By: Monica Vernacchio and Angelica Rozanski

Geoffrey Chaucer  Was born in London in 1340  Could write and speak in Latin, French, Italian and English  Influence by Italian authors while he was stationed in Italy  Known as the “great translatuer” and as “noble philosophical poet”  Began working on Canterbury Tales in 1391  Died October 25, 1400, leaving it unfinished  Buried in Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner

Prologue  Involves 30 pilgrims  Travel to St. Thomas A' Becket’s shrine  The only time all members of society would have been together  Pilgrims meet at Tabard Inn  Each pilgrim will tell two stories, one up and one back  Whoever tells the best story will buy dinner when they return  Tales told on the way back from the shrine are not mentioned

Pilgrims We Will Cover  The Knight  The Miller  The Wife of Bath  The Clerk  The Pardoner  The Parson

The Knight  He is the essence of chivalry, courage, and honor  Well traveled and modest  Never has a rude tone to his voice  Loves truth and freedom  Fought in the Crusades  He has a meek, gentle manner  He is poorly dressed even though he is a knight  Prefers tales of romance rather than conflict

The Knight’s Tale  Emphasis on love, honor, chivalry and adventure  The emphasis in the story is based on rules of honor, decorum, and proper conduct.  Emphasis on Geek Mythology  Takes place in ancient Greece  Represents ideals of the time period  His tale reflects his personal morals  The tale is broken into four parts

Knight’s Tale Summary…  Theseus, is returning to Athens after the Amazon war with his new bride, the Amazon queen, Hippolyta. and her little sister Emelye.  Theseus gets to Athens and encounters a group of women who beg Theseus to help them get their dead husbands bodies back from Creon for proper burial.  Theseus goes to Thebes, kills Creon, captures the city, and has the ladies' husbands properly buried. He takes the two surviving princes back to Athens as his prisoners forever.  Years the two princes, Palamoun and Arcite, see Emelye and both fall for her.

 After months go by, Theseus frees Arcite but Palamoun escapes. The two meet and draw swords for Emelye hand in marriage.  Theseus catches the two fighting and suggests a tournament to decide who will marry Emelye.  Palamoun prays to marry Emelye, Arcite prays to win, and Emelye prays to marry niether.  Artice wins the tournament but dies of his wounds, so Palamoun marries Emelye Summary continued..

The Miller  Tells the knight his tale is unreal  Does not know or want to know of his wife’s fidelity  Rude, crude and drunken dude  Believes that all women are liars and cheats  He is described as a fat, stout, ugly man  Warns us that his tale is vulgar, may offend some and recommends flipping passed it if you are easily offended.  Tale completely opposite of the Knight’s

The Miller’s Tale  Main Characters: John, Nicholas, Alison, and Absalon  John is married to Alison who is much younger then he is.  Nicholas is a scholar in the house and wants to be with Alison.  Absalon has a crush on Alison but she has a crush on Nicholas  Nicholas tells John that according to the stars there is going to be a flood. He should build three tubs put them in a tree and cut them loose when the flood comes.  Every night the three sleep in the tubs but while John is sleeping Alison and Nicholas sneak back into the house and “go to the marriage bed.”  Absalon goes to woe Alison while her and Nicholas are occupied

The Miller’s Tale cont…  Alison tells him to leave but he tells her he will not leave without a kiss. She promises him a kiss if he closes his eyes. He agrees.  She sticks her butt out the window and he kisses it.  Absalon cries out and leaves, then comes back later with a poker and asks for another kiss.  This time Nicholas sticks his butt out the window and Absolan brands him with the poker.  Nicholas shouts water, John cuts the ropes and Alison and Nicholas are caught.  Now John is known as a fool, Absalon lost love for Alison and Nicholas is branded for life.

The Wife of Bath  Considered to be one of Chaucer’s greatest Characters  Different views then the time period about virginity and alcohol  Mentions male flaws  Married 5 times since age 12  First 3 husbands she married for money, 4th husband cheated on her so she cheated on him.  5th husband she marries for love, he deafens her in one ear during a argument with a book.  He returns all the money and her land to her.  Plays with the quotes from the bible to justify her lifestyle  Her tale reflects her lifestyle and her ideals  Believes a happy marriage is one where the wife is in control.

Wife of Bath’s Tale  A Knight rapes a young girl and is brought before the queen. He is convicted and sentence to travel for a year to find out what women want.  Comes along an ugly old women who promises to tell him the answer if he promises to marry him. He rejects it at first but then marries her.  She tells him that a true knight is noble in deed not name  Offers that she can either be faithful and ugly or beautiful and unfaithful  The Knight tells her to pick, that it is her choice  As a reward, the old women decides to be beautiful and faithful  Moral: Women want the right to make their own choices.

The Clerk  Sincere and quiet  Devoted to his study  Poor because he spends all his money on books  Student at Oxford  Loves Learning  Respected by all the pilgrims  Is told by the host to tell a tell that will cheer them up

The Clerk’s Tale  A poor women, Griselda, marries a rich man, Walter.  He wants her to love him unconditionally so he takes her baby daughter and pretends to have her killed, telling her that the kingdom hates her and the baby  Even though she is miserable she tells him it was for the best  Griselda has a little boy. Walter takes the boy and tells her that he had the baby boy killed for the same reason as the little girl.  Griselda is very unhappy but tells him again it is for the best  Years later, he tells her that he is planning to have their marriage annulled and tells her that he will marry again and she needs to plan the wedding.  She agrees and plans the wedding never losing confidence in Walter  At the wedding, Walter gives her back her two kids and praises her for being so loyal to him and loving him unconditionally.

The Pardoner  Preaches about money and greed being the root of evil  Cheats people out of their money  Is greedy himself  Charges people for pardons  Makes people feel greedy so they will give him money  Sells animal bones as blessed relics  His tale is about greed and how it leads to destruction  He tries to sell his relics and pardons after he tells his tale

The Pardoner’s Tale  A man dies of the black plague  Three drunk guys go to find death, the old man tells them that death is hiding under a tree.  They find a treasure under the tree  The youngest went to town to get food and the other two plot to kill him  He returns and they kill him, and then the drink the wine the boy brought back  The other two die because the youngest poisoned the wine  The three drunk guys find death  The host is disgusted with the pardoner after his tale

The Parson  Only truly religious man on the pilgrimage  The only one who will gain anything from the pilgrimage  Vows to tell a story with not poetry or happy endings  His story is free of amusement  A solemn and tedious tale  Resembles a dissertation  Reflects the irony of the Pardoner’s ceremony  Contains three main parts  The longest tale but of the least importance

The Parson’s Tale  Part 1:  Defines contrition, confession, and penance  Part 2:  Expand on confession  Explains difference between moral and venial sin  Speaks of the struggle of the body and the soul  Part 3:  Speaks of the 7 deadly sins which all men should avoid:  Pride  Envy  Anger  Sloth  Lust  Gluttony  Greed

~Time to Rap it Up~