Geoffrey Chaucer 2d2c2o

Known as one of the most influential and important author in English Literature, Chaucer was born in London, probably, in 1342. It is likely that young Chaucer attended school at St. Paul's Cathedral, and there he was introduced to great writing such as the poetry of Virgil (70–19 B.C.E. ) and Ovid (43 B.C.E. –?). In 1357 he became a public servant to Countess Elizabeth of Ulster and continued in that capacity with the British court throughout his lifetime.

Chaucer 1342-1400

“ Chaucer was sent for his early schooling to St. Paul’s Almonry. From there he went on to be a page in the household of Countess of Ulster, later Duchess of Clarence, wife of Lionel, the third son of Edward III” ( COGHILL, P. X) King Edward III (1327-1377)

According to Coghill, Chaucer would have there, at St. Paul’s Almonry, acquired the finest education in good manners, a matter of great importance not only to his career as courtier, but also as a poet. Probably, in this context, Chaucer learnt Latin, an important language in the construction of his works. Chaucer studied “contemporary” sciences as: astronomy, medicine, psychology, physics and alchemy.

Portrait of Chaucer

From a historical perspective two important event developed within Chaucer’s lifetime: The Black Death and The Hundred Year’s war.

The Black Death

The Black Death: •

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Black plague reached England and wiped out 1/3 of population (2.25 million to 3.75 million) The sudden collapse of population sent the price of labor skyrocketing while decreasing the price of land.

The Black Death

According to Coghill ,in 1359, Chaucer was sent, as a soldier “in the egg”, one of those intermittent forays into that made up so large part of the Hundred Year’s war. He was taken as prisoner and saved only with the contribution of Edward III. Chaucer

It is believed that Chaucer began to write his first works when he returned from his captive in , however, it is not a concrete fact. “The Elegance of French poetry and thrilling doctrines of Amour Courtois seem to have gone to his impressionable, amorous, and poetical heart” (Coghill, p. 12)

Courtly Love

Chaucer wrote many poems in a literary concept, best known, in medieval times, called courtly love According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the courtly love could be describe as: “a highly conventionalized code that prescribed the behaviour of ladies and their lovers. It also provided the theme of an extensive courtly medieval literature that began with the troubadour poetry of Aquitaine and Provence in southern toward the end of the 11th century” (online version of Encyclopedia Britannica)

The courtly love is important through The Canterbury Tales, such as: King’s Tale, Wife of Bath’s Prologue, etc.

courtly love

Acoording to Andreas Copellanus, in de Amore, as adapted in Ann Haskell’s A Middle English Anthology, the courtly love is: 1. Marriage should not be a deterrent to love.  2. Love cannot exist in the individual who cannot be jealous.  3. A double love cannot obligate an individual.  4. Love constantly waxes and wanes.  5. That which is not given freely by the object of one's love loses its savor.  6. It is necessary for a male to reach the age of maturity in order to love.  7. A lover must observe a two-year widowhood after his beloved's death.  8. Only the most urgent circumstances should deprive one of love.  9. Only the insistence of love can motivate one to love.  10. Love cannot coexist with avarice. […] 

Chaucer was sent abroad on diplomatic missions in 1370 and again in 1372–1373. The latter mission took him to Florence and Genoa, Italy. There he may have deepened his acquaintance with the poetic traditions established by Dante (1265–1321) and Petrarch (1304–1374). All these authors influenced Chaucer in some way in his works, after his diplomatic work, according to Coghill.

Boccaccio

Chaucer died in 1400, he was the first author burried at Abadia of Westminster.

Tomb of Chaucer.

Chaucer Works written between 1369 e 1368: •The Book of the Duchess • Anelida and Arcite • The House of Fame • Parlement of Foules • The Legend of Good Women • Troilus and Criseyde • The Canterbury Tales 

Chaucer

Between 1386 or 1387, Chaucer probably wrote the Canturbery Tales: “there are some 84 (...) early printed editions by Caxtaon, Pynson, Wynkyn de Worde and Tynne” (p. VXI)

The road to the Canterbury

 

The Canterbury Tales:

“Detail illustrating the characters in the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, on the east wall of the North Reading Room in the John Adams Building, Library of Congress”

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories that all fit within one single narrative; While the tales themselves are narrated by different character a scribe writes them down Chaucer presents many types of literary work : romance, fabliaux, saint story, parable, dialectical, lays, sermon.

“The Tales these pilgrims tell come from all over Europe, many of them from the works of Chaucer’s near contemporary. Some come from further a field, from the ancients from the Orient. They exemplify the whole range of contemporary European imagination, then particularly addicted to stories especcially to stories that had some sharp point and deducible maxim, moral or idea. Almost every tale ends with a piece of proverbial of other wisdom derived from it and with great benediction on the company” (Coghill, p. VII)

The Canterbury Tales: Structure and Themes: A prologue precedes each character’s tale; The prologue introduces the character personally; The tale reveals the character’s chosen subject and treatment of that subject; Major themes include morality and genuine vs. false piligrimage

Some Characters

Some pilgrims could be highlighted: THE MONK:

* Most of the monks of the Middle Ages devoted their lives to work and prayer * This monk cares littler for the Rule * His devotion is to hunting and eating * He is large has a shiny face and a shiny bald head, along with bulging, darting eyes * He is loud and well clad in hunting boots.

The Monk

THE WIFE OF BATH: * She is a seamstress by occupation; * She has beem married five time and had many other affairs in her youth, making her well practiced in the art of love; * She takes pleasure in rich attire, talking and arguing. * She is deaf in one ear and has a gap between her front teeth, wich was considered attactive in Chaucer’s time

Wife of Bath

THE MERCADANT: * He is arrogant and give his opinion on English trade policies in a pompous manner; * He has a forked beard and is well dressed with fashionable motley colored clothes, stylish Flemish beaver hat and expensive boots * He is a representative of middle classes.

The Mercadant

The significance of The Canterbury Tales: Accurate depiction of life in the middle ages (class, levels, interactions, between the classes); First story about lower classes (mix of classes); Satire and humor for social, political and religious commentary; The Canterbury Tales, point out problems with society