Geoffrey Chaucer's Accomplishments

Geoffrey Chaucer became a famous writer in his twenties. He wrote The Book of the Duchess which was completed in early 1369. Chaucer wrote Canterbury Tales in his later years, and no one knows for sure why he changed his style of writing so drastically. There are various types of writing that he uses in the Canterbury Tales such as romance, comedy, rhyme, prose, crude humor, and even religious mysteries. There were only twenty four out of one hundred and twenty pieces that were completed before Chaucer died. In Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses satire to question the church and the relationship between men and women.

Around 1374, began the period of Chaucer's Italian influence. In that time he wrote more poems such as, he wrote Anelida and Arcite in 1379 and he also wrote Parlement of Foules in 1382 also he wrote Troilus and Criseyde in 1385. In 1386 he moved to Kent and he was elected a justice of the peace and in the Parliament. In 1837 his wife, Philipa de Roet, sadly passed away. They say that his artistic maturity started when he wrote the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. Ralph Waldo Emerson said in his poem The Poet that Chaucer along with a long list of other poets " that they obviously have no limits except for limits of their life time, and resemble a mirror carried through the streets, ready to render an image of every created thing."

I agree with what Condren’s view on Chaucer. Chaucer shows in the story Chaucer talks about how dynamic life is and how different the people are. Life is a crazy thing but Chaucer makes it really different. He makes everything “fascinating” with everything he talks about has to have a story behind it and the people have stories behind them. He makes the people “fascinating” he talks about how they have rashes and have nasty eyebrows and the way they dress. Nothing is boring with them.

The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer is over 600 years old, yet it is still being read and discussed today. What makes it still relevant? History, it gives us a record of Middle English and how it was used at the time. The primary challenge that most reader’s of Chaucer’s General Prologue experience is understanding the language. Although, Chaucer’s English is centuries old it is still recognizable. After studying the language, I noticed the main difference between Middle and Modern English is the

Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the most acclaimed writers of the 14th century. It was not exactly certain when Geoffrey Chaucer was, born but it was known to be around 1340 to 1344. He was the son of John Chaucer and Agnes Copton. John Chaucer was a very successful London wine merchant, but soon died in 1366. His wife Agnes got remarried to another Chaucer, said to be a cousin of her late husband John. “Just where the boy got his schooling is not known; he may have been at either Oxford or Cambridge, or neither.” (Kunitz & Haycraft 98). Not much was known about his early life, but through his various pieces of work we can conclude that he was able fluently read French, Latin, and Italian. “Although there was proof that Chaucer could read and write before he went to school” (historylearningsite.co.uk). He was taught by one of his father 's clerks who enlarged his income by teaching as one of his side jobs. His family home was known to be in the area of St. Martin, on Thames Street. John Chaucer was raised up in a well-to-do family environment, the family not being too rich or too poor.

Chaucer wrote many stories in his life; however, his most well-known work would have to be The Canterbury Tales. This story contains ¬many other stories, including “The Pardoner’s Tale.” This is a short

Chaucer did not begin working on "The Canterbury Tales" until he was in his early 40s. Chaucer took his narrative inspiration for his works from several sources but still remained an entirely

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, using his characters as the mouthpiece for his iconoclastic views. Chaucer had serious issues with the hypocrisy of the church as well as, many other sacred institutions. The only reason that Chaucer was not exiled or even imprisoned for his views is the way in which he exposed them. Through the allegorical meanings of this text and Chaucer’s claim that he is simply retelling the events of his pilgrimage to Canterbury as it occurred, Chaucer is saved from extreme persecution. From the beginning of time there has always been issues with challenging the higher order; allowing people to make their own decisions and separate themselves from the way of the church often lead to death. In 1350 the

Geoffrey Chaucer My poet Geoffrey Chaucer was born circa 1340 in London England. In 1357 he became a public servant to countless Elizabeth of ulster and continued in that capacity with British court throughout his lifetime. The Canterbury tales became his best known and most aclaimed work. Chaucer died October 25th 1400 in London England and was the first to be buried in Westminster abbeys poets corner.

Thesis Statement: Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the most influential writers of the Medieval times. Geoffrey was born in the early 1340’s and he died in 1400. Geoffrey Chaucer was born later than 1340, but probably earlier than 1345.

The Medieval period of The Canterbury Tales is held on April 11, 1387. The writing style of tales are literary skilled. “There is clear evidence in them that Chaucer was familiar with a considerable number of the great book of his time, and it is fairly well established that his writings show a steady increase in his literary skill” (Chaucer xxxvii). Chaucer is a writer of surprise. His stories not only come from plots of other writers but also from his lifetime. “There is of course no explaining where or how Chaucer acquired his ability as a great storyteller. However, the fact that he was a man of affairs as well as a man of books, a civil servant who dealt frequently with people from all walks of life, seem to have had great

The Canterbury Tales, has withstood the test of time mainly because of the well-known historical influence the work has had on the development of the English language. Today, many individuals continue to read the work and enjoy it for many of the same reasons the individuals of the middle ages enjoyed it. However, many readers of the work today do not realize the historical significance this work has had on the English language as a result of the works translation into modern English. This is why many publications of the work contain both the modern translation as well as the Middle English version. By comparing the two versions, one can see how

The Canterbury Tales, a collection of tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, was written in Middle English at the end of the 14th century (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011). It is considered to be the best work of literature in English in the Middle Ages (Johnston, 1998). Chaucer uses literary devices as no one had ever done. In addition, he chose to use English instead of Latin. This masterpiece is structured in a similar way as Bocaccio's Decameron. The tales are organized within a frame narrative (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011) explained in the General Prologue by the narrator: a group of pilgrims that are going to visit St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury's Cathedral. These pilgrims are from different estates of the medieval society: nobility, the

It was in Chaucer's final phase, which he gained his popularity, The Canterbury Tales (written mostly after 1387). The Canterbury Tales was an unfinished poem. Being his most successful, it consists of 17000 lines. It was one of the most unsullied works in all literature. (Info Please) The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle-English. As a group of pilgrims travels to the shrine of Saint Thomas they decide to tell stories to each other on the way. In a huge list of poems and stories, the Canterbury Tales is Chaucer's most important and visual, and a stacking achievement of western culture and Old English times. While writing the Canterbury tales he use the characters and their lifestyles to create irony and every day events. Describing what the old English church was really like. (Geoffrey Chaucer) The Canterbury Tales were written in Middle English, in the old days, the tone was equivalent to London type style. Although there was never an official copy of the Canterbury tales, Adam Pankhurst made sure that wasn’t true.

Chaucer is generally considered the father of English poetry, and The Canterbury Tales has been required reading for countless students over the generations. The influence of his work on generations of English-language writers is undisputed. Some critics have worried that such wide and shallow exposure of the reading public to Chaucer's work has diluted full appreciation for his complex contribution to literature. Critic Derek Traversi says, “The appreciation of Geoffrey Chaucer has suffered a good deal in the past from his reputation as the ‘Father of English poetry.’ It has been easy to think of him as a ‘naif,’ the possessor of a charming simplicity of outlook which tends to convey itself, for a modern reader, through language considered ‘picturesque’ or simply childish, alternately ‘quaint’ or redolent of innocence for readers who think of themselves as more sophisticated and more psychologically complex.” However, this view is not correct, Traversi argues: “His early poems show him engaged in exploring the possibilities of the English language as an instrument for sophisticated literary creation.” As poet William Blake put it, over four hundred years after the book's first publication: “Of Chaucer's characters, as described in his Canterbury Tales, some of the names are altered by Time, but the Characters themselves for ever remain unaltered and consequently they are the Physiognomies or lineaments of