Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales P . S. Langeslag
Chaucer
Anglo-Saxon Bureaucracy ▶ Laws ▶ Charters ▶ Writs ▶ Annals
Anglo-Norman Bureaucracy ▶ Laws ▶ Charters ▶ Writs (Chancery) ▶ Annals ▶ Balance sheets Figure 1: Domesday Book (public domain/WMC) ▶ Taxation (Exchequer) ▶ Court documents
Chaucer’s Background Essential Dates ▶ born c. 1342 ▶ died c. 1400 Family History ▶ Ipswich → London ▶ Vintnery ▶ Wool export Figure 2: Hoccleve’s portrait of Chaucer (public domain/WMC)
Chaucer’s CV 1357– Page of Countess Elizabeth de Burgh 1359– Soldier under Prince Lionel 1367– Esquire of Edward III 1374–1385 Customs controller 1385– Justice of the Peace in Kent 1386– Member of Parliament 1389–1391 Overseer of the king’s works 1391– Deputy forester → Member of the new bureaucratic class
Chaucer’s Works Period Date Title Genre “French” pre-1372 The Romaunt of the Rose Dream Vision c. 1374 The Book of the Duchess Dream Vision “Italian” late 1370s Anelida and Arcite Romance 1379–80 The House of Fame Dream Vision 1380–82 The Parliament of Fowls Dream/Debate 1380s The Legend of Good Women Dream Vision 1382–86 Troilus and Criseyde Romance pre-1386 Boece Metaphysics “English” 1388–1400 The Canterbury Tales Estates Satire c. 1391 A Treatise on the Astrolabe Science 1392 The Equatorie of the Planetis Science
Italian Influence Date Title Source late 1370s Anelida and Arcite Boccaccio’s Tesseida 1379–80 The House of Fame French models; Dante, Boccaccio 1380–82 The Parliament of Fowls Boccaccio’s Tesseida 1380s The Legend of Good Women Boccaccio’s De mulieribus claris 1382–86 Troilus and Criseyde Boccaccio’s Il filostrato pre-1386 Boece Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy Several of the Canterbury Tales also belong to this period and influence.
The Canterbury Tales
Figure 3: Talbot Yard (source: Google)
Figure 4: London and Canterbury
Design 30 pilgrims 2 stories outbound 2 stories homebound x 120 stories total We have 24 of Chaucer’s tales, two of which are unfinished.
Genre Decameron : 10 young nobles 10 stories x 100 stories total ▶ Decameron : Novella ▶ Canterbury Tales : Compendium / estates satire? Figure 5: The Three Estates (public domain: source)
Genres of Individual Tales 1/3 ▶ Romance ▶ Fabliau ▶ Chivalric ▶ The Miller’s Tale ▶ The Knight’s Tale ▶ The Reeve’s Tale ▶ The Wife of Bath’s Tale ▶ The Cook’s Tale (incomplete) ▶ The Squire’s Tale ▶ The Friar’s Tale ▶ Sir Thopas ▶ The Merchant’s Tale ▶ Christian ▶ The Summoner’s Tale ▶ The Man of Law’s Tale ▶ The Shipman’s Tale ▶ The Clerk’s Tale ▶ The Manciple’s Tale ▶ Courtly ▶ The Merchant’s Tale Fabliau : a verse tale, ofuen obscene, ridiculing members of some social class or profession and celebrating trickery.
Genres of Individual Tales 2/3 ▶ Breton lai ▶ Boethian tragedy ▶ The Franklin’s Tale ▶ The Monk’s Tale ▶ Exemplum / sermon ▶ Beast fable ▶ The Friar’s Tale ▶ The Nun’s Priest’s Tale ▶ The Monk’s Tale ▶ The Manciple’s Tale ▶ The Second Nun’s Prologue ▶ Confession ▶ Saint’s Life ▶ The Wife of Bath’s Prologue ▶ The Second Nun’s Tale ▶ The Pardoner’s Prologue ▶ The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue Breton lai : a short verse tale dealing with love and/or the supernatural.
Genres of Individual Tales 3/3 ▶ Occupational satire ▶ The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale ▶ Religious tract ▶ The Parson’s Tale ▶ Wisdom literature ▶ The Tale of Melibee ▶ Miracle of the Virgin ▶ The Prioress’s Tale ▶ Generic compilation ▶ The Second Nun’s Prologue : sermon; prayer; etymology
Two Chaucers Pilgrim = Narrator P t o e Figure 6: Portrait of Chaucer in the Ellesmere MS (public domain/WMC)
Structure ▶ General Prologue ▶ Individual Tales ▶ Links ▶ Prologues ▶ Epilogues
Sequence 1/3 # Title Genre Frag. 1 The Knight’s Tale Chivalric romance I 2 The Miller’s Tale Fabliau I 3 The Reeve’s Tale Fabliau I 4 The Cook’s Tale Fabliau (incomplete) I 5 The Man of Law’s Tale Christian romance II 6a The Wife of Bath’s Prologue Confession III 6b The Wife of Bath’s Tale Chivalric romance III 7 The Friar’s Tale Exemplum III 8 The Summoner’s Tale Fabliau III 9 The Clerk’s Tale Christian romance IV 10 The Merchant’s Tale Fabliau/courtly romance IV
Sequence 2/3 # Title Genre Frag. 11 The Squire’s Tale Chivalric romance (intentionally incomplete) V 12 The Franklin’s Tale Breton lai V 13 The Physician’s Tale Exemplum / Secular sermon VI 14a The Pardoner’s Prologue Confession VI 14b The Pardoner’s Tale Exemplum / sermon VI 15 The Shipman’s Tale Fabliau VII 16 The Prioress’s Tale Miracle of the Virgin VII 17 Sir Thopas Minstrel romance (intentionally incomplete) VII 18 The Tale of Melibee Wisdom literature (prose trans.) VII 19 The Monk’s Tale Boethian tragedy VII 20 The Nun’s Priest’s Tale Beast fable VII
Sequence 3/3 # Title Genre Frag. 21a The Second Nun’s Prologue Sermon; prayer; etymology VIII 21b The Secund Nun’s Tale Saint’s life VIII 22a The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue Confession VIII 22b The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale ~Occupational satire VIII 23 The Manciple’s Tale Beast fable IX 24 The Parson’s Tale Religious tract (prose) X
General Prologue : The Franklin A Frankeleyn was in his compaignye. Whit was his berd as is the dayesye; Of his complexioun he was sangwyn. Wel loved he by the morwe a sop in wyn; To lyven in delit was evere his wone, For he was Epicurus owene sone, That heeld opinioun that pleyn delit Was verraily felicitee parfit. An housholdere, and that a greet, was he; Seint Julian he was in his contree. His breed, his ale, was alweys afuer oon; A bettre envyned man was nowher noon. Withoute bake mete was nevere his hous, Of fissh and flessh, and that so plentevous,
General Prologue : The Franklin It snewed in his hous of mete and drynke, Of alle deyntees that men koude thynke, Afuer the sondry sesons of the yeer; So chaunged he his mete and his soper. Ful many a fat partrich hadde he in muwe,° pen And many a breem and many a luce in stuwe. Wo was his cook but if his sauce were Poynaunt and sharp, and redy al his geere. His table dormant in his halle alway Stood redy covered al the longe day. At sessiouns ther was he lord and sire; Ful ofue tyme he was knyght of the shire. An anlaas, and a gipser al of silk, Heeng at his girdel, whit as morne milk. A shirreve hadde he been, and a countour;° auditor Was nowher such a worthy vavasour.° feudal landholder
The Miller (Fragment I) Whan that the Knyght had thus his tale ytoold, In al the route nas ther yong ne oold That he ne seyde it was a noble storie And worthy for to drawen to memorie, And namely the gentils everichon. Oure Hooste lough and swoor, “So moot I gon, This gooth aright; unbokeled is the male. Lat se now who shal telle another tale; For trewely the game is wel bigonne. Now telleth ye, sir Monk, if that ye konne, Somwhat to quite with the Knyghtes tale.”
The Miller (Fragment I) The Millere, that for dronken was al pale, So that unnethe° upon his hors he sat, with difficulty He nolde avalen° neither hood ne hat, take off Ne abyde no man for his curteisie, But in Pilates voys° he gan to crie, i.e. loudly And swoor, “By armes, and by blood and bones, I kan a noble tale for the nones,° indeed With which I wol now quite the Knyghtes tale.” Oure Hooste saugh that he was dronke of ale, And seyde, “Abyd, Robyn, my leeve brother; Som bettre man shal telle us first another. Abyd, and lat us werken thrifuily.” “By Goddes soule,” quod he, “that wol nat I; For I wol speke or elles go my wey.” Oure Hoost answerde, “Tel on, a devel wey! Thou art a fool; thy wit is overcome.”
Fragment I ▶ Knight ▶ Described in ideal terms in the Prologue ▶ Tells “a noble storie” according to all, especially “the gentils” ▶ Monk ▶ Portrayed as a secular hunter in the Prologue, but not dishonest ▶ Eventually tells a moralizing tale of Boethian tragedy ▶ The Knight and the Host criticize his tale as depressing and boring
Fragment I ▶ Miller ▶ Drunk ▶ “A cherl” ▶ Insists on telling his tale before the Monk has a chance to tell his ▶ “Abyd, Robyn, my leeve brother; / Some bettre man shal telle us first another.” ▶ Tells a tale of cuckoldry ▶ “Diverse folk diversely they seyde” ▶ Reeve ▶ Depicted as a shrewd and dishonest man in the Prologue ▶ Feels personally offended by the Miller’s Tale ▶ Tells a filthier tale than the Miller, about a miller ▶ Cook ▶ “Wel koude he knowe a draughte of Londoun ale” ▶ Fraudulent cooking practices ▶ Tells a tale about a sex worker
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