Slide 1

Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales Slide 2 Geoffrey Chaucer: Social Background Born in a well-to-do family in London, _____. Commoners who were advancing in wealth and social prestige Excluded from the ______________by birth, and from the country gentry by their city occupations They were somewhere in between: the beginning of the English ______________. Slide 3 Chaucer: Career Path Teenage: a page in the household of Prince Lionel (son of King Edward III) His 1 st great patron was John of Gaunt (5th son of the king): the most powerful nobleman in England Received _________, grants of money, and other ____________ for his services from successive kings Sent on diplomatic missions to France and Italy Became a public man but of modest importance Slide 4 Formal and informal education His development: summed up in three stages, ________, ___________, and ____________. Worked with French and Italian texts Wrote a number of other works before The Canterbury Tales Slide 5 The Canterbury Tales: Background Set standard of poetry for centuries Chaucer did not complete the entire Canterbury Tales as designed Tales structured so that each of the ______ pilgrims would tell four tales only completed twenty-four tales total Slide 6 FRAME: GENERAL PROLOGUE Structure of the Canterbury Tales NARRATIVE POEM Slide 7 Narrative Poem Usually has a _________ rhyme scheme Canterbury Tales uses ___________ ________: rhyming of the end of 2+ lines When in April the sweet showers fall And pierce the drought of March to the root and all Slide 8 Frame Story _____________ ; sets stage for smaller story or stories to come Examples: The Princess Bride, Forrest Gump, Slumdog Millionaire In CT, the frame is the _______________________ _______________________ The story itself is made up of the pilgrims tales Story set-up Story within the story e.g., Gump s many exploits e.g., Gump on bench Slide 9 Symbolical meaning of the journey from London to Canterbury Canterbury: heavenly, spiritual city London: terrestrial, material city Slide 10 But why go to Canterbury? Slide 11 One Answer: Religion Religion played an important part in medieval life. Canterbury has always been an important ______________in England. St. Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to establish the Catholic faith in the country Slide 12 Why was religion important? It s the Middle Ages Plague High Infant Mortality Rate 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 ______________________ Slide 13 Also, Canterbury was a _____________ People of all classes went on pilgrimages to holy sites to ask for help with medical, financial or other problems. Slide 14 Becket was a trusted adviser and friend of King Henry II, who named Becket the ______________________. Slide 15 Becket s outspoken style angered the King. One day, Henry complained, Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest? Three knights rode to Canterbury where they found Becket at the altar of Canterbury Cathedral. Slide 16 Becket was ________ at the altar. Slide 17 Canterbury Cathedral became a site for pilgrims to offer prayers to St. Thomas. Use your iPads to do a quick Google Images search of Canterbury Cathedralwhat about this building and its history made it important to pilgrims? Slide 18 The pilgrims: who were they? ____________ Knight, squire, yeoman, franklin, miller, reeve, plowman _________ Nun, monk, aria, prioress, parson, summoner, pardoner _____________ Merchant, sergeant-at the-law, cook, skipper, doctor, wife of Bath No too rich people, no too poor people. That adds to realism. Three Social Classes Slide 19 In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer wrote about people he had met along the way. If you were doing the same thing today, think about the variety of types of people you know and have encountered. Slide 20 Describe them by: Their job The type and color of their clothing Their __ _______ (jewelry, pets, other portables) The way they act Their _________ Their secrets Their _____________________________ The way they speak / their slang or accent Their mode of transportation Slide 21 Characterization Part of Chaucers mastery is ________________ The characters take turns telling tales They have depth and a quality of seeming real Characters are created through: ___________________(some quite graphic) Characters interacting with each other __________________(often specifically their personalities and motivations) Slide 22 Types of Characterization Direct: Indirect: what the character says and does what other characters say about him/her how other characters behave towards him/her Slide 23 Merits of the Tales Tales convey ________________ Create a microcosm of medieval English life Paints a complete picture of __________ Entertain