AGE OF CHAUCER THE DAWN OF NEW LEARNING AND THE PROLOGUE By Dr AGE OF CHAUCER THE DAWN OF NEW LEARNING AND THE PROLOGUE By Dr. Irshad Ahmad Itoo Faculty Department of English GDC Bijbehara

CONTENTS Historical Background of the Age About Geoffrey Chaucer (c CONTENTS Historical Background of the Age About Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340 -1400) His Major Works His Contribution to the English Literature His Contemporaries The Prologue : An Overview Chaucer’s Art of Characterization Tribute to Chaucer Conclusion

Historical Background of the Age Age of Chaucer between 1340-1400 is the first significant literary age. There was a strong dislike for Church’s interference in the age. There were strong nationalistic passions due to the 100 Years’ War between England and France. The middle class also emerged as a strong social stratum. There is a transition from age of Medievalism to the age of Modernism. The age saw the emergence of the standard English language.

Another significant event of the age was the Black which affected one third of country’s population. There was also the charged atmosphere due to the Peasant upheavals in England.

About Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340 -1400) He was born in London in around 1340. Son of a wealthy London wine merchant. Educated at St Paul's Cathedral School and then Inner Temple where he studied Law. In 1357, he became courtier diplomat and civil servant. In 1368-78, we went to France ,Genoa, Italy, Spain, and Florence. In 1386, Chaucer was a Member of Parliament for Kent. He was first greatest poet of medieval ages  and first poet of national importance . He was an author, philosopher, and alchemist.  He died October 25, 1400 in London, England, and was the first to be buried in Westminster Abbey’s Poet’s Corner. Geoffrey Chaucer

His Major Works Translation of Roman de la Rose (1360) The Book of the Duchess (1369) The House of Fame (1384) Anelida and Arcite (1370) Parliament of Foules (1382) Troilus and Criseyde (1380-83) The Legend of Good Women (1385) The Canterbury Tales (1387) A Treatise on the Astrolabe (1391)

His Contribution to the English Literature Father of English Poetry. Keen Observer of Man and Manners. First humorist and humanist. First great realist. First national poet of England. First great character painter. First writer to bring atmosphere of romantic interest about men and women. First great narrative poet of England. He is Grandfather of English fiction.

His Contemporaries John Wycliff (1324?-1384) Richard II Translation of the Bible into Standard English (Father of English Prose) Pamphlets in Latin against abuse of power Richard II He was a great patron of the arts and a literary culture flourished at his court in the second half of the Fourteenth Century. John Gower(c.1425-1450)  Confessio Amantis  William Langland(1330-1400) The Vision of Piers Plowman John of Trevisa Ranulf Higden Polychronicon    John Lydgate (c.1470-1480) Fall of Princes 

The Prologue : An Overview Heroic couplet and Caesura. Humour, Irony, and Satire. Canterbury Tales influenced by Boccaccio’s Decameron. There are 30 characters including narrator who meets at tabard inn. There are 24 stories completed out of 120 stories in Canterbury tales. Knight tells the first tale and Parson the last. Tale of Thopas and tale of Melibeus are the two tales of Chaucer. It ends with Retraction.

List of Characters The Plowman The Narrator The Physician The Parson The Manciple The Reeve The Summoner The Cook The Shipman Man of Law The Dyer The Carpenter The Tapestry-Maker The Haberdasher The Canon The Canon's Yeoman   The Narrator The Host (Harry Bailly)  The Wife of Bath  The Pardoner The Miller  The Knight The Squire The Knight's Yeoman The Prioress The Second Nun The Monk The Friar The Merchant The Clerk The Franklin

Classification of Major Characters UPPER CLASS MIDDLE CLASS LOWER CLASS The Monk The Merchant Cook The Plowman The Reeve Squire The Clerk Shipmen The Parson The Manciple Prioress The Franklin Doctor Of Physique Yeoman Miller Friar Man Of Law Wife Of Bath The Summoner The Knight Five Guildsmen Pardoner

Characters Representing Three Sections of The Society Ecclesiastical Section Agricultural Section New Urban Society The Monk The Friar The Pardoner The Summoner The Parson The Prioress The Second Nun The Clerk The Knight The Squire The Knight's Yeoman The Reeve The Franklin The Plowman  The Miller The Physician Man of Law The Manciple The Wife of Bath The Merchant The Shipman The Carpenter The Tapestry-Maker

Chaucer’s Art of Characterization I Chaucer’s Art of Characterization I. Characterization by theory of Humour. 2. Characterization by Physiognomy. 3. Characterization by Individual and Type Method. 4. Characters are real and universal. 5. Characterization by profession of Characters. 6. Characterization by vices of Characters. 7. Characterization by Irony and Satire. 8. Chaucer’s use of Contrast.

Tribute to Chaucer Edmund Spenser paid tribute to him as his master Tribute to Chaucer Edmund Spenser paid tribute to him as his master. Many of the plays of William Shakespeare show thorough assimilation of Chaucer's comic spirit. John Dryden, the great poet of 18th-century England, said of the Canterbury Tales, “This is sufficient to say … here’s God’s plenty.” Mathew Arnold says about Chaucer that he was nourished on the French romance. William Blake points out that the characters of Chaucer's Pilgrims are the characters which compose all ages and nations. John Dryden, who modernized several of the Canterbury tales, called Chaucer the father of English poetry.

Conclusion The age of Chaucer covers a period of glaring social contrast and rapid political change. It was essentially an era of unrest and transition. The age was also remarkable for the growth of national sprit and Church was the seat of power . Moreover , the age was the dawn of new learning. During the age England passed through medievalism and come to the beginning of modern world . Chaucer stands triumphantly in his power of description. His description and narrative gifts truly possess rare qualities. He, in fact, remains the first great English story-teller in verse. The employment of verse, as a vehicle of story-telling is certainly Chaucer’s most notable contribution and the modern age of English literature is greatly indebted to him in this respect. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of excellently narrated stories. The various tales are narrated so skilfully that they engage and entertain us very well.

Thanks