The Canterbury Tales By Geoffrey Chaucer

Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales  Began writing around 1387 A.D.  Uncompleted manuscript was published in 1400, the year he died  Recognized as the first book of poetry written in the English language  Italian and Latin were primary written languages.

The Canterbury Tales Facts  Originally planned for 120 stories  Only 22 Completed  Ordering of Tales is unclear  Genre Complexity

Characters  Narrator  Knight  Squire  Yeoman  Prioress  Monk  Friar  Nun  Priest  Merchant  Cleric  Man of Law  Franklin  Haberdasher  Carpenter  Canon’s Yeoman  Weaver  Dyer  Tapestry-maker  Cook  Shipman  Physician  Wife of Bath  Parson  Plowman  Miller  Manciple  Reeve  Summoner  Pardoner  Host  Canon

Genres  Different genres give different views of the world, different vocabularies, and different images for truth.  Romance(Knight’s Tale)- human emotion and relationships  Fabliau(Miller’s Tale)- Basic human needs  Saint’s Life- operations of God in a holy person’s life  Moral Tales- morality(Pardoner’s Tale)  Sermons and Ethical Treasties(Parson’s Tale)

General Prologue  Genre- Estates Satire analysis of society in terms of hierarchy. Each class or profession is described to show how it fails the idea.  Traditional Division of Medieval Society- Top to bottom  Individuals, not groups described, but individuals are representatives of different recognizable groups

Prologue  Key Idea: the interplay of the social relations and individual identity in the tales  Chaucer- narrator  Human Nature

Class Structure  Aristocracy  Middle Class  Lower Class

Aristocracy  Knight  Squire  Yeoman  Prioress  Monk  Friar

Middle Class  Merchant  Franklin  Cook  Shipman  Physician  Wife of Bath

Lower Class  Parson  Plowman  Miller  Reeve  Summoner  Pardoner  Narrator  Host