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Geoffrey Chaucer. 1343-1400. Who Was He?. Born in 1343 to a middle class family. His father was a wine merchant. Received some education and legal training. Served under three kings as a government official: Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV.
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Geoffrey Chaucer 1343-1400
Who Was He? • Born in 1343 to a middle class family. His father was a wine merchant. • Received some education and legal training. • Served under three kings as a government official: Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV. • Was an ambassador to France and Italy where he was introduced to and influenced by the literature of Europe, especially the poems of Dante and Petrarch, and Boccaccio’s Decameron. • The first poet to be buried in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey.
Literary Accomplishments • Chaucer was the first to successfully write in the vernacular, the everyday English that was spoken in London, and not in French or Latin. He wanted literature to be accessible to all. • 1369: wrote The Book of the Duchess in memory of his patron’s wife (Blanche) who was married to John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster and son of the king. • 1386: published several allegorical poems while serving as a government official. • 1387: Began writing The Canterbury Tales which is modeled after Boccaccio’s Decameron. • His work illustrates the economic, political, and social conditions of his day.
Literary Elements • Chaucer broke away from the Anglo-Saxon alliterative device. • Introduced the iambic pentameter: ten syllables, with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. • da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM • (weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG) • Shall I com - PARE thee TO a SUM mer's DAY • Rhyme scheme: the couplet. Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme, eg, “When good King Arthur ruled in ancient days A king that every Briton loves to praise.” • Satirizes the clergy and the social hierarchy to expose hypocrisy and human frailty. • Uses descriptive and vivid imagery to characterize his subjects.
Character Development • Chaucer develops his characters by their: • Action • Dialogue • Appearance • Physiognomy: a science that judged a person’s temperament and character based on his or her looks. • Clothing: the description of garments helps to define each character.
What is a Pilgrim? A pilgrim is a person who undertakes a journey (pilgrimage) to a holy site for religious purposes; eg, Rome or the Holy Land. In Medieval times, pilgrimages were extremely important as a route to salvation. Pilgrims had the protection of the church and the church’s soldiers because traveling was dangerous.
Who was Thomas Becket? Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by four knights of the royal household. The murder came after a prolonged quarrel between Thomas and King Henry II. The popularity of Canterbury as a place of pilgrimage (immortalized in Canterbury Tales) continued until the shrine was destroyed under Henry VIII in 1538.
Knighthood • A separate social class in European society. • The crusades gave the knights a great deal of prestige as they became chivalrous Christian warriors. • By 13th century, the code of chivalry emerged, demanding courage, military prowess, virtue, and service to God. • A knight had to be wealthy in order to maintain his position and status.
What is Canterbury Tales? • A collection of stories in a frame story (story within a story) similar to Decameron. • Chaucer planned for 120 stories, but completed only 22. • Each pilgrim comes from a different trade, social class, representing different aspect of society. • Pilgrims give different views of the world, different vocabularies, different images for truth.
The Manuscript • Written in Middle English between 1387 and 1400. • 17,000 lines of poetry. • Handwritten because the printing press had not yet been invented. • Illustrated with graphics and calligraphy.
The Plot • A group of pilgrims stay at the Tabard Inn on their way to the Shrine of Thomas à Becket in Canterbury. • Chaucer describes the pilgrims in this company (29), each of whom practices a different trade (often dishonestly). • The host of the Tabard, Harry Bailey, proposes that he join them as a guide and that each of the pilgrims should tell tales (two on the outward journey, two on the way back); whoever tells the best tale will win a supper, at the other pilgrims' cost when they return. • The pilgrims agree and the next morning the company sets out, pausing at the Watering of St. Thomas, where all draw straws, and the Knight is thus selected to tell the first tale. • Chaucer warns his readers that he must repeat each tale exactly as he heard it, even though it might contain frank language.
The General Prologue • Begins with a description of Springtime: Opens in April, at the height of Spring when there is rebirth and fresh beginnings. • The prologue serves to introduce the reader to the setting and the characters. Chaucer gives a good physical description of each character. • He satirizes (uses wit to criticize) society and class structure, describing each profession to show how it fails the ideal. • Illustrates the three-fold division of medieval life and ideal figures: • Those who fight (knights) • Those who pray (clergy) • Those who labor (plowman)
Courtly Love Flirtatious in nature, courtly love is the ideal love where the woman is adored by a love-stricken knight who becomes her faithful subject and aims to please her in everything. Unrealized love because it is adulterous and secretive, between a knight and a woman married to an aristocrat. Poetry, songs, and literature expressed the ideals of courtly love: loyalty and submission to one’s beloved, and willingness to risk one’s life for the sake of the beloved.
Social Hierarchy • Ruling Class: knight, squire • Clergy: monk, friar, prioress, parson summoner, pardoner • Middle Class: Franklin, Reeve, doctor, oxford student, wife of Bath, serjeant at law • Trade Class: guildsmen, cook, miller, host, manciple, merchant. • Peasants: skipper, plowman, yeoman
The Corruption of the Church • The Catholic Church was the only dominant church in England, Ireland and Europe. • The church grew powerful because it preached that salvation can only come through the Church. • At a time when the people were experiencing famine, disease and plague, the church was building expensive cathedrals, demanding tithes from the poor, and preaching against greed. • Another source of this corruption were the sale of indulgences and the worldliness of some of church leaders.
The End Sounds of Middle English:The Canterbury Tales Prologue
