Canterbury%20Tales

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Canterbury Tales

• Chaucer and The General Prologue

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• Who is Chaucer?

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Canterbury Tales

• Written around 1387-1400
• Written by Geoffrey Chaucer
• One of his most famous works, Canterbury Tales
• Influenced by Boccacios, Decameron
• Intended to write 120 tales
• Set up as a framing narrative
• -a story within a story

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What happened?

• He died-
• Reason for death is unknown
• Due to his death, he never was able to finish all
  120 of the tales

• Very influential
• Shakespeare
• Poets corner

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Prologue

• Chaucer has the idea to bring together 29 sundry
  folk by way of a pilgrimage (by adventure
  chance)
• Represent a wide range of 14th century English
  society
• Brought together different classes of people
• Perfect way to present his irony
• Irony portray attitudes that are contradictory
• to the real attitudes/beliefs of the time period

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Prologue

• Represent a wide range of 14th century English
  society
• 3 Groups Represent
• Agricultural feudalism
• Landownership and service
• Knights yeoman
• Franklin
• Urbanization
• Change in feudal structure
• Doctor
• Guildsmen
• The Church
• One of the most powerful elements in medieval
  society
• 9 of pilgrims belong to clergy

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Prologue

• Each pilgrim
• tells two stories on the way to Canterbury
• two stories on the way back
• Plan proposed by Harry Bailey, host of the Tabard
  Inn
• Teller of best tale is rewarded at the end
• A dinner provided by his fellow pilgrims at the
  Tabard
• Harry Bailey is judge

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Prologue

• Prologue sets the scene and introduces reader to
  the characters
• Between many of the tales Chaucer expounds upon
  the personalities of the pilgrims.
• Number of arguments that prepare for subsequent
  tales
• Some pilgrims introduce a tale with a commentary
  on his/her own
• personal life

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Prologue

• Chaucers project was never finished
• Only 24 tales exist
• Tales were probably composed at various times in
  Chaucers life

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Prologue

• Begins with a long, rhetorical sentence in high
  style describing spring.
• Gradually descends into a more realistic style
  of expository narrative.

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Activity

• Begin reading the prologue.
• Once Chaucer begins to introduce the characters,
  start taking notes on each character and the
  description of the character (this is to be
  started now and finished for homework).
• Start on page 15-23 (read right hand side of the
  text). Look at page 7 for description of the
  breakdown of the different social classes
  represented.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION
Knight
Squire