'You Shall Honour your Father'

The Chaucerian poem The Legend of Good Women compiles the stories of ten classical women who were betrayed or/and abandoned by their lovers. These women were in fact legendary in Ancient times and afterwards, and they seem to have been chosen by Chaucer because they were love martyrs. They sacrificed their lives for Love and, quite contrary to a common depiction of female characters, they were faithful to their beloved, even if that implied breaking an ancient rule. Through their deeds, Thisbe, Medea, Ariadna and Hypermnestra proved to be disloyal to their fathers. However, they did not go unpunished.