Playing in the “doel-doungoun”: Grief as godgame in medieval literature

This thesis uses cultural game theory, psychology, and psychoanalytic literary criticism to argue that the processes of grief and melancholy are godgames in medieval literature. It relies on Robert Rawdon Wilson’s definitions of labyrinth and godgame to make this argument. The thesis examines Geoffrey Chaucer’s Book of the Duchess, and I show how the narrator’s melancholy functions as a labyrinthine game. I also argue that the narrator models how his medieval readers should treat their own grief through literature – specifically through his poem – after the loss of Blanche of Lancaster. Next, I analyze Pearl and expose that life for a medieval Christian is a game and that the narrator in the dream vision fails to follow the rule of that game, namely, he must love God first. The narrator’s melancholy causes him to rebel against God, and the Pearl maiden encourages the narrator to accept his “wyrde,” exposing that the narrator can only win the Christian game by sacrificing his earthly happiness for heavenly reward. I then examine how the grief of Orfeo, Heurodis, and their kingdom in Sir Orfeo function as godgames, and I claim that they escape their godgames because they recover those that they lost. Cultural game theory ultimately outlines the structure of grief, gestures towards other affective processes being games, and emphasizes how medieval grief resembles that of today.

Embargo status: Restricted until 06/2026. To request the author grant access, click on the PDF link to the left.