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Composition. Written in the late 1300s by Geoffrey Chaucer Written in middle English
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Composition • Written in the late 1300s by Geoffrey Chaucer • Written in middle English • It is both one long narrative (of the pilgrims and their pilgrimage) and an encyclopedia of shorter narratives; it is both one large drama, and a compilation of most literary forms known to medieval literature: romance, moral fable, verse romance, beast fable, prayer to the Virgin… and so the list goes on. • No single literary genre dominates the Tales. • More often than not the specific tone of the tale is extremely difficult to firmly pin down.
Tone • This is one of the key problems of interpreting the Tales themselves - voice: how do we ever know who is speaking? • Because Chaucer, early in the Tales, promises to repeat the exact words and style of each speaker as best he can remember it, there is always a tension between Chaucer and the pilgrim's voice as he re-tells his tale:
Chaucer • Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories in a frame story, between 1387 and 1400. • It is the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England). The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury. • If we trust the General Prologue, Chaucer intended that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. • He never finished his enormous project and even the completed tales were not finally revised. • Scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales. As the printing press had yet to be invented when Chaucer wrote his works, The Canterbury Tales has been passed down in several handwritten manuscripts.
History • The Canterbury Tales was written during a turbulent time in English history. The Catholic Church was in the midst of heavy controversy. • The only Christian authority in Europe was Lollardy, an early English religious movement led by John Wycliffe, is mentioned in the Tales, as is a specific incident involving pardoners (who gathered money in exchange for absolution from sin). • The Canterbury Tales is among the first English literary works to mention paper, a relatively new invention. • Political clashes, such as the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt and clashes ending in the deposing of King Richard II, further reveal the complex turmoil surrounding Chaucer in the time of the Tales' writing. Many of his close friends were executed and he himself was forced to move in order to get away from events in London. • The Tales reflect diverse views of the Church in Chaucer's England. After the Black Death, many Europeans began to question the authority of the established Church. Some turned to lollardy, while others chose less extreme paths, exposing church corruption in the behavior of the clergy. • Several characters in the Tales are religious figures, and the very setting of the pilgrimage to Canterbury is religious (although the prologue comments ironically on its merely seasonal attractions), making religion a significant theme of the work.
Characters • The KnightThe first pilgrim Chaucer describes in the General Prologue and the teller of the first tale. The Knight represents the ideal of a medieval Christian man-at-arms. He has participated in no less than 15 of the great crusades of his era. Brave, experienced, and prudent, the narrator greatly admires him. • The Wife of BathA seamstress by occupation and an “expert on marriage.” She has been married five times and had many other affairs in her youth, making her well practiced in the art of love. She presents herself as someone who loves marriage and sex, but, from what we see of her, she also takes pleasure in rich attire, talking, and arguing. • The PardonerHe “officially” forgives people’s sins for a price. Pardoners granted reprieves from penance in exchange for charitable donations to the Church. Many pardoners, including this one, collected profits for themselves. Chaucer’s Pardoner excels in fraud, carrying a bag full of fake relics. • The Nun’s PriestNot described in the General Prologue. His story is well crafted and suggests that he is a witty, self-effacing preacher. • The MillerStout and brawny, with a wart on his nose and a big mouth, both literally and figuratively. He threatens the Host’s notion of propriety when he drunkenly insists on telling the second tale. The Miller seems to enjoy overturning all conventions: He ruins the Host’s carefully planned storytelling order, he rips doors off hinges, and he tells a tale that is somewhat blasphemous, ridiculing religious and scholarly clerks, carpenters, and women. • The Man of LawA successful lawyer commissioned by the king. He upholds justice in matters large and small and knows every statute of England’s law by heart.
Your Task • There will be six groups . • Each of your will have two tasks. • Task 1: Read, decipher, analyze, and prepare a lesson for your selected task. You will then teach this lesson to the class. • Task 2: Create your own version of The Canterbury Tales. You will embark on a journey to find the greatest treasure of them all. When you have found it, it will be your central thematic instrument when creating your own tales.
