The Book of Duchess

Summary
The narrator of "The Book of theDuchess" opens by saying that he has
been living a life of apathy. He doesn't notice what goes on around him,
and he feels neither joy nor sorrow. The narrator states that his constant
thoughts have led to insomnia. He has become melancholy and is sleep-
deprived to the extent that he fears he may die. He has been suffering
for eight years, and there is only one physician who may save him. One
night when he cannot sleep, the narrator becomes engrossed in a book
of romantic fables. He reads of a king named Ceyx and his queen
Alcyone. One night when he cannot sleep, the narrator becomes
engrossed in a book of romantic fables. He reads of a king named Ceyx
and his queen Alcyone. Ceyx embarks on a voyage and a storm sinks his
ship. Alcyone is unaware of her husband's fate but is worried given the
strength of the storm. She sends out a search party but they find no
evidence of Ceyx. Alcyone vows that she will fast until her husband
returns. Time passes without a word from or regarding Ceyx, and a
desperate Alcyone falls to her knees to pray to Juno the queen of the
Roman gods. She begs Juno for a dream that communicates what has
happened to Ceyx. Alcyone swoons and her waiting-women carry her to
bed. An exhausted Alcyone cries herself to sleep. Meanwhile, Juno
summons a messenger to go to the god of sleep Morpheus. She
commands Morpheus to tell Alcyone through as brief a dream as
possible that Ceyx is dead. Morpheus places the corpse of Ceyx at the
foot of Alcyone's bed. Ceyx tells Alcyone goodbye and prays that the
revelation of his death may lead to an end of Alcyone's misery. Within
three days, Alcyone is dead.
 The narrator notes that he envies Alcyone for both the answer
to her prayer and the end of her sorrows. He would give almost
anything to sleep soundly. The narrator immediately falls asleep
and enters a dream. In the dream the narrator wakes to
birdsong. He is in a magnificent room with windows and he can
see a cloudless sky outside. The narrator hears a huntsman's
horn, and he rushes outside to join the hunt. The narrator is
separated from the group and follows a fawn into a wood. He
encounters a man in black who is sitting against a tree. The man
is a knight who doesn't notice the narrator at first. Theknight
 laments that death took the woman he loves instead of him.
The narrator asks the depressed knight if there is anything he
can do to help. The knight replies that he is beyond help and
that death is such an enemy to him that it will not take him. The
knight explains the extent of his sadness by uttering, "For I am
sorrow and sorrow is I." He denounces Fate and states that she
is a liar and a cheat because Fate led him to his true love but
then took her away. The knight tells the story of meeting and
marrying the most beautiful, graceful, genuine, and kind woman
he had ever known. The narrator accuses the knight of
exaggerating his lady's charms. However, the knight insists that
he is describing her accurately. The knight again laments his
lady's death as the narrator hears both the sound of the
hunters' horns in his dream and the toll of a bell in reality. The
narrator wakes in his bed and decides that he will write the
events of his dream in a poem.
 Analysis
The narrator notes that he envies Alcyone for both the answer to her prayer
and the end of her sorrows. He would give almost anything to sleep soundly.
The narrator immediately falls asleep and enters a dream. In the dream the
narrator wakes to birdsong. He is in a magnificent room with windows and he
can see a cloudless sky outside. The narrator hears a huntsman's horn, and he
rushes outside to join the hunt. The narrator is separated from the group and
follows a fawn into a wood. He encounters a man in black who is sitting
against a tree. The man is a knight who doesn't notice the narrator at first. 
Theknight laments that death took the woman he loves instead of him. The
narrator asks the depressed knight if there is anything he can do to help. The
knight replies that he is beyond help and that death is such an enemy to him
that it will not take him. The knight explains the extent of his sadness by
uttering, "For I am sorrow and sorrow is I." He denounces Fate and states that
she is a liar and a cheat because Fate led him to his true love but then took
her away. The knight tells the story of meeting and marrying the most
beautiful, graceful, genuine, and kind woman he had ever known. The
narrator accuses the knight of exaggerating his lady's charms. However, the
knight insists that he is describing her accurately. The knight again laments his
lady's death as the narrator hears both the sound of the hunters' horns in his
dream and the toll of a bell in reality. The narrator wakes in his bed and
decides that he will write the events of his dream in a poem.
The narrator is GeoffreyChaucer's fictional representation of himself, while the knight portrays John
of Gaunt . John's wife BlancheofLancaster  passed away at the age of 23 while in childbirth with
their eighth child. John commissioned his best friend Chaucer to write a poem to commemorate
Blanche. "The Book of the Duchess" was presented to John on the second anniversary of Blanche's
passing. The knight's deceased wife in "The Book of the Duchess" is characterized as being
uncommonly beautiful just as Blanche of Lancaster was described to be. John described Blanche as
being the love of his life, and this devotion is reflected in Chaucer's portrayal in his poem. "The Book
of the Duchess" details the despair John felt as the knight asserts that he will never recover from
the loss of his wife.