Chaucer's contribution to the development of English Literature

3. Geoffrey Chaucer Born round 1340 – the time of the 100 year war with France. During his life the black death in the country killed almost 40% of the people

- gave literary status to ME

He came from the middle class family, his father was a merchant. He got a job as a page of the king’s daughter when he was about 12 years. Later he was sent as a soldier to France. There he was captured and taken to prison. The King needed him and bailled him out. He became an esquire – administrative job in king’s government, an envoy – to France and Italy. He made several diplomatic missions.


 * a highly sophisticated intellectual writer
 * he incorporated the major philosophical and artistic concerns of his age into his poetry

He was acquainted with the French literature – this could be seen from his early works, in 1372 went to Italy to arrange a commercial treaty. He noticed that people had started to be interested in history – he started to read Latin, studied works of its writers (Petrarca, Boccacio ). He later returned to London. There he got a job as a customs official. Chaucer is buried at Westminster Abbey, this became a place for other poets to be burried – the poets’ corner. Chaucer could speak several languages, translated from French, many literal achievements.  early poems based on Italian, French models,

probably translated  Roman de la Rose into English 

he translated a lot of meditative Latin works such as: Consolation of philosophy (Boethius)

He wrote

The Parliament of fowls

=Troilus and Criseyde=
 * (ptačí sněm), he makes irony of himself, story of a poet who falls asleep, dreams, finds himself in garden of fowls. He falls asleep on the 14th February – the day of the mating of the birds. The garden is full of flowers, birds
 * allegorical figures (all of nature), poet describes what he can see, birds – quarreling,
 * nature – parliament
 * The birds are called to court, nature is order
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Allegory of their many ways of life and courtship of the nobility
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">the poet – naive, ignorant observer
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">His best complete work, a long poem, first psychological work in English literature, taken from Boccaccio, influenced by Homer’s Trojan War.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">brilliant version of the popular Mid-Age genre of legends about the Trojan Wars
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Characters: Troilus – young, handsome warrior, prince, shy of women, Criseyde – young widow, she is satisfied with her life as a free and independent widow, she is sent to a Greek camp where is unfaithful with Pandarus – Troiluse’s friend, she is the 1st woman character in English literature to be deeply shown, usually she was shown as a unfaithful woman, Chaucer shows her a victim of war’s circumstances

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The Legend of Good Women


 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">unfinished poem describing the unhappy lives of nine famous women (Cleopatra), tragic events

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">The Canterbury Tales

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm">the General Prologue
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">His longes work. Unfinished, all his experience are in this work. He was working on it for about 10 years. He overcame all formal restrictions of medieval literature
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">different types of tales and a lot of modern narrative styles, shows his mastership with time in the work.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">his most appreciated work, contemporary English culture is oft inspired by it
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">the form was influenced by Boccaccio’s Decameron


 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">gives a vivid picture of 14th century society by introducing pilgrims
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">quite detailed description of all characters, then tales and individual prologues, quarrels about tales, there are lots of tiny hints, i. e. the abbatis wears a clasp with logo: Amor vincit omnia – Loves wins over everything. But is it love to God or to a man? etc. The woman of Bath wanted to find a husband during the pilgrimage
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">they agree to tell two tales each on the way to Canterbury and two on the way back
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">the best narrator is to win a dinner paid for by the others
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">only 24 tales were written in all and the book remained unfinished
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">the individual tales are written in rhymed couplets
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">their realism influenced future developments in English literature

<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:100%"> The Knight’s Tale  - he is the first to speak, his tale takes place in an ancient time in Greece. Two knights, Palamon and Arcite, see Emily and fall in love with her - they have an argument over whom she belongs to and both get arrested - Arcite is released on condition that he never comes back - he is happy not to be in prison, but sad because he cannot see Emily - he changes his appearance and lets himself be hired as a servant in house, where Emily lives - Palamon manages to escape and finds Arcite singing under Emily’s window - they start to fight, the king passing by sees them and wants to execute them - they tell him their story and the women in court are very moved by their love - Arcite and Palamon are thus released on one condition  they must come back in one year with armies and fight. The winner is to get Emily - during the tournament, Palamon is wounded, Arcite goes to propose Emily but dies - Palamon recovers and marries Emily - Emily cries when Palamon is wounded, then when Arcite dies, and at her own wedding day <p style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:100%"> The Miller’s Tale  - an old carpenter has a very young and beautiful wife Alison (18) - a student Nicholas and his neighbor both Absolon fall in love with her. They can’t get rid of the carpenter though. Nicholas is interested in astrology and tells the carpenter that the end of the world is coming. The carpenter leaves to build a better house. In the meantime they have a great time. Absolon comes one night and wants a kiss from Alison, she lets him to kiss another part of her body. Later he realized how foolish he had been. He comes again and when Nicholas shows her the part of his body, Absolon burns him. The student cries for help. The carpenter hears it and thinks the end of the world is coming. He makes a total fool of himself. <p style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:100%"> The Pardoner’s Tale  - while the pilgrims rest on the road to Canterbury, the Pardoner tells his tale. Warmed and refreshed by ale, he delivers a long sermon in which he reveals with astonishing frankness how he fools the public with his “pigges’ bones” and other counterfeit relics. To illustrate the text of his sermon – “Avarice is the root of all evil” – the Pardoner introduces a short but powerful “moral tale.” In this tale Chaucer has given us one of the best short stories ever written.


 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:100%">three young rioters drink in a tavern and hear a funeral procession, they found out a man was killed by a sly thief, Death. This theif had killed many people in the area, they decided to go and find him and kill him. They set on the way and swear heavily. They meet a very poor old man who greeted them humbly. One askes him why is he still alive, the man says that no young person would want to change his youth for the man’s old age. He says that even Death doesn’t want him. They asked what he knows about Death. He tells them they will find Death under a tree up the crooked way. They come there and find a heap of gold instead. After that they no longer care about Death. One is sent to town for bread and wine. They planned to then carry the gold away at night. The two who are left decide to kill the third. The third, on the other hand puts poison in their wine, when he comes, they kill him and then have a sip of the wine and die as well. Oriental origin, it is in the form of a moral example.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:100%">money is death, because men are greedy and covetous
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm;line-height:100%">the Pardoner declares his own covetousness, he lives from what he preaches against


 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">he uses different dialects for each story, dialect depends on which character is speaking. Each pilgrim is different, he is characterized indirectly by his speech.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">gives a nice picture of the whole society
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">represent the whole society, of all classes – middle, gentry and clergy: knight, clergy: prioress, monk, friar parson, nun, common people: tradesman, people of respectable professions: layer, frequin, guildsmen – členové cechu, dyer, carpenter, viewer, a woman of bath, irrespectable members of group: pardoner, reeve, summoner, they all go to Canterbury,
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">some tales don’t fit the teller, i.e. the Prioress rides a horse, has a labdock on her horse, lots of jewelry in spite of being a nun. her story is full of blood and violence.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">the pilgrims talk about the tales in the meantime.
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">tales are of all kinds, pilgrims are described directly and indirectly
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Chaucer’s style of a poet helped him, uses different forms of prose and verse, uses rhyme instead of alliterative verse, he established English prosody,
 * <p style="margin-bottom:0cm">Chaucer marks a new age of literature. It was a long time before other poets began to follow his style.