In Love Visions, Chaucer uses the medieval tradition of dream exposition to comment on the societal pull toward idealized love in a subset of medieval literature. Throughout the first three poems, Chaucer skillfully parodies societal norms: his exaggerated descriptions and overly dramatic characters provide subtle allusions to the poems' ultimate goal. The final poem, The Legend of Good Women, takes Chaucer's warning about superficial love presented in many books of his time even further. In this final poem, Chaucer not only rejects that the love praised in legends is truly love, but asserts that the only true love comes from God. Through his meticulously crafted vision of love, Chaucer asks readers to turn away from their worldly perceptions of love and turn to God for authentic, satisfying, and perfect love. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Legend of Good Wives begins much like Chaucer's other poems in Love Visions: a lovesick Chaucer falls asleep and has a dream. When he wakes up in the dream world, the God of Love and Alcestis, his queen, approach him. The God of Love is furious with Chaucer because he “[lied] about the devotees [of the God of Love]/misrepresented them in [his] translation” (lines 249-250). The God of Love feels deceived by his disciples and goes so far as to describe Chaucer's work in the preceding poems as "heresy" (256). This backdrop forms the basis of Chaucer's commentary on this false love. From his first encounter with the God of Love, the poet Chaucer draws a distinct parallel between the God of Love in vision and God the Father in reality. He uses religious terms when speaking of the God of Love, who describes his followers as having a "love of purity and justice" (297). Alcestis even refers to the ballads written by Chaucer as “hymns to the [God of Love] for holy days” (410). The language used in the conversation between the God of Love, Alcestis, and Chaucer closely resembles the language used in accounts of the Christian God and his relationship with his disciples. Additionally, the whole situation is reminiscent of traditional Christian belief regarding Judgment Day. . Chaucer is placed before the God of Love and must listen as his sinful deeds performed on earth are recounted before a crowd of witnesses (230-231). This allusion, however, is intended to be ironic. The God of Love, in this poem, is the dream equivalent of God the Father, while Alcestis assumes the role of Jesus Christ. However, beyond the environment and rhetoric of the god and his queen, the nature of the God of Love and Alcestis are flawed attempts to achieve the standard of divinity set by the Christian God. The God of Love seems to lack all of his own qualities. God the Father embodies: omniscience, justice and patience are notably absent from the character of the God of Love. He is known for his blind judgment and quickly becomes angry when he meets Chaucer (169). The disparity between the God of Love and God the Father widens further when Alceste chastises the God of Love for treating Chaucer so harshly. Alcestis reminds the God of Love that he “hears many pretended stories” and tells him to consider that “perhaps this man has been wrongly accused” (327, 338). This reveals some of the disturbing characteristics of the God of Love. Above all, Alceste's statement shows that the God of Love cannot distinguish between truth andlie. If he has been deceived by lies before, it is not inconceivable that he has misjudged in the past. His warning itself also implies that the God of Love is incompetent. An omniscient and perfect god should not need re-education on how he should act. In the same speech, Alcestis advises the God of Love to grant grace to Chaucer at the expense of his justice. She suggests that the God of Love "show some grace/Cast [his] rage and show a kind face" (396-397). The God of Love then entrusts his duty to execute judgment to Alceste (439-443). In a few lines, the credibility of the God of Love is considerably diminished. The God of Love is neither fair nor just in His decisions, and He shirks His own responsibility when the decision becomes difficult. In the first pages of the poem, Chaucer shows that the God of Love is not to be trusted. Although Alcestis intercedes on Chaucer's behalf, she too fails to meet the expectations set by the God of reality. The events involving Christ and Alceste are comparable: out of love, Alceste takes her husband's place and "chooses to die," and she is ultimately elevated to a glorified position alongside the God of Love (500-505). But the comparison ends there. Alceste gives bad advice to the God of Love and offers grace that comes at a price. She warns Chaucer: “You have won your favor; hold to it carefully,” before explaining Chaucer’s penance for his sin (468). In her warning, Alcestis makes it clear that Chaucer's pardon depends on his ability to respond to her request, not on his own nature or a higher power. Like the God of Love, Alceste accomplishes less than her title guarantees her. Although he praises Alceste for her virtues, the God of Love demands that Chaucer “write the legend of this perfect wife/Write others of lesser mark first” (539–540). It is strange that in order to achieve the God of Love's goal of obtaining disciples and showing people on earth the nature of love, the God of Love did not want Chaucer to write about the example of this love, Alceste, who he says "taught what perfect love should always do" (534). Instead, he tells Chaucer to write about women who imitated but did not quite reached Alceste's loving maturity For this reason, the God of Love effectively entrusts Chaucer with a mission with insufficient evidence of his version of love. Chaucer on Martyrs for Love leaves much to be desired The manner in which Chaucer tells the stories of the martyrs is hollow and lacks resonance Chaucer simply tells the stories of these women in a way that will satisfy the God of Love. changes some stories to paint women in a better light, although he states that "it is neither a story nor a fable" (702). When talking about Dido and Aeneas, he forgets to mention that Dido broke her vow to her late husband by entering into a relationship with Aeneas, and he glosses over the fact that Cupid tricked Dido into falling in love , saying: “Whatever it is, /I don't care what these old writings say” (1145-1146). The legends seem hasty in their conclusions, with Chaucer either telling the reader to refer to another text for the rest of the story or briefly warning against the men's falsity. These endings make Chaucer seem indifferent, as if he did not have a true change of heart after his encounter with the God of Love. Rather, it seems that Chaucer is using these stories to further destroy the ethos of the God of Love. In these legends, Chaucer writes as representing the God of Love, but he adds details that suggest otherwise. In.