Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

Historical Context• Late Middle Ages (13th,15th centuries), Middle English• Feudalism: upper nobility class maintained control over the

lower classes, rigid structure of government consisted of kings, nobles (barons), the peasants (serfs)

• Church was questioned (corruption).• 1348 – Black Plague (Black Death)

reached England and wiped out 1/3 of

the population (2.25 mill. to 3.75 million) • The Hundred Year War against France (1337 - 1453)

Consider

You are going on a 55 mile journey . . .• by horse• with a group of people you don’t know• with a group of people from different

classes and professions

What would you do to pass the time?

This is the premise of Chaucer’s The Canterbury

Tales• 30 pilgrims travelling from Southwark (2 miles

outside of London) to Canterbury (55 miles away) engage in a storytelling contest. The teller of the best story wins a meal at Bailey’s tavern.

What is a pilgrimage?• A pilgrimage is a journey to a shrine important to a

person’s beliefs or faith.• Pilgrimages began as exercises in penance (attempt to

earn forgiveness)

Which pilgrimage was famous in Spain at that time?• Roads were poorly maintained. Thieves hid in wait for

lone travellers, so most people travelled as “pilgrims” in a large group.

• In The Canterbury Tales, the pilgrims are travelling to St. Thomas Becket’s Shrine in the Canterbury Cathedral.

Who was Thomas Becket? • Archbishop of Canterbury (1120-1170)• In conflict with Henry II of England over the

rights and privileges of the Church.• Murdered in 1170 by followers of the King in

Canterbury Cathedral.• Was canonized as both Saint and martyr.• The Shrine of Saint Thomas of Beckett became

a popular destination for religious pilgrimages during the Middle Ages

Who was Chaucer?• 1343 – 25 October 1400• Son of London vintner (winemaker)• Worked for the Countess of Ulster.• Went to the war in France and was caught,

Edward III paid his ranson.• Served in the royal household and later

held a series of administrative posts under Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV

•  Author, bureaucrat, alchemist, courtier diplomat ,travelled on diplomatic missions for the king, philosopher.

• Studied Law, read English, Latin, Italian, and French.

• Considered Father of English Poetry•  Buried in Poet’s Corner of Westminster

Abbey.

The Canterbury Tales• In the tales each pilgrim (and there are 30) is to tell 4 tales, 2 on

the way to Canterbury and two on the way home. Do the math. How many tales would have Chaucer written?• Chaucer only wrote 22 tales and 2 fragments, all of which occur

on the way to Canterbury. • Pilgrimage was a “framing device” for tales; tales also have

“thematic unity”.

• The pilgrims share stories to pass the time; these stories describe the very different points-of-view and beliefs and practices of the people of Chaucer’s age.

Were the tales a book?• Some tales are prose,

some are verse. They exist as manuscripts.

• The best known manuscript, The Ellesmere Chaucer or Ellesmere Manuscript, is from the early 15th century.

• They start in 1386. • First printed by Caxton

in 1478.

Is that manuscript in English?

• Yes, Middle English.( standard London dialect)

• Remember Bewoulf was in Old English.

Language• Chaucer introduced many new words (up to 2,000). ex:

difficulty, significance, dishonesty, edifice, ignorant many from French roots.

• To portray the common people (e.g. the Miller), he consciously used much more Old English vocabulary,

ex: outrageous, perpendicular, princess, resolve, rumour

• Chaucer invented the rhyme royal, ( the five-stress line) the stanza can be constructed either as a tercet and two couplets (a-b-a, b-b, c-c) or a quatrain and a tercet (a-b-a-b, b-c-c)

• He wrote in continental accentual-syllabic meter, as an alternative to the alliterative Anglo-Saxon metre.

Literary context of the tales• Frame Story: a story that holds together several other

stories; usually, characters in the frame story tell stories of their own.• Each pilgrim’s story stands alone as its own story, with a

unique cast of characters, but fits within the overall story of the journey.

• Many of the tales share similar themes; some tales are told

in response to a previous tale, they are chained somehow. (e.g. a story about the joy of immorality is followed by a story about the punishment for sinners)

• Chaucer was inspired by classical authors such as Boccaccio (“Decameron”), Dante, Petrarch or Virgil. Stories from the classics were well known and loved in the medieval period.

Literary context of the tales• Literary genres and devices in the tales:

• Fabliaux (humorous and popular tales which satirize society in a comic way)

• Bestiary ( description of animals to teach a lesson) • Sermons ( talk on religious matters) • Courty love.• Verbal irony: The contrast between what is said and what is actually

meant.• Satire: details that contradict what the characters think of themselves,

witty language convey insult/scorn, ridicules individuals, organizations, or states

• Indirect / Direct Characterization occurs when an author tells what a character does, says, or looks like, or describes how other characters react to him or her.The reader must use their judgment to decide what the character is like or he directly describes.

“This yeoman wore a coat and hood of green, And peacock-feathered arrows, bright and keen” (Appearance)

“Her greatest oath was only “By St. Loy!” (Speech)

“And gladly would he learn, and gladly teach.” (Attitude/Behavior/Feelings)

Who are the pilgrims?• Chaucer’s pilgrims represent all classes (The Three Estates),

all professions in medieval England.

• Those Who Work (Peasants & Middle Class)• Merchants, Labourers, Farmers, Government officials,

Miller, Yeoman, Shipman, Physician, Franklin, Reeve. Cook, Lawyer, Wife.

• Those Who Pray (Clergy)• Priests, Monks, Nuns, Friars, Pardoners, Summoner,

Prioress.

• Those Who Fight (Nobility)• Knights, Squires, Mercenaries, Princes, Dukes, etc.

How are tales organized?• 858 lines• Prologue

• Narrator introduces himself and explains the journey and the contest, he is like a reporter.

• In the Prologue, the narrator tells us that the Knight will tell his story first, but the Miller then interrupts the Knight.

• We don’t really know what order Chaucer intended because the manuscripts are all different.

The Prologue

Whan that Aprill with his shoures sooteThe droghte of March hath perced to the roote,And bathed every veyne in swich licourOf which vertu engendred is the flour,Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breethInspired hath in every holt and heethThe tendre croppes, and the yonge sonneHath in the Ram his halve cours yronne,And smale foweles maken melodye,That slepen al the nyght with open ye(so priketh hem Nature in hir corages),Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;And specially from every shires endeOf Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,The hooly blisful martir for to seke,That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

When fair April with his showers sweet,Has pierced the drought of March to the root's feetAnd bathed each vein in liquid of such power,Its strength creates the newly springing flower;When the West Wind too, with his sweet breath,Has breathed new life - in every copse and heath -Into each tender shoot, and the young sunFrom Aries moves to Taurus on his run,And those small birds begin their melody,(The ones who 'sleep` all night with open eye,)Then nature stirs them up to such a pitchThat folk all long to go on pilgrimageAnd wandering travellers tread new shores, strange strands,Seek out far shrines, renowned in many lands,And specially from every shire's endOf England to Canterbury they wendThe holy blessed martyr there to seek,Who has brought health to them when they were sick.

The Significance of The Canterbury Tales

1. Accurate depiction of life in the middle ages (class levels, interactions between the classes, beliefs, faults)

2. First story about lower classes (mix of classes)

3. Satire & humor for social / political / religious matters.

4. “The Canterbury Tales” point out problems within society.

5. He mixes serious and comical tales, profane and religious themes.

The Wife of Bath Tale• The Wife of Bath is one of three

women on the trip.

• “She was a worthy woman all her life”, the narrator says, then he mentions her 5 husbands. (This is an example of satire).

• She is a business woman with a strong sense of self-importance, her elaborate dress is a sign of her character as well as her wealth.

(note that she is probably in her forties and is married to a man in his twenties)

Watch the Animated Story

Your Assignment

Choose your task: (in pairs)• A: Investigate on a pilgrim , what his tale is

about, what his character is. • B: You will invent a tale: Create a pilgrim,

profession, personality, direct and indirect description, frame story.

Your group will present the pilgrim and his/her tale to the class.