Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales

His Writings Book of the Duchess (1334 octosyllabic lines) Parliament of Fowls (699 lines in rhyme-royal, seven-line stanzas rhyming abab bcc) House of Fame (2158 octosyllabic lines) Legend of Good Women (unfinished) Canterbury Tales (heroic couplet)

Heroic Couplet A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic抑扬格的 pentameter五部音的 lines. The rhyme is always masculine(阳性韵）. Use of the heroic couplet was first pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Legend of Good Women and the Canterbury Tales.[1] Chaucer is also widely credited with first extensive use of iambic pentameter.

Masculine Rhyme Stand still, and I will read to thee In English prosody韵文学;诗体学, a rhyme on a single stressed syllable at the end of a line of poetry. This term is interchangeable with single rhyme, and is often used contrastingly with the terms "feminine rhyme" and "double rhyme.“ e.g. Stand still, and I will read to thee A lecture, love, in Love's philosophy. These three hours that we have spent Walking here, two shadows went Along with us, which we ourselves produced. But now the sun is just above our head, We do those shadows tread, And to brave clearness all things are reduced.

The Genre风格，体裁 of The Canterbury Tales Collections of tales were common (Boccaccio‘s Decameron十日谈) Frame tale of a collection of differing types made possible by the idea of a pilgrimage Tales from all over Europe, some from the Orient. Usually with a clear point or a moral, each tale ending with a proverb or some other “wisdom”; some from the lives of the saints, but some, low fabliaux故事诗. Originality not a goal, but rather the goal of instructing and entertaining All but two in verse

Frame Narrative Frame Narrative: A frame narrative (also frame tale, frame story, etc.) employs a narrative technique whereby an introductory main story is composed, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage for a fictive narrative or organizing a set of shorter stories, each of which is a story within a story. The frame narrative leads readers from the first story into the smaller one within it.

Frame Narrative This format had flexibility in that various narrators could retain the stories they liked or understood, while dropping ones they didn't and adding new ones they heard from other places. This occurred particularly with One Thousand and One Nights, where different versions over the centuries have included different stories.

Innovation From the Epic Inspiration from nature vs. god Heroic couplet vs. alliteration Group character vs. single hero

Humanism Inspiration from nature than from a god Characterization of females without prejudices Earthly pursuit of happiness

Humor Characters with individual tales focusing on Christianity. This provides humor because it allows for the faults to be seen in both formalized religion as well as the people who follow it. Chaucer contrasts many of the characters and their views such as the Knight and the Franklin telling a tale of love and forgiveness to the Wife of Bath who twist the Bible verses to suit her promiscuous男女乱交的 behavior, the Miller‘s tale with the using flatulence浮夸，自负 as a weapon of revenge. Much of what is found in the tales could be found in comedies today.