SUMMERS, KAREN CRADY, Ph.D. Reading Incest - The University ...

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Richard” (111). The dedication of the first version reads, in part, that this is “a bok for
king Richardes sake” 3 , which is changed to “a bok for Engelondes sake / The yer
sextenthe of kyng Richard [22 June 1392 to 21 June 1393]” (24-25). Nicholson finds the
inclusion of the exact date significant because it might mean that the rewriting of the
dedication was not because of any political dissatisfaction with Richard, as there would
not have been time for any to develop. On the other hand, the date may simply have been
added years later to “predate” the poem in order to make the dedication to Henry
stronger. If so, this could indicate that “the rewriting might very well have been tied up
with the political events at the end of the decade” (111). Despite this difference in the
versions of the prologue, the individual books and especially the tales themselves are
essentially the same, as is the narrative frame of the seven deadly sins which Gower uses
to build his case.
There is in Confessio Amantis the element of instruction manual for kings; tale
upon tale relates the destructive nature of poor kingship. However, the poet must
prudently fictionalize his tales lest by speaking too directly, he insult the king. Relating
stories of kings in antiquity is a way to camouflage direct criticism of one’s own king
while still imparting wisdom. Ferster has demonstrated that like Gower, Chaucer crafted
his narratives carefully to offer such advice while avoiding offense. In the Tale of
Melibee, Chaucer removed a quote because “he knew the tale could have political
reverberations and wanted to control them: He left out the proverb in his French source
3 The first dedication in the Prologue was written by 1390; the revision was written c. 1392, which was the
sixteenth century of Richard’s reign; Henry did not succeed to the throne until 1399. See Macaulay, Works
of John Gower, (Oxford, 1901) for details on the revision. But having earlier composed Mirour de l’Omme
and Vox Clamantis, by 1385 Gower was already a well-known poet. Furthermore, Chaucer’s dedication of
Troilus and Cressida (c. 1385) must have added to Gower’s fame.