Chaucer (1) The Canterbury Tales

1. GEOFFREY CHAUCER
The Canterbury Tales

3. EARLY LIFE
1342-1400
Born to a middle class family
His father was a wine merchant who
believed his child should have a formal
education
Odd jobs = page, courtier, diplomat, civil
servant, scrap metal collector
Travelled all over Europe

4. LATER LIFE
 Fluent in English, Italian, Latin, and
French
 Worked as a government official under
three different kings = high social status
 Was captured as a POW during the
Hundred Year’s War  King paid his
ransom
 Died of unknown causes – murder
suspected
 Chaucer was one of the first writers to be
buried in the Poets’ Corner in
Westminster Abbey.

6. WRITING STYLES
 Often called the father of English poetry
 Most scholars still wrote in Latin
 Felt English lacked sophistication and had a limited
vocabulary
 Only local stories and ballads written in English
 He wrote in the vernacular or language of the
commoners Now known as Middle English
 Allegory:
 A story win which the character, settings, and events stand
for abstract or moral concepts.
 It has a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.
 Popular in the Middle Ages.
 Satire: witty language used to convey insult
 Rhythmic pattern
 Lack of alliteration
 Best known for writing The Canterbury Tales, but
also had several other works as well

7. THE CANTERBURY TALES
 Although the work was never completed, The Canterbury
Tales is considered one of the greatest works in the English
language
 The narrator meets 29 pilgrims at an inn and travels with
them to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury.
They decide to have a contest: whoever can tell the best
tale wins a dinner at the inn when they get back, courtesy
of the other travelers.
o Canterbury Tales can be considered “estates satire”
o Three “Estates” in European feudal society
– Peasants work (agricultural labor)
– Clergy pray
– Nobles fight (and rule)
 Begun: 1386
 Planned: 120 tales
 Completed: 22 and 2 fragments

10. CHARACTERS
 Narrator (“Chaucer”)
 Host
 Knight
 Squire
 Yeoman
 Prioress
 Second Nun
 Three Priests
 Monk
 Friar
 Merchant
 Clerk
 Man of Law
 Franklin
 Guildsmen
 Cook
 Shipman
 Physician
 Wife of Bath
 Parson
 Plowman
 Manciple
 Reeve
 Miller
 Summoner
 Pardoner