RHETORIC, TRUTH, AND LYDGATE‘S TROY BOOK DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Bernadette C. Vankeerbergen, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2009 Dissertation Committee: Professor Lisa J. Kiser, Adviser Approved by Professor Richard Firth Green Professor Karen Winstead ________________________________ Adviser English Graduate Program ABSTRACT My dissertation argues that underneath conservative poetical and political appearances, Lydgate‗s Troy Book casts serious doubt as to the validity of discourse, especially rhetoric, as an adequate vehicle for truth; the attainability of truth itself; the value of history writing; and the ultimate seriousness and credibility of Lydgate‘s own poetics of (and, by extrapolation, Henry‘s politics of) fame and self-representation. In order to prove my point, I first survey in chapter 1 how Lydgate thematized language in his poem and thereby created a poetic environment that implicitly seems to value language. In chapter 2, I explain how in his Prologue Lydgate articulated the idea that ornate language expresses truth. However, though Lydgate insisted that his project‘s historical truth differed radically from poetic fiction, he sprinkled the Prologue of the Troy Book with textual elements that actually reduce the gap between historia and fabula. The interconnectedness between lies and truth, historia and fabula is further highlighted in Books I-V where ornate rhetoric is used by and is associated with a series of deceitful characters, a point that I address in chapter 3.The issue is reinforced by some statements that the narrator makes concerning several eloquent writer-figures in the Troy Book and the fact that Lydgate‘s poem contains many allusions to Chaucer‘s House of Fame, a poem that doubts the truthfulness of language. In chapter 4, I examine how Lydgate‘s poem actually questions the attainability of factual and moral truth. I focus on ii the characters‘ deceit, the hinted fallibility of the chroniclers, Lydgate‘s mise-en-abyme in which history does not have any tangible didactic effect, and the fact that prudence becomes intermingled with deception. In chapter 5, I analyze Hector and Paris‘s debate in Book II and show how Paris‘s eloquence contributes to concealing the fallacy of his speech. Paris‘s poetical aspirations are used as yet another means to express skepticism about the value of rhetoric, truth, and ultimately the Troy Book. I conclude that in his Troy Book, Lydgate truly adopted a Chaucerian poetics of ambiguity and skepticism, and I suggest we revisit Lydgate‘s corpus for possible similar lines of inquiry. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my adviser, Professor Lisa J. Kiser, for her constant support, sound advice, and generosity of time during the various stages of my dissertation. Her book Truth and Textuality in Chaucer‘s Poetry considerably influenced my reading of John Lydgate‘s Troy Book and informed my decision to pursue a Ph.D. at Ohio State. I also would like to thank the two other members of my Committee. Professor Karen Winstead first introduced me to John Lydgate‘s work in her seminar ―East Anglian Culture‖ taught in Summer of 2002. She subsequently suggested that I explore Lydgate further in a dissertation, and for this I am very grateful. I am also indebted to Professor Richard Firth Green for having been an attentive reader of my chapters and sometimes challenging my interpretations of Lydgate‘s poem. Our debate illustrates Lydgate‘s (and, before him, Chaucer‘s) realization that textual meanings are fluid. My thanks are due to The Ohio State‘s Department of English for awarding me a Dissertation Fellowship in Winter of 2006, which allowed me to complete my preliminary research and start writing the first chapter. Finally, nothing in life can ever be accomplished without the support of family, friends, and mentors. To my parents, Jean and Chantal Vankeerbergen, I owe my interest in intellectual inquiry. Dr. Yvette Van Quickelberghe, my undergraduate thesis adviser, and Dr. Lea T. Olsan, former Chaucer teacher and M.A. mentor, were great role models iv along the way and encouraged me to further my English studies. My dear friend Beverly Sandidge always believed in me throughout the years. Above all else, Caroline Rayner provided me with stability of life to bring this project to completion. v VITA January 16, 1968…………………………Born – Mechelen, Belgium 1990………………………………………―Licence‖ (B.A.) Translation, Institut Libre Marie Haps, Brussels, Belgium 1990 – 1991………………………………Translator, Eurologos, Brussels, Belgium 1992 – 1994………………………………Graduate Teaching Assistant, The University of Louisiana at Monroe 1994………………………………………M.A. English, The University of Louisiana at Monroe 1994 – 1995………………………………Teacher, Claiborne Elementary, West Monroe, LA 1995 – 1999………………………………Teacher, Cedar Creek High School, Ruston, LA 1999 – 2000………………………………Instructor, The University of Louisiana at Monroe 2000 – 2001………………………………Graduate Teaching Assistant, The University of Texas, Austin 2001 – present…………………………….Graduate Teaching and Administrative Associate, The Ohio State University PUBLICATION Research Publication Vankeerbergen, Bernadette. ―Chaucer‘s House of Fame: A Journey into Skepticism.‖ Medieval Perspectives (1994): 158-69. vi FIELD OF STUDY Main field: English vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Vita ..................................................................................................................................... vi Chapters: Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1. Speeches, books, and other linguistic concerns ..................................................... 30 1.1 The Prologue ................................................................................................... 30 1.2 The text of the poem ....................................................................................... 34 1.3 Centrality of speeches ..................................................................................... 40 1.4 The creative power of language ...................................................................... 51 1.5 Even at the very end ........................................................................................ 56 2. Rhetoric, language, and truth: The prologue ......................................................... 59 2.1 Lydgate and rhetoric ....................................................................................... 59 2.2 Style and truth in the Prologue........................................................................ 64 2.3 Ambiguous details and nuances in the Prologue ............................................ 84 3. Rhetoric, language and truth: Books I-V ............................................................... 97 3.1 ―Þe gold dewe-dropis of rethorik so fyne‖ or ―Sugre in þe crop, venym in þe rote‖? ..................................................................................................................... 98 3.2 A Chaucerian connection: The House of Fame ............................................ 123 4. An anatomy of truth: Uncovering the fissures in Lydgate‘s historical project .... 144 4.1 Lack of integrity and the ubiquity of deceit .................................................. 146 4.2 The moral lesson to be learned?.................................................................... 159 4.2.1 The historical text within and its didactic effectiveness ................ 160 4.2.2 Prudence in the Troy Book ............................................................ 186 5. Hector‘s logic-based rhetoric, Paris‘s poetic eloquence, and Lydgate‘s Troy Book .............................................................................................................................. 211 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 247 viii INTRODUCTION John Lydgate undertook the composition of his Troy Book in 1412 on commission from the future King Henry V, who wished to have the noble exploits of true knighthood remembered in the English language (Pro.69-124). Thus, the primary focus of Lydgate‘s poem is the events of the Trojan War, including numerous incidents leading up to and following the actual conflict. As Lydgate‘s Prologue states, Henry, Prince of Wales, was hoping that the availability of the story in English would encourage his countrymen to emulate the heroic actions of ancient warriors. In addition, it seems likely, as John H. Fisher has suggested, that a more covert aim on Prince Henry‘s part was to promote the use of the English vernacular in order to buttress public support for the Lancastrian regime (176). Lydgate‘s Troy Book is a loose translation of Guido delle Colonne‘s Historia destructionis Troiae, a prose narrative and self-proclaimed authentic history of the Trojan War written in Latin in 1287. In turn, Guido maintained that he worked from the alleged eyewitness accounts of the Phrygian Dares and the Cretan Dictys, though in actuality he closely paraphrased Benoît de Sainte-Maure‘s Roman de Troie written in Old French