Ovidian narrative technique in Jean de Meun and Chaucer

To date, studies of Ovid's influence on Jean de Meun and Chaucer have paid insufficient attention to Ovid's narrative techniques; most often critics underestimate the extent of Ovidian presence in these poets, limiting it to mythological material or ironic tone. But Jean and Chaucer frequently appropriated Ovid's "neoteric" techniques in their construction of narrative. Trademarks of "neoteric" classical poetry are an emphasis upon the interiority of the heroine, often including a lament; abundance of myth; extensive digression; structural mannerism; and unconventional approach to narrative norms.;Two episodes from Ovid's Metamorphoses illustrate such features. The flight of Medea to Corinth (bk. 7) alludes to multiple myths suggestive of her inner concerns. Second, Orpheus' song (bk. 10) relates eight successive myths connected to loss in love and so reflects Orpheus' own plight; furthermore, it incorporates several heroines' laments, a mythological digression, and elaborate architectonics.;In Jean de Meun, Ovidian narrative technique can be seen in the abundance of myth; lengthy digression, often using strategically placed myth to undercut Amant's quest; rhetorical devices used to amplify the satire; architectonics; and inversion of narrative convention, such as parody of the romance and exemplum forms. Because Jean uses allegory, Ovidian influence in his poetry is more extensive in structural technique and stylistic mannerism than in the representation of interiority.;Chaucer's diversity of poetic genres allowed appropriation of Ovidian narrative techniques and exploration of character psychology. Ovidian presence in Chaucer's narrative technique is evident in the Book of the Duchess (juxtaposition of tone and mood), Criseyde's deliberations in Troilus and Criseyde book 2 (interiority of the heroine), and the Wife of Bath's Tale (fairy tale suggesting the inner world; subversion of "loathly lady" narrative convention).;That Jean and Chaucer drew heavily from Ovid has long been recognized; that they shaped their narrative after his example and incorporated Ovidian character psychology has gone largely unremarked. For any full appreciation of the poetics of these two medieval poets, or of the extent to which Ovid's influence pervaded the literature of the later Middle Ages, commensurate attention must be given to his presence in Jean's and Chaucer's construction of poetic narrative.