Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales

1. Geoffrey ChaucerThe Canterbury Tales

2. Geoffrey Chaucer began writing the tales around 1387 AD Uncompleted manuscript published 1400AD, the year he died First book of poetry purposely written in the English language – father of English poetry Set a precedent. Poets from Shakespeare to Dryden and Keats to Eliot owe him a debt of gratitude History of the Tales

3. Group of pilgrims heading to Canterbury Cathedral to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket. Most popular locations were Rome or Jerusalem. Occasion in which all social classes come together Reasons for going: Hope of heavenly reward Penance Miracle/healing People went in groups for safety Frame story: These pilgrims tell stories to pass the time. At the inn, where the text begins, the pilgrims agree to tell their own stories. According to the Host, Harry Bailey, the best one wins a prize (night of food and housing at the inn) Going on a Pilgrimage

4. How could Chaucer write this kind of work? Son of a merchant, page in a royal house, soldier, diplomat, and royal clerk As a page, he made beds, carried candles, and ran errands…but got excellent education All this life experience made him an expert on all classes • Raised middle class but work with aristocracy through his page job • Rose above middle class when he married a lady in waiting to the queen • Diplomatic missions to France, Spain, and Italy

5. Canterbury

6. “In all literature, there is nothing that touches or resembles Prologue. It is the concise portrait of an entire nation, high and low, old and young, male and female, lay and clerical, learned and ignorant, rogue and righteous, land and sea, town and country” (Coghill) Why Canterbury Tales matters?

7. Estates Satire Uses exaggeration and sarcasm to show the abuses traditional in each estate (social class) for the different classes in 14th century England • 3 Estates: Men only • Clergy (church) – those who prayed • Nobility (court/knights) – those who fought • Peasants (commoners) – those who labor • Estates for Women: virgin, wife, and widow • Yielding soon to rising middle class of merchants and intellectuals

8. Prioress: sentimental depiction, proud in petty way Monk: hedonistic, hunter, inept but not malicious Friar: seducer, sells forgiveness Parson and Plowman: ideal religious men; Parson is one of 2 heroes in tales Summoner: blackmailed, bribed on way to success; ugly, stupid thug Pardoner: perfect fraud: charming, clever, corrupt; biggest hypocrite; secular church official fighting w/church official (Friar) 7 Clerical Figures: Target of Chaucer’s Satirical Attack

9. Don’t mistake Canterbury Tales for a historical document of realistic portraits; Chaucer is writing satire, and so “the rascals far outnumber the admirable figures. Chaucer seems to admire them all, without regard to their moral status” (Geoffrey Chaucer page from Harvard) Chaucerian Irony

10. Originally planned for 120 stories (2 stories each way on pilgrimage from London to Canterbury for 30 pilgrims), but only 22 completed, with 2 fragmentary tales.Chaucer left the manuscript(s) unfinished, so we don't know the final ordering of the tales Narrative structure allowed Chaucer the freedom to create a variety of matter in a unified form. POV: switch between first and third, enables reader to see story, person telling story, point behind story--all at once. points of view represent different outlooks, morals Many genres incorporated including; Fabliaux, romance, melodrama, sermon, parable, slapstick comedy Artistry of Form

11. Chaucer wrote in English (revolutionary choice at the time). English was gaining ground, but Latin was still the choice for the educated; so Canterbury Tales gained a wider audience. 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) Indirect and direction characterization Artistry of Language and Master of Character

12. Organize the characters depicted in the "Prologue" based on social position first, then on their morality. What seems to be Chaucer's opinion of the Clergy? Of the other classes? Of women? Which characters does Chaucer seem to esteem or criticize? What attributes do these characters have that Chaucer appears to value or not? Discussion ?s for the Prologue

13. The Pardoner’s Tale: radix malorum est cupiditas: love of money is the root of all evil! A pardoner is a seller of relics or religious artifacts and pardons, which are documents that officially forgive the purchaser’s sins Keep in mind he usually preaches to “yokels,” or poorly educated country folk He makes more in one short day than a typical clergyman makes in several months! • Pardoner’s Prologue takes the form of an "apologia" or "literary confession," in which a character explains his or her way of life. Sounds more like a boast!

14. How does the Pardoner characterize himself in the Prologue to his tale? What text does he always preach on? Do you see irony in this? What is the relation between teller and tale? Pardoner’s Tale Discussion ?s

15. Wife of Bath Bawdy tale told by a woman married five times! Her prologue is 3X as long as her tale Alison of Bath: everything is large to the point of exaggeration: her bulk, her clothes, her mouth, the number of her marriages, the extent of her travels, her zest for sex, her love of domination, her torrential delivery.

16. Prologue Why does she open her “Prologue by claiming that experience is a better guide to truth than authority? Do you think this helps in her argument on marriage and in her general defense? Are her arguments problematic? Does the Wife completely reject antifeminist attitudes toward women, or does she provide proof that these “old books” are correct in what they assume about women? Do you believe that she is an object of satire in her “Prologue” or an instrument of satire---or somehow both at the same time?   Tale What is the relationship between teller and tale? Is it an appropriate tale for her to tell? Discussion ?s for Wife of Bath’s Tale