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Chaucer: Dream-Vision Motif

Why does Chaucer continuously use the dream-vision motif in many of his text? Please include an example of this, because I am having a difficult time trying to see how it is useful for him to do so.

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The following information comes from Sarah Roberts at

Dreams presented answers in a setting that had no obligation to be realistic. In a sense, it was a non-subjective setting through which Chaucer could subtly inject satire into his works. Instead of using it in the traditional way, as a literary device to toss out clear-cut morals or simple conclusions, Chaucer employs it more to drop a hint to the audience that there are extra layers of meaning being offered. Chaucer also includes other quirks to make it clear that these layers of meaning are more complicated than the usual simple dream vision formula, such as the narrator never waking up like he should have before composing the Good Women legends, or the narrator being improperly vague about how long after falling asleep he dreamt. Doing so is markedly unformulaic ...

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The following posting discusses the dream-vision motif in Chaucer's work.