Canterbury Tales

1. Canterbury Tales The Company Assembles: Art as Experiment The General Prologue and the “Fragments”

2. List of Fragments and Tales FRAGMENT I: The General Prologue The Knight's Tale The Miller's Prologue and Tale The Reeve's Prologue and Tale The Cook's Prologue and Tale FRAGMENT II: The Man of Law's Prologue and Tale FRAGMENT III: The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale The Friar's Prologue and Tale The Summoner's Prologue and Tale FRAGMENT IV: The Clerk's Prologue and Tale The Merchant's Prologue and Tale FRAGMENT V: The Squire's Introduction and Tale The Franklin's Prologue and Tale FRAGMENT VI: The Physician's Tale The Pardoner's Prologue, and Tale FRAGMENT VII: The Shipman's Tale The Prioress's Prologue and Tale The Prologue and Tale of Sir Thopas The Tale of Melibee The Monk's Prologue and Tale The Nun's Priest's Prologue and Tale FRAGMENT VIII: The Second Nun's Prologue and Tale The Canon's Yeoman's Prologue and Tale FRAGMENT IX: The Manciple's Prologue and Tale FRAGMENT X: The Parson's Prologue and Tale Chaucer's Retraction

3. Portraits in General Prologue Knight – Squire - Yeoman Prioress – "Another nonne“ – "PreestesThre“ (Nun’s Priest) Monk Friar Merchant Clerk Sargeant of Law Franklin Haberdasher - Carpenter - Webber - Dyer - Tapicer –Cook (1/2 tale plus second attempt) Shipman Doctor of Phisick Wife of Bath Parson - Plowman Reeve Miller Summoner Pardoner Manciple Myself (x2) Host (Canon and Canon’s Yeoman not mentioned)

4. The “Ellesmere” Chaucer One of the two earliest important manuscripts of The Canterbury Tales: a “de luxe” copy with goldleafand a number of “portrait miniatures” of the pilgrims. Made around 1410-20, and possibly copied by Chaucer’s scribe, Adam Pinkhurst

5. The Ellesmere Chaucer: First Folio (recto) of The Knight’s Tale

6. The Host’s Original Proposition .. echof yow, to shorte with oureweye, In this viageshaltelle tales tweye To Caunterbury-ward, I mene it so, And homward he shaltellenothere two, Of aventures that whilom hanbifalle. (GP 791-95) (potentially about 120 tales)

7. "Chaucerswordes unto Adam, his ownescriveyn" Adam scriveyn, if ever it thee bifalle Boeceor Troylus for to wrytennewe, Under thy long lokkes thou most have the scalle, But after my makyngthowwryte more trewe; So ofteadaye I mot thy werkrenewe, It to correcte and eke to rubbe and scrape, And al is thorugh thy negligence and rape. • Scribe Adam, if ever it falls to you / To write again Boeceor Troilus, /May you have the scab under your long locks, /Unless you write more truly after my composition; /So many times a day I must redo your work /To correct it, and also to rub and scrape; /And all is through your negligence and haste.

8. Reader Power What sholde I mooreseyn, but this millere He nolde his wordes for no man forbere, But tolde his cherles tale in his manere. M' athynketh that I shalreherce it heere. And therfore every gentilwight I preye, For goddes love, demethnat that I seye Of yvel entente, but for I moot reherce Hirtales alle, be they bettre or werse, Or ellesfalsensom of my mateere. And therfore, whoso list it natyheere, Turneover the leef and chese another tale; For he shalfyndeynowe, grete and smale, Of storialthyng that touchethgentillesse, And eek moralitee and hoolynesse. Blamethnat me if that ye cheseamys. (Miller’s Prologue, Fragment I.3167-3181)

9. People Power Whan that the knyght had thus his tale ytoold, In al the route nastheryong ne oold That he ne seyde it was a noble storie, And worthy for to drawen to memorie; And namely the gentilseverichon. Ourehoostelough and swoor, so moot I gon, This gooth aright; unbokeled is the male. Lat se now who shaltelle another tale; For trewely the game is welbigonne. Now telleth ye, sir monk, if that ye konne Somwhatto quite with the knyghtes tale. The millere, that for dronken was al pale, So that unnethe upon his hors he sat, He noldeavalen neither hood ne hat, Ne abyde no man for his curteisie, But in pilatesvoys he gan to crie, And swoor, by armes, and by blood and bones, I kan a noble tale for the nones, With which I wol now quite the knyghtes tale. (Miller’s Prologue,Fragment A, 3109-27)

10. Portraits in General Prologue Knight – Squire - Yeoman Prioress – "Another nonne“ – "PreestesThre“ (Nun’s Priest) Monk Friar Merchant Clerk Sargeant of Law Franklin Haberdasher - Carpenter - Webber - Dyer - Tapicer –Cook (1/2 tale plus second attempt) Shipman Doctor of Phisick Wife of Bath Parson - Plowman Reeve Miller Summoner Pardoner Manciple Myself (x2) Host (Canon and Canon’s Yeoman not mentioned)

11. Ellesmere Chaucer: Visual Reminders of the Narrative Frame at the Outset of Each Tale

12. The Franklin: Ellesmere Chaucer

13. The Cook: Ellesmere Chaucer

14. The Friar: Ellesmere Chaucer

15. Friars in Under a Hundred Words * Itinerant monastic order, highly educated, highly prestigious, vowed to poverty, created (in early C13) to address deficiencies in “pastoral care” and the poor education of many parish priests. Often urban. * Concept invented by St. Francis and St. Dominic, who gave their names to the two most famous orders. * Attacks on friars asserted that they were 1) morally lax, especially around women; 2) morally compromised by the fact they begged for a living, 3) were not firm enough with their spiritual charges as a result, but gave “easy penance” for sins; 4) were all charm, no substance. Fierce institutional competition behind these charges.

16. Chaucer’s Friar: “Anti-Fraternal Satire” Theistudien on the holy day abouteexperymentes or wiche craft or veynsongis and knackynge and harpynge, gyternyne and daunsynge and othereveyntriflis to geten the stynkyng love of damyselis. (Fourteenth-century homiletic treatise) [They study on the holy day about experiments or witchcraft or vain songs and ‘shaking the bones’ and harping, fiddling and dancing and other vain trifles to get the stinking love of damsels.] And certainly he hadde a murye note: Welkoude he synge and pleye on a rote... And in his harpyng, whan that he hadde a songe, His eyen twynkled in his heed aryght, As doon the sterres in the frosty nyght. (GP 235-6, 266-8)