Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

1. Geoffrey ChaucerandThe Canterbury Tales

2. Early Life • Born c. 1342 • Son of a prosperous wine merchant • In mid teens, he was placed in the service of the Countess of Ulster so he could obtain more education and be schooled in court and society life • Thus, he would have learned Latin and some Greek as well as perhaps some French and Italian

3. Early Life (cont.) • In, 1359 he was captured by the French at the seige of Reims during the Hundred Years' War while serving in the English army; ransomed by King Edward III a year later • Chaucer joined the royal household and became a trusted messenger and minor diplomat

4. As a Royal Messenger • Chaucer was frequently sent to the continent on secret business for the King. • Some of these trips were to Italy where he became acquainted with the works of the great Italian authors: Boccaccio, Dante, Petrarch • These 3 were the greatest Italian writers of the early Renaissance period

5. Other Jobs Chaucer Held…and Learned From... • Controller of Customs on Wools, Skins and Hides for the Port of London • Here he would meet many types of businessmen, sailors, travelers city folk and common laborers • Clerk of the King’s Works • In charge of construction and repairs affecting the royal residences; here he would meet many guildsmen as well as court officials • Deputy Forester of the King’s Forests • Away from the city, he met peasants, foresters, local clergy and other country folk • Representative of the Shire of Kent in Parliament • Here he met the rich, the influential and the upper middle class as well as the higher ranking church officials

6. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer wrote about the people he had met during all of his different journeys in life. If you were doing the same thing today, think about the variety of types of people you would know and would have encountered.

7. Background Information • Began writing The Canterbury Tales around 1387 • 1400: The uncompleted manuscript, including “The General Prologue” and 24 tales were published; the year Chaucer died

8. Why do we read it today? • It is recognized as the first book of poetry written in the English language (Middle English); • Poets before and even poets during Chaucer’s time wrote in French or Latin, meaning poetry was only understandable to those of the wealthy, educated class. • The English language was considered low class and vulgar, so the fact that The Canterbury Tales was written in the vernacular helped make English a legitimate language in which to write and also gave the common people the ability to read it • It gives a rich, intricate view of medieval social life, combining elements of all classes that is not like any found elsewhere in all of literature

9. Style • (Mostly) Poetry • Meter: Iambic pentameter (5 groups of unstressed, stressed) • Rhyming couplets: two adjacent lines of poetry that rhyme (aabbcc, etc.) • Alliteration: repetition of beginning consonant sounds • Frame Story: a narrative at the beginning of a collection of shorter stories (or a longer work) that gives a purpose and connection to the stories in the collection.

10. Pilgrims are described by: • Their job • The type and color of their clothing • Their “accessories” (jewelry, pets, other portables) • The way they act • Their income • Their “secrets” • Their status in society as a whole • The way they speak / their slang or accent • Their mode of transportation

11. Chaucer’s Plan ... • A Prologue followed by a series of stories and linking dialogues and commentaries • Each character (29 pilgrims plus the Chaucer-Pilgrim) would tell 2 stories going from London to Canterbury and 2 more stories on the way back home (for a total of 120 tales)

12. London

13. But why go to Canterbury?

14. The Shrine ofSt. Thomas à Becket

15. Canterbury was a Pilgrimage Site People of all classes went on pilgrimages to holy sites to ask for help with medical, financial or other problems.

16. One Answer: Religion • Canterbury has always been an important religious center in England. • St. Augustine (seen in stained glass from the Canterbury Cathedral) was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to establish the Catholic faith in the country • Religion played an important part in medieval life.

17. Why was religion important? • It’s the Middle Ages • Plague • Warfare • Power struggles among ruling class • High Infant Mortality Rate • Short Life Expectancy • …and if you were a peasant, you lived your whole life in harsh conditions • About the best thing that you had to look forward to was dying and going to heaven

18. Why was religion important? • The Catholic church was very powerful, not only in terms of morality and spirituality but also economically and politically. • The Catholic church also owned vast amounts of land . . . . • . . . Corruption among church officials

19. Estates Satire • The Canterbury Tales can be considered an “estates satire” • Three “Estates” in European feudal society • The Commoners – Those who work (ex. Peasants/serfs - agricultural labor) • The Church – Those who pray • The Court – Those who fight (and rule) – (ex. Nobles) The Canterbury Tales presents an elaborate critique and complication of this representation of the social order

20. Chaucer surrounded by his characters.

21. “The General Prologue” 1         Whan that Aprill with his shouressoote When April with its sweet-smelling showers 2         The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, Has pierced the drought of March to the root, 3         And bathed every veyne in swichlicour And bathed every vein (of the plants) in such liquid 4         Of which vertuengendred is the flour; By the power of which the flower is created; 5         WhanZephirus eek with his sweetebreeth When the West Wind also with its sweet breath, 6         Inspired hath in every holt and heeth In every holt and heath, has breathed life into

22. “The General Prologue” 7         The tendrecroppes, and the yongesonne  The tender crops, and the young sun 8         Hath in the Ram his half coursyronne, Has run its half course in Aries, 9         And smalefowelesmakenmelodye, And small fowls make melody, 10         That slepen al the nyght with open ye Those that sleep all the night with open eyes 11         (So priketh hem Nature in hircorages),  (So Nature incites them in their hearts), 12         Thannelongen folk to goon on pilgrimages, Then folk long to go on pilgrimages,

23. “The General Prologue” 13         And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, And pilgrims (long) to seek foreign shores, 14         To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; To (go to) distant shrines, known in various lands; 15         And specially from every shires ende And specially from every shire's end 16         Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende, Of England to Canterbury they travel, 17         The hooly blisful martir for to seke, To seek the holy blessed martyr, 18         That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. Who helped them when they were sick.