1. The Father of English Literature
Age of Chaucer
The Father of English Literature

2. Geoffrey Chaucer ( )
Served as a government page for noble patrons
Captured during the Hundred Year’s War (king helped pay ransom)
Worked as the king’s ambassador to Europe
Became a member of Parliament
Began writing The Canterbury Tales in 1387

3. The Canterbury Tales
Frame story: a literary device that joins together one or more stories within a larger story, or frame
Outer Frame= 29 pilgrims and the narrator on a trip who are challenged to compete in telling the best tale
Inner frame= individual pilgrim’s tales

4. Frame Story

5. Outer Frame
29 pilgrims and narrator on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas a Becket at Canterbury Cathedral
Start their 55-mile journey at the Tabard Inn
Each pilgrim was charged to tell 2 stories on the way to Canterbury and 2 stories on the way back (How many were supposed to be told in all?)

6. Inner Frame
“Wife of Bath’s Tale”- feminist reading of marriage and power
“The Pardoner’s Tale”- condemning greed and avarice

7. Characterization
Chaucer describes each character in detail using characterization:
Describing their physical appearance
Making direct statements about them
Allowing them to express their personalities through dialogue

8. Irony Verbal irony- someone states one thing and means another
Situational irony- contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually happens
Dramatic irony- the readers know more than the characters do