Introduction to The Canterbury Tales

The Norman Conquest of England Stand-still in English literature Medieval Period 1066-1485 The Norman Conquest of England Stand-still in English literature

Medieval Hierarchy Feudal system: Nobility: barons, knights Freemen: emerging middle class (merchants, guildsmen) Peasants or serfs

Medieval Hierarchy (cont) Clergy The Roman Catholic Church (people shared a common faith) Pope, archbishops, bishops, priests, nuns, and monks.

The Journey: From Tabard Inn to Canterbury Cathedral

Archbishop of Canterbury Feud with Henry II Saint Thomas à Becket Archbishop of Canterbury Feud with Henry II “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?” Miracles that led to a great pilgrimage to Canterbury

Geoffrey Chaucer C. 1343-1400 Known as “the father of English literature” Middle class Vassal to the king Started a “re-birth” of English literature

Geoffrey Chaucer Born in the reign of Edward III his work has a quality of universality that is only matched and exceeded by Shakespeare Chose to write in the Mercian dialect (not French of the court or Latin of the university & church). This dialect became the English dialect spoken today. Father was a successful wine merchant (the middle class was new)

Geoffrey Chaucer Born a commoner, but through his intellect and astute judgments of human character, he moved freely among the aristocracy, so he knew the world from many aspects. He became a court page at 12 and read romances to the ladies at court; married a lady-in-waiting to the queen Took part in at least two military campaigns Court poet of the later Middle Ages in Western Europe

Geoffrey Chaucer He traveled widely, was a substantial citizen, well-educated, widely read. He was a diplomat in Italy. Met or read forerunners of the Italian Renaissance (Dante, Petrach, Boccaccio) and spoke French, Italian, Latin fluently. He held many public offices; throughout his public life he came into contact with most of the important men of London as well as with many of the great men of the continent

Geoffrey Chaucer His work did not reach people through printed books but was recited and circulated in manuscript copies He was the first poet buried in Westminster Abbey “One of the best known parts of Westminster Abbey, Poets' Corner can be found in the South Transept. It was not originally designated as the burial place of writers, playwrights and poets; the first poet to be buried here, Geoffrey Chaucer, was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey because he had been Clerk of Works to the palace of Westminster, not because he had written the Canterbury Tales” (westminster-abbey.org)

Frame Narrative: Literary Devices Narrative technique whereby a main story is composed, at least in part, for the purpose of organizing a set of shorter stories, each of which is a story within a story (like Russian nesting dolls). Chaucer goes beyond the frame and has characters interrupt and comment throughout, moving in the direction of drama.

Heroic Couplet Pioneered by Chaucer Poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines

The General Prologue Middle English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE0MtENfOMU