Love and fortune in Book I of the "Confessio Amantis": controlling the uncontrollable

Abstract

This article explores the connections between the views of Love and Fortune in the Confessio Amantis and in works by Guillaume de Machaut. lt demonstrates Machaut's anti-Boethian views that the worthy lover may escape Fortune's control through the exercise of virtue and applies those views to Gower's presentation of both love and political fortunes. In the Prologue and Book I, in particular, Gower establishes Love and Fortune as essentially interchangeable, preparing the reader to understand each as the product of reciprocal relationships between people, rather than the result of Fortune or Love capriciously turning a wheel. The Confessio thus aims to enable readers to adopt virtuous behaviors, not to court love but rather to court good fortune more broadly.