ABSTRACT
In contrast to most of Geoffrey Chaucer’s earlier poems, which are dream visions populated by animals and allegorical figures, Troilus follows Filostrato in emphasizing character over plot and in describing these characters as fully developed, naturalistic men and women. Pandarus is the most superficial of the three main characters in Troilus and Criseyde, as well as being the liveliest and most entertaining. The characters in Troilus have been treated by Chaucerians as both round and flat. Troilus also contains more minor characters than its source and expands the roles of others, though their primary function is to support the principal actors. The traditional critical debate about literary character, which goes back at least to Aristotle, is whether such figures are merely plot functions, whose being is expressed entirely in what they do, or whether they can achieve an independent existence beyond the text and can be said somehow to resemble living human beings.
