Education On Education In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

“Do not let the power of fear control us, comrades. Together without fear, we’ve conquered so much! Let us not stop now!” Squealer said, trying to calm the animals. Throughout the book, Animal Farm by George Orwell, the animals live in constant fear, Jones hurt and manipulated the animals while he was in power. Once he was banished the animals still felt a deep fear, Napoleon, who had banished Snowball, killed animals for plotting against him, and changing the seven commandments time and time again, brought the fear back to the animals.

In the 1950’s Arthur Miller wrote a play, The Crucible, and set it in Salem during early colonization. In The Crucible, John Proctor has an affair with a young woman named Abigail Williams. However, John decides it is time to end things with Abigail, because of this she seeks revenge and spirals the town into madness in search of a “witch”. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter , minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Hester Prynne a young widow have a love affair and Hester becomes pregnant. Hester is forced to wear a red “A” on the front of her dress. Hester’s “dead” husband reappears and is set on finding out who Pearl’s father is. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter share similar themes about internal conflict.

    Chaucer's view of the clergy class is not as positive as his view of the ruling class.  For example, Chaucer describes the Prioress/Nun using a great amount of satire.  He speaks of how the nun has excellent etiquette and manners.  She tries so hard to be respected and viewed as one with higher status.  Her character is best described in the quote:

Throughout literature, deep relationships can often be discovered between a story and the author who writes it. Relationships can also be found in stories about a husband and wife. In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales many of the characters make this idea apparent with the stories they tell. In “The Pardoner’s Tale”, a distinct relationship can be made between the character of the Pardoner and his tale of three friends. Also, the Wife in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” boldly declares her relationship towards her husband.

It is clear that Geoffrey Chaucer was acutely aware of the strict classist system in which he lived; indeed the very subject matter of his Canterbury Tales (CT) is a commentary on this system: its shortcomings and its benefits regarding English society. In fact, Chaucer is particularly adept at portraying each of his pilgrims as an example of various strata within 14th century English society. And upon first reading the CT, one might mistake Chaucer's acute social awareness and insightful characterizations as accurate portrayals of British society in the late 1300s and early 1400s. Further, one might mistake his analysis, criticism, and his sardonic condemnation of many elements of British culture for genuine attempts to alter the

Chaucer, indeed, seems to be preoccupied with matters of class distinction in his Canterbury Tales, telling us right at the beginning that not only will he include stories of the pilgrims but that he will also tell us "of what degree"(I: 40) they are , in other words, their social milieu.

Written by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the fourteenth century, The Canterbury Tales and more specifically it’s prologue, shed a great deal of light on the rising middle class in (fourteenth century) England. Despite the fact that some readers may not know a lot about the time period today, Chaucer’s writing in the prologue elaborates on topics such as occupations, wealth, education, and political power. Scholar Barbara Nolan writes of the prologue, “it is more complex than most…It raises expectations in just the areas the handbooks propose, promising to take up important matters of natural and social order, moral character, and religion and outlining the organization the work will follow” (Nolan 154). In other words, while noting the

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a story of a contest who can tell the best tale. The rules of the contest were as follows: Each pilgrim would tell four tales for the trip to Canterbury, two on the journey there and two on the way back.. The tales will be judged by the Host for it’s entertainment and moral lessons. The winner of the contest will enjoy a meal paid for by the remaining pilgrims at the Host's Inn. “The Miller’s Tale” had fulfilled the criteria to win the contest. It was a shorter story, but it was entertaining and had a few lessons that can be learned from hearing or reading it. This story is significant because it does a great job of pointing out of some of the problems in the church during that time as well as how the morals of some people were not strong as well.

In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer comments on moral corruption within the Roman Catholic Church. He criticizes many high-ranking members of the Church and describes a lack of morality in medieval society; yet in the “Retraction,” Chaucer recants much of his work and pledges to be true to Christianity. Seemingly opposite views exist within the “Retraction” and The Canterbury Tales. However, this contradiction does not weaken Chaucer’s social commentary. Rather, the “Retraction” emphasizes Chaucer’s criticism of the Church and society in The Canterbury Tales by reinforcing the risk inherent in doing so.

Learning About Medieval Life and Society from Chaucer's General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales I have been studying Geoffrey Chaucer's General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, of which I looked specifically at six portraits, these being: the Knight, his son, a young squire, the prioress, the wife of Bath, the Miller and the Pardoner. From these portraits I was able to observe the ways of life and society in medieval times. I found out about social status, fashion, wealth, romantic love, the importance of manners and the church during this era - and these are just the topics I took particular interest in; there were many other areas of medieval life and society that Chaucer's General Prologue to

The woman was fair skinned and her body was slim. She wore a stripped silken

The Canterbury Tales, a masterpiece of English Literature, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, is a collection, with frequent dramatic links, of 24 tales told to pass the time during a spring pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. The General Prologue introduces the pilgrims, 29 "sondry folk" gathered at the Tabard Inn in Southwark (outside of London). Chaucer decides to join them, taking some time to describe each pilgrim.

Erik Ericson psychosocial theory attempts to explain some of the natural changes that occur in each human being in relation between the social environment and self-understanding. In his eight stages, he describes, “the emergence of the self, the search for identity, the individual's relationships with others, and the role of culture throughout life” (Woolfolk, 2013, p. 87). In one of the eight stages, Ericson established the role that adolescence plays in a person’s life, identity versus role confusion. Identity refers to the organization of the individual's drives, abilities, beliefs, and history into a consistent image of self” (p. 90). According to Erickson in the adolescence, a person must confront the “central issue of constructing an identity that will provide a firm basis for adulthood… adolescence marks the first time that a conscious effort is made to answer the now pressing question: ‘Who am I?’” (p. 90)

Geoffrey Chaucer was a poet, a writer, and of course a diplomat. Geoffrey Chaucer was born in the early hours of 1340s to John Chaucer, a vintner and assistant to the king's butler. As a boy, he was a leaf to the Countess of Ulster. (Lombardi) Chaucer was the most famous for writing his unfinished Canterbury tales. (Geoffrey Chaucer) He was born in London, only problem is, the exact date and place are unknown. From his writings Chaucer emerges as poet of love, both worldly and heavenly. No information exists about his early education, although without a doubt he would have been as good in French as in the Middle English of his time. (Bio.True Story) Chaucer pops up in the record books in 1357 he was working for the queen.

Geoffrey Chaucer, in his novel Canterbury Tales, characterizes twenty four pilgrims on their journey to Canterbury. Ranging from knights to aristocrats to the trade class , the descriptive passages depict his opinions on each traveller. These characters in turn reflect Chaucer’s criticism and attitude towards medieval society, an example of social commentary. One character specifically used to reflect Chaucer's views on Scottish culture, the lower class, and corrupt businessmen is the Miler. In the general prologue, Chaucer reveals an overall negative opinion towards the Miller’s appearance and actions, reflecting his disappoint with aspects of the Middle Ages.