...The Canterbury Tales author · Geoffrey Chaucer type of work · Poetry (two tales are in prose: the Tale of Melibee and the Parson’s Tale) genres · Narrative collection of poems; character portraits; parody; estates satire; romance; fabliau language · Middle English time and place written · Around 1386–1395, England date of first publication · Sometime in the early fifteenth century publisher · Originally circulated in hand-copied manuscripts narrator · The primary narrator is an anonymous, naïve member of the pilgrimage, who is not described. The other pilgrims narrate most of the tales. point of view · In the General Prologue, the narrator speaks in the first person, describing each of the pilgrims as they appeared to him. Though narrated by different pilgrims, each of the tales is told from an omniscient third-person point of view, providing the reader with the thoughts as well as actions of the characters. tone · The Canterbury Tales incorporates an impressive range of attitudes toward life and literature. The tales are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, earthy, bawdy, and comical. The reader should not accept the naïve narrator’s point of view as Chaucer’s. tense · Past setting (time) · The late fourteenth century, after 1381 setting (place) · The Tabard Inn; the road to Canterbury protagonists · Each individual tale has protagonists, but Chaucer’s plan is to make none of his storytellers superior to others; it is an equal company. In the Knight’s Tale, the protagonists are...
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...Introduction The Canterbury Tales Introduction Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open eye(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 ende Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seeke. Bifil that in that seson, on a day, In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay When in April the sweet showers fall That pierce March's drought to the root and all And bathed every vein in liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower; When Zephyr also has with his sweet breath, Filled again, in every holt and heath, The tender shoots and leaves, and the young sun His half-course in the sign of the Ram has run, And many little birds make melody That sleep through all the night with open eye (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage) Then folk do long to go on pilgrimage, And palmers to go seeking out strange strands, To distant shrines well known in distant lands. And specially from every shire's end...
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...ANALYSIS OF THE HOLY(!) CHURCH OF ENGLAND THROUGH THE CHAUCER’S PARDONER Chaucer uses the pardoner character in order to criticize the Church of England in the 14th century which was a wealthy, corrupt, dishonest and an unjust institution that was trying to maintain its position rather than providing spiritual leadership and guidance to the people. In the general prologue, the pardoner claims in his bag he has a pillowcase of Virgin Mary and a piece of sail that Saint Peter went on the sea. Then, he starts bragging about how he extracts money from people by using these relics that are parts of the body of a saint or something supposedly used by or associated with a saint and venerated as holy, and their influence on people in order to sell them. Since individuals have seen relics as a way to come closer to the saints and thus, to God in a way, relics became a large business and the pardoner uses people’s beliefs in his advantage by deceiving and selling them useless materials claiming to be relics. He also states that by using these “relics”, he earns more money in one day than a commoner can in two months. “His wallet lay before him in his lap Bretfull of pardons, come from Rome all hot.” Here Chaucer is making fun of the existence of pardons and the church as an institution and points the center of church being Rome as the creator of this absurd practice. These lines from the general prologue are two of the many exemplifying Chaucer’s critical approach towards the church...
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...In the prologue of the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, he portrays the Squire as an aesthetically focused character and a fine knight-to-be, with fitting diction, and similes to describe the elegance, and desire for love of the young man, along with polysyndeton to list the endless talents of the Squire. Chaucer also shows the reader a stark contrast between the Squire and his father, the Knight, in how they carry themselves despite being in the same aristocratic societal class. The Squire, as described in the prologue, can be seen as fancy, talented, and respectable. Chaucer's diction aids in developing the Squire. In line 81, Chaucer calls him ,"...fine [and] young...", establishing quickly to the audience the Squire is to be respected, and falls into a class higher than that of many others. The Knight's son is also youthful and energetic, "...a lad of fire...", an intentional introduction on line 82 which leads into the illustration of the Squire's physical appearance of average height, swiftness and muscularity. Chaucer distinguishes the character's...
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...Reverend Peter Popoff, who has a weekly program that promotes a miracle spring water, is most parallel to the character Pardoner from The Canterbury Tales. Throughout this article, Reverend Popoff tries to promote his miracle spring water with intentions of making lots of money. This idea can be supported by the description given in paragraph nine which states, “Popoff’s ministry soared from $9.6 million in 2003 up to $23 million in 2005...his home sold for almost $2 million, and...he’s been spotted driving a Porsche and a Mercedes.” Without making sales from selling the miracle spring water, he wouldn’t be able to buy all the luxury things that he has bought. Just as Reverend Popoff was greedy and had intentions of making money, the Pardoner...
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...Canterbury Tales Webquest & Bookquest You are going to research background information about Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales. Anything not completed in class should be finished for HW. - Use the links to answer the questions listed below. Save answers into your Home Directory. Print a copy for your notebooks. - Please PARAPHRASE your answers rather than copying and pasting information. You may type your answers directly into the document and print when finished. 1. Geoffrey Chaucer 1. What kind of writer was he? 2. What were the years of his birth and death? 3. Where was he from? 4. What was his “masterpiece”? http://www.bartleby.com/65/ch/Chaucer.html 2. What is a pilgrimage? (You should already know this from our vocab. quiz.) 3. Define prologue. http://www.webster.com (or other dictionary site) 4. Where is Canterbury? What famous event happened there? What are the goals of the many people who travel there on pilgrimages? http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Canterbury,-England http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/history/history.aspx 5. When were The Canterbury Tales written? In what language were they written? • What are they about? • What is a frame tale? ...
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...Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer is a book filled with tales and prologues during the late medieval time period. Chaucer was born in 1342 in Paris. Chaucer lived the majority of his life privileged and on the kings’ (Richard II until 1399 then Henry IV) payroll. Chaucer began writing The Canterbury Tales in 1387, and worked on it throughout the 90’s. Of the few tales that I read (“The Prologue”, “The Miler’s Prologue”, “The Miller’s Tale”, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale Prologue”, and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”), it seems clear that love and marriage are underlying themes throughout. But, love and marriage are two separate things during this time period. What the characters perceive to be love is actually lust. This will become evident throughout the tales. “The Prologue” is where Chaucer introduces all of the characters that will be prevalent throughout The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer describes the season as being April, and goes into detail about each character. It should be noted that the 29 characters that Chaucer mentioned were brought together by chance and did not plan this meeting. Each character had stopped at Tabard Inn, while waiting to embark on the pilgrimage to Canterbury. The night before the pilgrimage was to begin, the host offered a proposition to the pilgrims. He suggested a simple task: Now listen for your good, And please don’t treat my notion with disdain. This is the point. I’ll make it short and plain. Each one...
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...The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, is an eminent frame story written in the middle ages. The story begins with an abundant number of people traveling to Canterbury for a religious or luxurious purpose. To pass time, the people tell a story and whoever has the best tale wins a free meal. Chaucer deliberately makes the Prioress stand out more than other characters because she is supposedly a religious woman. The Prioress is a nun who enjoys showing people that “she [is] so charitably solicitous “(Chaucer 147). Throughout The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer gives the Prioress a distinct description, acknowledging her personality, morals, and appearance. In The Canterbury Tales, the Prioress is described as an alluring woman who desires the finest things. Chaucer portrays the Prioress to have appealing features: “Her nose [is] elegant, her eyes glass grey; Her mouth [is] very small, but soft and red, Her forehead, certainly, [is] fair spread” (Chaucer 156-158). The Prioress’ appearance signifies modern day beauty. It seems as if Chaucer is admiring the Prioress and viewing her as a perfect individual from God. In contradiction, Chaucer states how on her jewelry “there first [is] graven a crowned A, and lower, Amor vincit omnia” (Chaucer 165). The saying written on the Prioress’ jewelry means love conquers all, showing that she is more worldly than ecclesiastical. Chaucer establishes that the Prioress cares more about what people think of her than God’s judgment. In addition...
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...The Canterbury Tales takes place in a tavern near London called the Tabard Inn. The narrator is staying at the inn with twenty-nine pilgrims who are all traveling to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The pilgrims are a wide range of people and characters. The Host, Harry Bailey, makes the point that they should all ride together and entertain one another with stories. I believe Chaucer uses this setting in order to tell many different types of tales. The first pilgrim to tell a story is the Knight. He tells a tale of two knights: Arcite and Palamon. They were wounded in battle by the Duke of Athens, Theseus. The Duke decides to imprison them rather than execution. During their imprisonment they both fell in love with the Duke’s sister-in-law, Emily. After fighting over who was more worthy of Emily, Arcite was freed from prison through the help of a friend. However, he was banished from Athens and was to never return. Arcite returns in disguise as a personal attendant for Emily. When his fellow knight, Palamon, is freed from prison, he confronts Arcite and they begin to fight over her again. The Duke apprehends them and arranges a tournament, with Emily as the prize, between the two knights and their best men. Arcite wins, but he is thrown from his horse and dies. Palamon then marries Emily instead. It makes sense that the Knight would tell this story because it is filled with knights, love, honor, chivalry, and adventure. I believe that...
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...The squire, son of the knight and knight in training, is a fine specimen to examine for imagery and physiognomic interpretation leading to characterization in Geoffery Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”. These interpretations can be pulled from his outward appearance, his actual talents, and how his father differs from him. The squire, to begin, is a young lad who follows his father on this journey to learn how to be a knight. He has not yet faced a major battle, and he doesn't appear to possess the outward appearance of a knight. “A lover and cadet, a lad of fire with locks as curly as if they had been pressed. He was some twenty years of age, I guessed” (lines 82-84). Chaucer used this chance to describe the squire as being young, aware of his appearance, and a lover rather than a fighter. He uses the phrase, “a lad of fire” to describe the boy as possessing a passion, though that passion is not to be in a war. He also uses imagery when describing the squire’s hair by saying the locks are pressed. The squire has beautiful hair that leads the reader to picture him as a handsome young man who is well kept and conscious of his appearance. These are not the typical qualities of a knight. Furthermore, “He was as fresh as is the month of May” (line 94). Fresh is a word to describe youth and isn’t a positive reflection on his intelligence. He also says May, a month in spring. Spring is a time of youth and it is another parallel drawn to his age. Finally, “Short was his gown, his sleeves...
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...The intention behind Chaucer’s ‘character portraits’ within The Canterbury Tales is a widely debated topic with ideas ranging from Hulbert’s opinion that they are reflections of real people and therefore of humankind as a whole at the time to Jill Mann’s idea that Chaucer was satirising the estates rather than any one individual. Whilst many of the pilgrims introduced are thought to be hyperbolic allegories for specific classes used to satirise the estate system present at the time others argue that he instead chose to use irony to highlight the hypocrisy of the time. The credulous tone present when he accepts the pilgrims’ versions of themselves that they put forward rather than the self that they actually are proves Chaucer to be a less...
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...At the beginning of the prologue, Chaucer informs the audience that he will “Tell you al the condicioun of eech of hem, so as it seemed me, and whiche they were, and of what degree,” and as a result give the readers insight as to what he believes the characters to be like. Going into his characterization of the knight, it seems as if Chaucer is going to have a very optimistic and genuine appreciation towards all the characters. Chaucer describes the knight with nothing but positive connotation as seen when he says the knight “never yi not villainye ne said in al his lif unto no manere wight: He was a verray, parfit, gentil knight.” It is evident that Chaucer depicts the knight as genuinely noble and kind. His positive characterization of the knight creates a sharp contrast with his depiction of the prioresse. While Chaucer begins complimenting the prioresse by describing as “charitable and so pitous” and “ful plesant and amiable of port” there is a sense of irony detected in his description of her. Although the prioresse would weep when she saw a dead mouse as seen by the quote “she wolde weepe if that she saw a mous caught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde,” it is clear that she is trying to create a façade. In the next line Chaucer describes how the prioresse would feed the flesh of dead animals to hounds when he says that “of smale houndes hadde she fedde with rosted flesh.” By reflecting on the Prioresse feeding animals with flesh directly after talking about the...
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...Zachary Scott Bryant Professor Engleking Humanities Cluster September 9th 2015 Themes in Canterbury Tales When dissecting the Canterbury tales for themes you can find about 30 thousand different ones to try to draw stories from your own life. However, in my opinion the three biggest themes that resonate with me are the ideas of Relationships, Companions, and Corruption. Let us begin with the easiest one, relationships. There are several relationships discussed within the Canterbury tales. The most important one is by far the Wife of Bath’s tale of the knight. I see much of the male youth of today in him he is a real smartass and at times is outright rude he is a piss poor example of what a Knight is in general but through his own development in the story he builds his redeeming qualities and ultimately succumbs to his wife’s will and better judgement. I have been in the Knights shoes, stuck between what you want in life and what is truly the right thing to do. Many times my wife’s better judgement has saved me from some unnecessary hardship. Whether it be my impulsive buying habits or my quick to anger personality, I think many men could do well to learn from the knight how to place themselves in the hands of their better halves. From the romantic side of things it is a very short step into the world of corruption. A lot of corruption comes out of romance or love. The knight at the heart of himself is corrupt he is at his deepest level no knight at all. However in my...
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...Shlok Kumar Professor Padma Baliga English Literature Upto 1900 13 September 2010 The Canterbury Tales and the Panchatantra: Two Frame Narratives contrasted The East has a wonderful tradition in teaching morals through interesting tales; India has given the world the earliest such tales in the form of the Panchatantra, the Hitopadesa and even the Puranas. The Canterbury Tales and the Panchatantra are both frame narratives- often known as ‘story within a story.’ Yet the target audience of both these works is different. And this arises from the nature of these works. Whilst The Canterbury Tales was written by Chaucer originally for a courtly, upper class audience, the Panchatantra was written to teach the high morals and sensibilities of Vedic literature to three disinterested princes in the simplest language, using animals as symbols and characters. Indeed, the Panchatantra and its derivative work, the Hitopadesa are often dismissed as stories for children. Though these fables are indeed vastly instructive, they also teach a way of thriving in the material world and a way of life itself; the Panchatantra is referred to as a niti-shastra. This paper attempts to contrast the Canterbury Tales with the Panchatantra and illustrate the manner in which the latter is a niti-shastra without being merely populated by abstruse, pithy phrases. We know that in The Canterbury Tales, a group of about 30 pilgrims gather at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, across the Thames from...
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...Themes in Canterbury Tales Throughout an author’s literature, many times we find common themes; this is definitely true in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The reader can find common themes through many of the tales. In the Wife of Bath tale, The Miller’s tale, and the Pardoner’s tale, it is easy to see that one of the main themes through the book is that women are the downfall of men. In the tale of The Wife of Bath, the reader sees the main theme in Chaucer’s work. In The Wife of Bath’s prologue, she tells a story about a night when she and one of her husbands spent a night at home. Her husband would read to her from a book. On this particular night, the Wife of Bath was subjected to more of this book, and the reader is told of how the book explains that women are men’s downfall. The Miller’s Tale is another that supports the theme. The Miller’s Tale speaks of a man who is totally devoted to an unfaithful wife. In the tale this beautiful woman is having an affair with a friend of her husband. To have some time alone they made a plan to get him away. They tell her devoted and gullible husband that there will be a flood like Noah’s, and to make boats to save them. In an attempt to save his wife, the husband goes to the roof and makes the boats. He died, and again, the actions of an unfaithful wife lead to the death of an innocently man. In the Pardoner’s Tale, a male traveler, the characters in his tale give examples as to why women are the downfall of men. The characters...
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