Who was Geoffrey Chaucer? One of the most unique poets of during the Middle Ages was Geoffrey Chaucer. He was born in London sometime between 1340 and 1344. His parents were John Chaucer and Agnes Copton. John Chaucer was an affluent wine merchant and deputy to the king’s butler. Geoffrey held several opportunities early in his life serving as a noblewoman’s page, a courtier, a diplomat, a civil servant, and a collector of scrap metal. He was given theses oppurtunities because of who his father was and the role he played in society. There is not much about his early life. It was proven that he could speak French, Latin, and Italian. Chaucer joined the English Army’s invasion of France in 1359, this was during the Hundred Years war, it was also during the time of te Black Death. After joining the war he was soon taken prisoner; King Edward the third of England paid his ransom in 1360. Six years later in 1366 Chaucer married Philipa de Roe, who was Kind Edward the thirds wife’s maid. It was rumored that they had two sons an a daughter, but was never proven. The king gave Chaucer a life pension in 1367, and began traveling abroad on diplomatic missions. While on his trips to Italy in 1372 and 1378, he discovered the works of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrach all of these had a huge impact on Chaucer’s own literary work. Chaucer had taken a liking to love poetry of the French tradition, including the Romaunt of the Rose (c. 1370) and Saint Cecilia (c. 1373), later used as the
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of short poems written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the fourteenth century. Chaucer presented the tales as a series of stories various characters told in a story-telling contest during a pilgrimage to the Cathedral at Canterbury. The pilgrimage takes place in the month of April; there are twenty-nine travelers who seek the Shrine of St. Thomas Becket to offer homage and penance. Chaucer wrote the poems in the native language and vernacular of the medieval period, which lead to the tales being so widely known. Chaucer, the father of English literature, is so popular because his writing style influences many great English poets. In The Canterbury Tales, “The Pardoner’s Tale” and “The Reeve’s Tale” share many similarities
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.
In terms of literary quality, Chaucer went great lengths to give all elements a bit of attention. The work is primarily about a knight who is pardoned from a rape on the condition that he acquires the answer to one of life’s
In the Canterbury Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, born in circa 1340 - October 25, 1400, London, England.Chaucer expresses his beliefs of how should love be through the Knight's Tale and Miller’s Prologue since both presents a love triangle.Chaucer on the stories shows two types of love which had similarities and differences between the characters and the events of both stories.
The Friar, who lived off begging, appears to live a lowly existence, while Chaucer refers to the papacy in writing, “he had a special license from
being, he begins to poke fun at him. He insists that the Knight was “a
The Middle Ages was an interesting time to be a woman. For centuries the church generally disapproved of, with equal measure, women and sex. Women were not even thought of as human beings, and were seen as necessary only in what they could do for their men. When the men left for the Crusades women were given a larger role in the upkeep of their husbands’ houses and estates, and assumed a more public role in the community. This gave the women a greater feeling of independence, which they did not relinquish entirely when the men returned. As the men returned from the crusades they brought with them a new found openness to ideas, and a newfound respect for the worship of the Virgin Mary. These are two of
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 lived from thirteen-forty-three to fourteen-hundred. “Chaucer is one of the most interesting writers in English literature because he straddles two worlds: the Middle Ages and the Renaissance” (Collin 1). He wrote his poems in middle-English, which is called Vernacular. “Geoffrey Chaucer chose to write his poetry in the Vernacular – the everyday language – of his time and place” (Chaucer et al. 18). Perhaps one of Chaucer’s most important literary works, “The Canterbury Tales,” sets the stage for a more in depth understanding of the feudal systems and classes of the Middle Ages.
Chaucer was very unique in the way that he used his language. In his stories you never really understand what’s going on until the next passage. There are two different kinds of satire he like to use. He likes to use sarcasm as well as exaggerated speech. This is important when reading his writing. His prologue is very long but simple and to the point. He was the best writer of his time. He was a novelist before they existed.
Chaucer is one of the first authors to use rape in English literature (Schaus). Representations of rape occur with some consistency in several of Chaucer’s works, for example an attempted rape in “The Man of Law’s Tale” and the rape of a both a mother and daughter in “The Reeve’s Tale” (Schaus). His usage of rape was possibly inspired by his own speculated distribute with rape. On May 4, 1380, Cecily Chaumpaigne brought a deed of release into the Chancery of Richard II and had it recopied by a clerk on the back of the sheets of parchment used to record the "closed" or sealed letters sent by the king. In this deed, Chaumpaigne wrote "omnimodas acciones tam de raptu meo tam de aliqua alia re vel causa". The modern English translation roughly reads that Chaumpaigne released the poet Geoffrey Chaucer from all manner of actions such as they relate to my raptus or any other thing or cause (Cannon).
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
Chaucer shows facts about the Middle English through the people of the court system in society. In the “Prologue” Chaucer reveals the honorable qualities of the Knight during this time period. Through the speakers words “To ride abroad had
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.
This is a story about an author with an unfinished story that survived the passage of time. I will be discussing the life, the works, and the impact of Geoffrey Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1340, London, England. He is the son of John and Agnes de Copton Chaucer. Chaucer's family were wine merchants. Chaucer’s first job was as a page for Elizabeth, the countess of Ulster. Elizabeth was the wife of Prince Lionel, the third son of Edward III.