demystifies the Ovidian fantasy of the pre-supplemental. In the Physician's Tale, Nature's paradoxical boasts assimilate her to her antithesis, art, and the ensuing story contests the reproductive drives often ascribed to nature. The Parliament of Fowls sidesteps heteronormative determinism and gives succor to the asexual; Nature goes against her own grain to accommodate non-teleological variability. © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Craig E. Bertolet and Susan Nakley. All rights reserved.