Geoffrey Chaucer successfully developed several themes that run throughout his works. Although the literary techniques Chaucer uses are not his own, these recurring themes are within the unique style that defines Chaucer's works. In Troilus and Criseyde and in The Book of the Duchess, the characters of Troilus and the Black Knight go through heartbreak and sorrow because of a love they once had but both lost. Both characters are young and naive when it comes to matters of the heart and leave their fate in the hands of Cupid and Fortune. Although the woman Troilus loved did not die like the one the Black Knight loved, she still broke his heart by not being faithful to him. Despite the fact that they lost their wives in different ways, they are both still victims of love won and love lost. Chaucer never talks about his own experiences with love, but Troilus and Criseyde make it clear what his understanding of love really is. : "Ek, even if I speak of love in an insensitive way, // It is not surprising, because it is nothing new" (T&C.II.19-20) He speaks of love as if there was nothing new. Troilus is very inexperienced and immature when it comes to love. This is depicted when he criticizes love and people who are in love in Book I, which is why Cupid put Troilus' love in the middle of the paper...... of Troye,In lovynge, how his adventures fell Fro woe to us, and afterwards for joy, My goal is, uh, that I separate again. Thesiphone, how can you help me hear this sad verse, which cries while I write. " (T&C.I.1-7) In the end, everything depends on destiny. Whether it was Cupid or Fortune, Troilus and the Black Knight already had their destiny mapped out. These characters, who at the beginning had absolutely no experience when it came to love, had love quickly won and love lost This shows you that you can never take anything for granted and Chaucer did a great job portraying this in Troilus and. Criseyde and The Black Knight..