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The Qualitative Method Investigates The Hypothesis Of The Research And ...

The qualitative method investigates the hypothesis of the research and interprets the issue of youth and age in the works of Chaucer and Keats. Contrary to the quantitative method that provides generalised information, the qualitative approach deals with individual aspects and provides more accurate findings. The qualitative data for the research are taken from recent critical analyses of Geoffrey Chaucer and John Keats (secondary sources) and from the original texts (primary sources). The qualitative method in the present research refers to semiotics as a form of the analysis, as it is semiotics that interprets themes and symbols in particular literary texts.

4 Data Analysis

Through the contrast of youth and age Geoffrey Chaucer in Knight's Tale creates a variety of personalities with diverse disposition and morality values, feelings and emotions. Arcite and Palomon, the male characters of the poem represent youth; throughout the narration they are portrayed as passionate, sincere, witty, noisy individuals who are ready to die for love and who are not disappointed in life yet. For instance, portraying Arcite's feelings to Emelye, Chaucer applies to a detailed explanation of Arcite's state of mind: "How great a sorwe suffreth now Arcite! / The deeth he feeleth thugh his herte smyte, / He wepeth, wayleth, crieth piteously (1219-1221). Although Arcite suffers from his love, his emotions are so sincere that readers sympathise him. On the contrary, old age brings disappointment, uncertainty, loss of desires, distrust, cynicism and fear. Chaucer depicts that as a person gets older and acquires life experience, his\her naiveté is destroyed.

In Chaucer's viewpoint, age is not only connected with maturity, but also with suffering and destruction of youth's aspiration. However, Chaucer does not criticise or justify either of the opposites (Jordan, 1967), although he tends to implicitly maintain maturity that comes with age, especially on the example of the ruler Theseus who is compared with Mars. Theseus is portrayed as a person who understands people and who seems to reflect the philosophical vision of Chaucer. Applying to the opposites of youth and age, Chaucer simultaneously refers to the opposites of life and death (Kean, 1972). Both kinds of opposites are natural phenomena; as the poet reveals, youth signifies life, while old age signifies death. On the other hand, through Arcite's death Chaucer demonstrates that death may occur with anyone and in any age. Before his death Arcite puts some philosophical questions that are further discussed by Theseus. During Arcite's funeral Theseus expresses the idea that it is honourable to die in youth, thus clearly exposing the ideals of the medieval era (Neuse, 1969).
In The Wife of Bath Geoffrey Chaucer presents youth and age through the image of a woman Alisoun who constantly changes her husbands.

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