Transcript Canterbury Tales - Bishop Ireton High School

Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer
 Author of The
Canterbury Tales –
Father of English Poetry
 1340? A.D. – 1400 A.D.
 Middle class, welleducated (father was
wine merchant), jobs at
court
 Devoted, orthodox
Catholic who perceived
abuses within Church
and exposed them
w/amusement
Middle English
 The Canterbury Tales
were written by Chaucer in
Middle English.
 It is the basis for our
Modern English of today.
What is The Canterbury Tales
all about anyway?
 Consists of MANY (would have been much more if
Chaucer wouldn’t have died) tales about MANY
different characters
 Each of the tales in his work are part of a larger
story, known as a frame story.
 The Host to the people on the pilgrimage connects
each story together.
 The context for having so many tales is a contest to
see who can tell the best story while on a journey to
see St. Thomas a Becket’s tomb.
The Pilgrimage
All the characters in The Canterbury Tales
travel together to Canterbury to visit the tomb
of St. Thomas a Becket.
Chaucer introduces these characters in “The
General Prologue” (one of the stories within
the frame story).
They leave London to go to Canterbury.
The Pilgrims’ Way
St. Thomas a Becket
 Becket, a political ally of Henry II in the king’s fight with the
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church, was named head of the Church of England after
serving as Henry’s Chancellor.
But the newly ordained Archbishop of Canterbury surprised
and infuriated his king by becoming a staunch proponent of
the church.
After years of quarreling with Henry, Becket returned to
Canterbury in 1170 after six years of exile, only to be
murdered within his own cathedral by four knights responding
to King Henry’s angry demand, “Who will rid me of this lowborn priest?” His brains were spilled all over the floor.
He was canonized 3 years later; shrine completed in 1220.
Thousands of pilgrims came to Canterbury Cathedral each
year to visit the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket.
Canterbury Cathedral
The Crypt
Becket’s tomb in
the crypt under the
main cathedral
became a shrine
almost from the
moment of his
death in 1170 until
1220, when it was
relocated.
Becket’s Tomb
Inside the
cathedral is the
present shrine to
St. Thomas a
Becket.
Trinity Chapel
In 1220 the shrine to
St. Thomas was
moved to the main
level of the cathedral,
in Trinity Chapel, at the
far end of the enormous
and beautiful span of
the cathedral.
Trinity Chapel
There it continued to
draw thousands of
pilgrims each year
until its destruction in
1538, when King
Henry VIII allowed
the plundering of
England’s cathedrals
and monasteries.
Becket Memorialized in
Cathedral Window
Becket’s life story is
told in a wall of stained
glass windows -- Becket
and King Henry 2 are
momentarily reconciled
(top); Becket prays as
the king’s men attack
(bottom); a pilgrim
visits the shrine after
Thomas’ death (middle).
The Tales
 work existed in fragments at Chaucer’s death
 planned
for each of 30 to tell 2 tales/going & 2
tales/returning (120 stories in original framework)?
 we have only one story each from 24 pilgrims
 written between 1357-1400
 each tale deals with one of Chaucer’s themes
 regularly rhyming couplets
 Chaucer customarily writes a five-stress, ten-syllable
line, alternating unstressed and stressed syllables
(what would later be called iambic pentameter):
 told in social order (except for Miller)
A pageant of 14th Century
life
 Pilgrims span the whole range of the unofficial
middle class. Groups represented are:
 Upper class (Knight, Squire, church people);
 Learned professions (Physician, Man of Law);
 Landed gentry (Franklin);
 Medieval manor people (Miller, Reeve);
 Mercantile class (Shipman, Merchant);
 Guildsmen (Haberdasher, Dyer, etc.);
 Laborer (Plowman).
Chaucer’s Attitude
1. Chaucer treats seriously (Knight, Squire, Clerk, Parson,
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3.
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5.
Plowman)
Some he pokes fun at (Prioress, Monk, Wife of Bath);
Some he is quiet about; short portraits with no personal
view coming through (Prioress's entourage);
Some he does not admire; Chaucer is just a little negative
(Shipman, Manciple);
Hardened sinners, all of them religious officials/He is not
pleased with these. (Friar, Pardoner, Summoner)
Structure & Style
 Tales have different tones, attitudes, poetic style: Why
do you think Chaucer would do this?
 noble, romantic tone for Knight’s Tale
 bawdy parody for Miller’s Tale
 Point of View
 Chaucer
enables reader to see story, person telling
story, point behind story--all at once
 points of view represent different outlooks, morals
Varied Genres
Virtually every type of medieval writing is represented.
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Fabliaux – Story based on clever tricks involving infidelity.
Mock-Heroic – Ridicule, by imitation, of chivalric literature and heroic characters
Mock-Romance – Ridicule of chivalric romance by parody.
Chivalric Romance – A non-scholarly narrative in metrical verse; tale of love,
adventure, knightly conflict an, and pageantry.
Bretan Lais – Set in the Brittany region of France; tales, Celtic in origin, of magic,
fairies, folklore, and courtly love.
Beast Fable – Animal characters with human qualities; clever tale that preaches a moral
lesson.
Prose Allegory – Non-poetic tale in which people and things represent abstract
qualities.
Jokes – Humorous incidents that ridicule people
Sermon – An oratory preaching a Christian messge
Exemplum – A sermon that illustrates a known moral lesson
Saints Legend – A tale of inspirational acts or martyrdom
Miracle of the Virgin – Tale in which the Virgin Mary miraculously aids a follower in time
of need.
Moral Tale – A tale to inspire moral conduct in the listener.
“The General Prologue”
 introduction of pilgrims
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all Catholics (150 years before Henry VIII broke from Rome)
some sought holiday, some heavenly benefit
common to travel together: rough roads, robbers, illnesses
St. Thomas à Becket of Canterbury
April in Southwark at Tabbard Inn, owner Harry Bailey
Bailey suggests they pass time by taking turns telling stories;
best will win prize
 brief portraits
 masterfully ironic: left-handed compliments, praises
w/quick reversals
 real slice of life of middle-class