Transcript GEOFFREY CHAUCER

GEOFFREY CHAUCER
The Canterbury Tales
EARLY LIFE
 1342-1400
 Born
to a middle class family
 His father was a wine merchant who
believed his child should have a formal
education
 Odd jobs = page, courtier, diplomat, civil
servant, scrap metal collector
 Traveled all over Europe
LATER LIFE
 Fluent
in English, Italian, Latin, and French
 Worked as a government official under three
different kings = high social status
 Was captured as a POW during the Hundred
Year’s War  King paid his ransom
 Died of unknown causes – murder suspected
 Chaucer was one of the first writers to be
buried in the Poets’ Corner in Westminster
Abbey.
WRITING STYLES
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Often called the father of English poetry
Most scholars still wrote in Latin
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Felt English lacked sophistication and had a limited vocabulary
Only local stories and ballads written in English
He wrote in the vernacular or language of the commoners
Now known as Middle English
Allegory:
A story in which the character, settings, and events stand for
abstract or moral concepts.
 It has a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.
 Popular in the Middle Ages.
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Satire: witty language used to convey insult
Rhythmic pattern
Lack of alliteration
Best known for writing The Canterbury Tales, but also had
several other works as well
THE CANTERBURY TALES
Although the work was never completed, The Canterbury
Tales is considered one of the greatest works in the English
language
 The narrator meets 29 pilgrims at an inn and travels with
them to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury.
They decide to have a contest: whoever can tell the best
tale wins a dinner at the inn when they get back, courtesy
of the other travelers.
o Canterbury Tales can be considered “estates satire”
o Three “Estates” in European feudal society
– Peasants work (agricultural labor)
– Clergy pray
– Nobles fight (and rule)
 Begun: 1386
 Planned: 120 tales
 Completed: 22 and 2 fragments
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Pilgrims represent many
unofficial middle classes:
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).
CHARACTERS
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Narrator (“Chaucer”)
Host
Knight
Squire
Yeoman
Prioress
Second Nun
Three Priests
Monk
Friar
Merchant
Clerk
Man of Law
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Franklin
Guildsmen
Cook
Shipman
Physician
Wife of Bath
Parson
Plowman
Manciple
Reeve
Miller
Summoner
Pardoner
Mastery of Character
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Part of his mastery is with creating
characters
The characters take turns telling
tales
Characters are created through:
 Physical descriptions (some quite
graphic)
 Characters interacting with each
other
 The tales themselves reflecting
character (often specifically their
personalities and motivations)
The Second Nun's Tale Writing Style:
Iambic Pentameter, Rime Royal Stanzas
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It's a seven-line stanza with the line endings forming an
ABABBCC rhyme scheme.
First wolde I yow the name of seinte Cecilie A
Expowne, as men may in hir storie see. B
It is to seye in Englissh, `hevenes lilie' A
For pure chaastnesse of virginitee, B
Or for she whitnesse hadde of honestee B
And grene of conscience, and of good fame C
The soote savour, lilie was hir name. C
(85-91)