트로일루스와 크리세이드 에 나타난사랑의 비가역성(非可逆性)

Abstract

The ardent love in this life and its total retraction in heaven in Troilus and Criseyde has disturbed critics and made them argue on either side. This paper proposes to regard love in the world as an indispensible mirror image of the heavenly beatitude, and the retraction as the necessary aftermath. Innocent Troilus laughed at the lovers and called them "fools" in Book I, but immediately after the conversion to the 'courtly love' he was transformed into the virtuous knight, which was the qualification of the 'courtly love.' In fact, he became completely committed himself in love with Criseyde, and reached mature manhood in his total agony and subsequent consummation. Thus Troilus experienced the whole aspects of love in this world, which allowed him a quantum leap to another full recognition in the life-to-come. Though he laughed at the human matters in heaven, he was not, or could not be the same innocent Troilus who snored at the love affairs. Rahter it should be concluded that experienced Troilus' laughter and his retraction of the worldly matters could be reflected and typified in Troilus' laughter at the lovers in the first part, only with the irreversible turning point in the middle, which is the love of Troilus and Criseyde.