1. Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

2. Geoffrey Chaucer: Social Background  Born in a well-to-do family in London, _____.  Commoners who were advancing in wealth and social prestige  Excluded from the ______________by birth, and from the country gentry by their city occupations  They were somewhere in between: the beginning of the English ______________.

3. Chaucer: Career Path  Teenage: a page in the household of Prince Lionel (son of King Edward III)  His 1 st great patron was John of Gaunt (5th son of the king): the most powerful nobleman in England  Received _________, grants of money, and other ____________ for his services from successive kings  Sent on diplomatic missions to France and Italy  Became a public man but of modest importance

4. Formal and informal education  His development: summed up in three stages, ________, ___________, and ____________.  Worked with French and Italian texts  Wrote a number of other works before The Canterbury Tales

5. The Canterbury Tales: Background   Set standard of poetry for centuries  Chaucer did not complete the entire Canterbury Tales as designed  Tales structured so that each of the ______ pilgrims would tell four tales only completed twenty-four tales total

6. FRAME: GENERAL PROLOGUE Structure of the Canterbury Tales NARRATIVE POEM

7. Narrative Poem   Usually has a _________ rhyme scheme  Canterbury Tales uses ___________  ________: rhyming of the end of 2+ lines When in April the sweet showers fall And pierce the drought of March to the root and all

8. Frame Story  “ _____________ ” ; sets stage for smaller story or stories to come  Examples: The Princess Bride, Forrest Gump, Slumdog Millionaire  In CT, the frame is the _______________________ _______________________  The story itself is made up of the pilgrims ’ tales Story set-up Story within the story e.g., Gump ’ s many exploits e.g., Gump on bench

9. Symbolical meaning of the journey from London to Canterbury Canterbury: heavenly, spiritual city London: terrestrial, material city

10. But why go to Canterbury?

11. One Answer: Religion  Religion played an important part in medieval life.  Canterbury has always been an important ______________in England.  St. Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to establish the Catholic faith in the country

12. Why was religion important?  It ’ s the Middle Ages Plague High Infant Mortality Rate …and if you were a peasant, you lived your whole life in harsh conditions  About the best thing that you had to look forward to was ______________________

13. Also, Canterbury was a _____________  People of all classes went on pilgrimages to holy sites to ask for help with medical, financial or other problems.

14. Becket was a trusted adviser and friend of King Henry II, who named Becket the ______________________.

15. Becket ’ s outspoken style angered the King. One day, Henry complained, “ Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest? ” Three knights rode to Canterbury where they found Becket at the altar of Canterbury Cathedral.

16. Becket was ________ at the altar.

17. Canterbury Cathedral became a site for pilgrims to offer prayers to St. Thomas. Use your iPads to do a quick Google Images search of Canterbury Cathedral—what about this building and its history made it important to pilgrims?

18. The pilgrims: who were they? ____________ Knight, squire, yeoman, franklin, miller, reeve, plowman… _________ Nun, monk, aria, prioress, parson, summoner, pardoner… _____________ Merchant, sergeant-at the-law, cook, skipper, doctor, wife of Bath… No too rich people, no too poor people. That adds to realism. Three Social Classes

19. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer wrote about people he had met along the way. If you were doing the same thing today, think about the variety of types of people you know and have encountered.

20. Describe them by:  Their job  The type and color of their clothing  Their “__ _______ ” (jewelry, pets, other portables)  The way they act  Their _________  Their “ secrets ”  Their _____________________________  The way they speak / their slang or accent  Their mode of transportation

21. Characterization  Part of Chaucer’s mastery is ________________  The characters take turns telling tales  They have depth and a quality of seeming real  Characters are created through: ___________________(some quite graphic) Characters interacting with each other __________________(often specifically their personalities and motivations)

22. Types of Characterization  Direct:  Indirect: what the character says and does what other characters say about him/her how other characters behave towards him/her

23. Merits of the Tales  Tales convey ________________  Create a microcosm of medieval English life  Paints a complete picture of __________  Entertain