GEOFFREY CHAUCER

The Canterbury Tales

EARLY LIFE

1342-1400Born to a middle class familyHis 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

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.

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

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

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