Class Assignment
Discuss in detail about of Chaucer
Introduction
The Age of Chaucer, spanning roughly from 1340 to 1400, represents one of the most formative periods in English literature. Geoffrey Chaucer, often hailed as the "Father of English Literature," lived during this time, and his works reflected the rich socio-political and cultural life of the era.
The 14th century is known as the age of Chaucer. He was a great writer who is not only of an age but of all the ages. It was the age of transition, a transformation of medieval to the modern times.The great age of Enlightenment and Prosperity but initially, during the middle age, the people of England were not much satisfied with the so-called religious, political and social principles.
The Historical Background:
During the Age of Chaucer, England was still a feudal society where the King was the most powerful and owned all the land. The king distributed his land to the lords. This distributed land was known as fiefs. The nobles who received land from the king became his vassals and in return promised him their loyalty and service. The noblemen and their men at arms were obliged to fight in the King’s army and safeguard the crown. Homage was the process through which the lord or the noblemen became the King’s vassal. The land or fiefs given to the dukes, nobles, and
lords were like small communities or villages. The Dukes lived in their manors or castles and kept 40% of the land to themselves. The remaining land was further distributed as fiefs to lords and nobles.
The serf was at the lowest level in the social hierarchy. They were labourers who had no material possessions and survived by working on the land in exchange for protection, safety, and subsistence from their lords. Feudalism gave absolute and hereditary power to the King, Duke,and the landed gentry. In case of a Duke’s or lord’s death, the land went back to the king and he redistributed it to other dukes, lords, or nobles.
The feudal society had a permanent class divide between the landowners such as the duke, and the tenants such as the knight and freemen. The Black Death and the Peasants’ Revolt caused a historic decline in feudalism.
Literary Features Of The Age:
• Standardization of English:~
During the Age of Chaucer, the English language was undergoing significant changes. By this time, the different dialects in England had mostly blended together, with the East Midland dialect becoming the standard. This was the dialect spoken in important places like London (the capital) and the universities. Other regional dialects, except for the Scottish dialect, started to disappear from literature. Additionally, French and English had mixed together to create what we now know as standard English, which was first fully showcased in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer.
• A Modern Spirit in Literature:~
A new, more modern way of thinking began to emerge during this period. People were starting to question established ideas and showed more interest in human affairs and individual experiences. There was a shift from the old romantic stories (which focused on idealized heroes and love) to a more critical and realistic way of telling stories. Chaucer, for example, often poked fun at these romantic ideals in his works. Another change was that more books and literary works were now being written by identifiable authors, unlike in earlier times when many texts had anonymous writers. For the first time, we see a major literary figure— Chaucer —who had a huge influence on the literary style and themes of the time.
• The Development of English Prose:~
This era also marked the beginning of a proper English prose style. Earlier prose writing had often been experimental or closely imitated from Latin or French, but now writers like Mandeville and Sir Thomas Malory were creating prose that was original and had its own distinct style. The English language had matured enough to be used effectively in prose. At the same time, Latin and French were becoming less popular as languages for prose writing. The growing demand for an English Bible also encouraged the development of a standard English prose, making it easier for people to read and understand.
Major Events of the Age:
•The Hundred Years' War 1337-1453:~
The ‘Hundred Years' War’ was a long and complex conflict between England and France that lasted from 1337 to 1453. These two countries had been fighting over land and power since the Norman conquest in 1066, and the Hundred Years' War had many deep-rooted causes. The war began when King Edward III of England claimed the French throne through his mother’s lineage,which led to a dispute with Philip VI of France. The conflict wasn't continuous but was fought in phases, with periods of peace in between.
The Hundred Years' War had profound effects on both nations. In England, it fostered a sense of national pride and helped consolidate English identity. It also led to advancements in military tactics and weaponry, including the use of the longbow. In France, the war devastated the countryside but also led to a rise in nationalism. Ultimately, the war ended with the French regaining most of the territory previously controlled by the English.
•The Black Death:~
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that broke out in 1348. It wiped out nearly one-third of the English population and significantly damaged the established medieval feudal system. Since most of the English population succumbed to the plague, the demand and value for workers increased. The mass devastation caused by the plague also impacted the blind faith in the Church among people. In the longer run, the critical labor shortage and economic collapse that caused a decline in the feudal system resulted in greater freedom and autonomy among the working class.
•John Wycliffe and the First Bible Translation:~
John Wycliffe was a significant figure in the 14th century, known for his early criticisms of the Catholic Church. He is often called the “Morning Star of the Reformation” because his ideas laid the groundwork for later reform movements. One of his most important contributions was his belief that the Bible should be accessible to everyone. At the time, the Bible was only available in Latin, which few common people could understand. Wycliffe translated the Bible into English in the 1380s, making it possible for ordinary people to read the scriptures for themselves.His work challenged the authority of the Church, which had maintained control over religious texts and interpretation.
•The Invention of the Movable-Type Printing Press:~
The invention of the movable-type printing press by “Johannes Gutenberg” in the mid-15th
century (around 1440) had a revolutionary impact on Europe, including England. Although
Gutenberg himself was German, his invention quickly spread across Europe.
Before the printing press, books had to be copied by hand, which was time-consuming and
expensive. The printing press allowed for books to be produced more quickly and cheaply,
making literature and knowledge accessible to a much wider audience. In England, “William
Caxton” introduced the printing press in the 1470s and printed some of the first English books, including Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’. The printing press played a key role in the spread of new ideas, including those of the Renaissance and the Reformation.
Conclusion
The Age of Chaucer was a time of tremendous change in England, marked by wars, social unrest, religious reform, and the beginning of new ways of thinking. From the devastation of the Black Death to the cultural achievements of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer and Thomas Malory, this period laid the groundwork for the Renaissance and the modern world. Through key events like the Hundred Years’ War, the Peasants’ Revolt, and the introduction of the printing press, England was transformed, and the effects of these changes would be felt for centuries to come.
Home assignment
Critically analyse Geoffrey Chuacer's "Canterbury Tales"
Introduction
Chaucer’s most famous work, The Canterbury Tales, is a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury. Each pilgrim tells a story, and together, these tales give a vivid picture of life in medieval England.
Summary
The Canterbury Tales start with a prologue that frames, or sets the stage for the tales that follow.Spring has come, and with it an increase in pilgrims traveling to Canterbury to visit the shrine of the martyred Saint Thomas Becket. A group of pilgrims assemble at the Tabard Inn just outside of London to start their journey. The Host of the Tabard Inn, a man named Harry Bailey, joins the company on the pilgrimage, as does a pilgrim named Chaucer. Harry Bailey suggests a tale-telling competition to help pass the time onthe long road, and the company agrees.
With the exception of Chaucer and Harry Bailey (who is often called simply the "Host"), none of the other pilgrims are named. Instead they are identified by their roles. The Knight tells the first tale. He recounts a long story about two knights who fall in love with the same woman. The men fight for her, and one wins her. However, he soon dies, and the other knight marries her instead.
The Miller decides to tell the next story. It is a funny, crude story about an old carpenter who has a young wife. Two young men fall in love with her, and she conspires with one of them to meet for sex. On the night they meet, the other young man comes to her window, and in the dark he is tricked into kissing her bare behind. Most of the pilgrims enjoy this comical story, but Reeve, a carpenter, is offended, so he pays the Miller back by telling a story about a dishonest miller. In this story two students decide to make sure this dishonest miller does not steal any of the grain as it is being ground. In another middle-of-the-night mix-up, one of the students has sex with the miller's daughter, and the other has sex with the miller's wife.
Next the Cook begins to tell a story of a young apprentice with a weakness for gambling, but the story remains unfinished. Harry Bailey, noting that the day is getting on, calls on the Man of Law, who then tells a story about Constance, daughter of the Roman emperor. She endured many hardships, but her people converted to Christianity, and her son became emperor.
The Wife of Bath then tells the company about her five husbands before beginning a story about a knight who is sentenced to death for rape. To avoid this fate, the knight must go on a quest to find the answer to a seemingly simple question: What do women want? After the Wife of Bath ends her tale, the Friar tells a story about a dishonest summoner, who makes a deal with a fiend from Hell and ends up being taken there. The Summoner is enraged by the tale and tells two crude stories—one short and one long—about the treachery of friars. To calm everyone down,Harry Bailey then asks the Clerk to tell a more lighthearted story. The Clerk's story focuses on a wife of unending patience and obedience to her husband. In response to this, the Merchant tells a story about an unfaithful young wife. Harry Bailey then calls on the Squire, who begins a story about a beautiful young woman whose magic ring allows her to understand the speech of animals. His story is cut short by the Franklin, who interrupts to wonder at the beauty of the Squire's storytelling skills. Rather than allowing the Squire's story to be completed, Harry Bailey asks Franklin to tell his story. The Franklin tells about a faithful wife who is nearly—but not quite—tricked into unfaithfulness.
Next the Physician tells a tale about a beautiful young woman who must choose between death and dishonor. It is such a tragic story that Harry Bailey calls on the Pardoner for a happier one.The Pardoner tells a story about three young men who meet Death, and this is followed by the Shipman's tale of a merchant whose wife has an affair with a monk. Then the Prioress tells of a young boy who sings, miraculously, after he is dead. Chaucer is called upon next, and after Harry Bailey interrupts his first tale because its rhymes are terrible, Chaucer tells a story that is more of a long argument about whether revenge should be taken to repay a violent act. The Monk then tells a long string of short stories about how powerful people are brought low, and this is followed by a fable about a rooster and a fox told by the Nun's Priest. The Second Nun then tells the story of Saint Cecilia, a Christian martyr. The company of pilgrims meets two more travelers on the road, and one, a Yeoman, tells a story about a treacherous alchemist who tricks a priest into giving him money. Next the Manciple tells a tale about an unfaithful wife and a talking crow. After this, instead of a story, the Parson gives a sermon about sin and forgiveness. Finally,Chaucer apologizes for his work and asks forgiveness of anyone who is offended by his tales.
Characters
•Chaucer
In general the character Chaucer, who narrates the frame story and tells his own tales on the road to Canterbury, is considered separately from Chaucer the author. He is a keen observer, providing detailed descriptions of the other pilgrims.He has a flair for satire and characterizes the pilgrims in unflattering ways while maintaining an earnest, even admiring,tone. When his turn to share stories arrives, he tells a silly story and then a tedious one.
•Harry Bailey
The Host, Harry Bailey, is a cheerful and impulsive man. He is so taken with the assembled pilgrims at the Tabard Inn that he decides to accompany them. He is the one who suggests the storytelling contest and sets the rules; he also plans to judge the stories and provide the winner's reward. He is quick to make peace when a quarrel breaks
out, and he often steers the stories away from the overly somber and toward merriment.
•Knight
Chivalrous and wise, the Knight has achieved great honor for his noble deeds and success in many battles. He is the ideal knight in every way: courteous in his manners, heroic in battle,and polite and gentle in speech. Chaucer describes the knight as if he has no flaws. He is not even arrogant or proud because of his success; rather, he is modest and humble, wearing his stained cloak without pretensions.
•Miller
The Miller, a strong, brawny man with a large nose and widemouth, sports a red spade-shaped beard and a hairy wart. Heloves telling filthy stories and playing the bagpipes. He's also a thief—he takes "three times his due" when he grinds grain. Hehijacks the Host's role as master of ceremonies simply because he wants to tell a rude story about a carpenter.
•Reeve
The Reeve is an old, frightening-looking man whose business is taking care of another person's estate. He is good at his job; he keeps track of the crops and the livestock so well that no one dares take a chance on cheating—except the Reeve, of course,who uses the money he embezzled to make loans back to his own employer. Reeve is also a carpenter, which explains his anger when Miller tells a story about a jealous, foolish carpenter.
•Wife of Bath
The Wife of Bath is a middle-aged woman with a gap between her front teeth, a large hat, and red stockings. She's no stranger to pilgrimages, having gone on several. She's no stranger to sex, either, having had five husbands and talking freely about her prowess in bed. As a successful seamstress with her own business and as a woman who gets what she wants from men, she's used to being in charge.
Themes
•Love, Sex, and Fellowship
Throughout the frame story, character prologues, and tales, Chaucer explores human relationships. The tales discuss brotherly love and the betrayal of it, as well as the partnerships among thieves and rogues. The camaraderie and fellowship of the pilgrim company set the tone of the frame story.
Most pilgrims complete their tales by directly addressing the listening company; in more than one case, a story creates friction between pilgrims. Male-female relationships feature prominently in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer lived in a time when men held all political and religious power but women retained some financial power. For example, a woman could inherit her husband's wealth after he died—a custom that evidently benefited the Wife of Bath several times over.
Women had the power of sex, as so many of the tales vividly illustrate. Sex within marriage, as well as outside of it, is a topic of several stories, with examples of both faithful and unfaithful wives and an ample dose of sexual trickery and bed hopping. Women also appear to have power in the realm of courtly love, as illustrated by the Knight's tale.
Chaucer both invokes and subverts all of these types of male- female relationships in the The Canterbury Tales through the pilgrims themselves and the tales they tell.
•Social Class
The diverse social classes of the pilgrims are an important part of the Prologue. As Chaucer describes the pilgrims, he gives their occupations, and many are never known beyond these designations. At the time Chaucer wrote the tales, society was moving from the estate system to a system that included a growing middle class. There are pilgrims from every class in the company—both traditional and emerging. The stereotypes about these classes and the conflicts between them emerge in the frame story and in the individual tales. Morality is still connected with the first estate: the only member of the nobility, the Knight, is treated as an honest and upright person, as is the poorest member of the clergy, the Parson. Yet not all members of the first estate meet this high moral standard, as the Friar and the Pardoner illustrates.
•Story and Storyteller
The connection between story and storyteller is a crucial part of what makes The Canterbury Tales unique. The layer upon layer of storytelling involved is staggering and often hilarious.Geoffrey Chaucer is the author, yet Chaucer the pilgrim is the narrator, and while Geoffrey Chaucer's tales are excellent examples of narrative and poetry,Chaucer the pilgrim's poetry fails to satisfy, and his narrative is long and tedious. Most of the storytellers tell tales that match their personality or social status in some way. For example, the Second Nun tells a story
about a virgin martyr; the Knight tells a romantic tale of love and battle; and the Wife of Bath,who has been married five times, tells a story about what women want. The connection between storyteller and audience are also important in the Tales, as the occasional angry eruptions or approving responses indicate. These responses between pilgrims stand in for the real audience that Chaucer lacked but may have imagined.
•Rivalry
The theme of rivalry is introduced by the storytelling competition, but this game is just one
example of many rivalries in The Canterbury Tales. There are rivals in love, fighting for the
same woman; storytellers who try to get back at or outdo one another in insults; and rivals in
trickery who try to outsmart one another with their tricks. The rivalry between young and old
men that is a feature of several tales comes to no good, and the rivalry between some members of
the company—such as the Miller and the Reeve—threatens the jolly mood of the pilgrims.
Conclusion
This work is notable for its humor, social criticism, and insight into human nature. The characters in ‘The Canterbury Tales’ come from all walks of life, from knights to peasants, and their stories reflect the diversity of Chaucer’s world.
Essay
Write a detail note on 'Geoffrey Chaucer'.
Introduction
The most important writer of the Middle English Period without whom any discussion of Middle English poetry becomes absolutely insignificant is Geoffrey Chaucer. He is undoubtedly that poet of the Middle English period in whose capable and confident hands both English language and literature attained maturity. His range, complexity, humorous tone, essentially humane outlook and technical brilliance placed him much above the other poets of his times. His acquaintance with European literature enabled him to deal in English with themes and attitudes prevalent in European literature. He was a keen observer of human nature and portrayed it with a balance between sympathy and irony. His training in courtly and diplomatic lifestyle helped him to present diverse characters in his works with utmost conviction.
His employment in diverse forms of public and civil services and his journeys abroad on the
business of the King gave him the opportunity to come across different kinds of people ranging
from aristocracy to the lower segments of the society. His journeys to France and Italy are
particularly significant because these helped him to be acquainted with Italian literature, especially the works of Dante and Boccaccio. During his second voyage to Italy he met Barnabo Visconti, Lord of Milan, whose death is the subject matter of one stanza in the Monk’s Tale.
Chaucers’s literary career can be divided into three periods:
1. French Period
2. Italian Period
3. English Period
1.French Period:
Geoffrey Chaucer was very interested in French culture, which can be understood because he
spent a lot of time with people from the royal court, government, and aristocracy, where French was the preferred language. Chaucer was influenced by a popular French literary tradition called the "Rose" tradition, and he admired French poets like Deschamps and Froissart. This early phase of his writing is known as his "French period." One of his major works from this time is "The Romaunt of the Rose", which is an allegorical poem. However, only a fragment of it remains. Chaucer's work was inspired by the French original ‘Le Romaunt de la Rose’ , but he translated only part of it.
The poem is in the form of a dream. It is a vision of a dreamer who strolls by the side of a river one fine May morning and enjoys the sweet melodious songs of the birds, the blossoming of
flowers, the cozy warmth of the pleasant weather. It is the season of love when both the humans and the animals choose their partners. The Dreamer arrives at a garden surrounded by a wall which is painted on the outside with different allegorical and disagreeable characters like Covetousness, Ill-breeding and Old Age. A young girl called Idleness opens the gate and allows the Dreamer in. Inside the garden he observes much more delightful objects as beautiful flowers, tall trees, chirping birds, small animals, melodious tune and dancing led by the allegorical figures, Mirth and his retinue. The Dreamer sees reflections of the delightful garden, particularly a rose bush surrounded by a hedge but exuding intoxicating fragrance. The Dreamer’s eyes are fixed on one particular bud which is beautiful. Fragment A comes to an end here.
2.Italian Period:
Chaucer's "Italian stage" shows great progress compared to his earlier "French period." During this time, he developed better writing skills, deeper insights, and more originality. Two important works from this period are ‘Anelida and Arcite’ and ‘The Parliament of Foules’. ‘Anelida and Arcite’ is incomplete, and after writing about 3,000 lines, Chaucer seems to have left it unfinished. However, the "Complaint" of Anelida, with its perfect balance of strophe and antistrophe, is considered one of the most beautiful examples of this style in Middle English literature, even though only a fragment of it survives. In this period he was influenced by many writers like Dante, Petrarch, Bocaccio.
3.English Period:
Characters "English stage" is considered his most successful period, during which he wrote one of the greatest works in English literature, ‘The Canterbury Tales’. Chaucer was inspired by the Italian writer Boccaccio, but he adapted the idea with his own English style. The story is about 29 pilgrims who are traveling to visit the tomb of Thomas Becket in Canterbury. On their way,they stop at the Tabard Inn in Southwark and tell stories to pass the time. Chaucer uses his sharp observational skills and deep understanding of human nature to create characters from all levels of society, from the noble knight to the simple plowman. This allows him to mix his literary knowledge with his ability to portray realistic characters. The ‘General Prologue’ introduces the setting and characters and is filled with humor, irony, and fresh ideas. Although ‘The Canterbury Tales’ is unfinished, it shows Chaucer's brilliance, and more details about this work will be covered in the next module.
Conclusion
Thus to conclude we can say that Geoffrey Chuacer was a prominent writer, a whole literary age is named after him and he is also known as a 'father of English literature'.
Reference
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