Upload
jaelyn-ramsdell
View
230
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The Canterbury TalesGeoffrey Chaucer
by:
1
1340s (ish) - 1400
Middle Ages
22
•Emperors became more like kings
•Feudalism: involuntary peasant labor on lands not their own•personal bonds and personal law beginning to replace impersonal law common to large expanses of territory
•Medieval Guilds (exclusive, regimented organizations)
•The Catholic Church would provide spiritual and moral direction, as well as leadership and material support, during the darkest times of the early Medieval period.
Feudalism: The Middle Ages’ social order
*Christianity provided the basis for a first unified religion common to most of the continent.Crusades: Popes, kings, and emperors unite and defend Christendom
Feudalism--A system of loyalties and
protections
Emperors granted land to nobles in exchange for their loyalty.
Serfs would often have to work three or four days a week for the lord as rent. They would spend the rest of their week growing crops
to feed their families. Other serfs worked as sharecroppers. A sharecropper
would be required to turn over most of what he grew in order to be able to live on the land.
Peasants could no longer count on the Roman army to protect them.
German, Viking and Magyar tribes overran homes and farms
throughout Europe.
These nobles would have peasants/serfs work the land for them on their land because:
3
Important Events… 100 Years War with France
Many deaths and strife throughout England
Peasants’ Rebellion (remember Robin Hood) The underprivileged lived a life of unhappiness, turmoil, and
hunger.
Corruption in the Catholic Church Many followers began to lose some faith.
Power struggle between Pope and King This aided to the faith lose throughout the land.
And, of course….4
5
THE BLACK DEATH!Between 1349 and 1350,
England lost nearly half its population to the Black Death.
ACK! I got the Black
Death from the rat!
Technically, you got it from the fleas ON
the rat… that jumped off and bit you, so
you know. Don’t blame the poor rat.
Important Events…
It was easy to catch, painful to have, and deadly almost all
the time.
Father of English Poetry The Canterbury Tales is considered
Chaucer’s masterpiece Chaucer was the first writer to use English in a
major literary work He spoke Middle English
A mixture of Old English (Anglo-Saxons) and Old French (Normans)
Middle English differs from Modern English in the pronunciation of the words
Chaucer’s Language
6Let’s look at some examples:
Chaucer’s Language: The ShiftMiddle EnglishMiddle English Sounds like ModernSounds like Modern
y,iy,i "myne, sight" "myne, sight" "m"meeeet"t"
e, eee, ee "me, meet, mete" (close "me, meet, mete" (close e)e)
"m"maate"te"
ee "begge, rede" (open e) "begge, rede" (open e) "b"baag"g"
a, aaa, aa "mate, maat" "mate, maat" "f"faather" ther"
u, ouu, ou "hus, hous" "hus, hous" "b"boooot"t"
o, ooo, oo "bote, boot" (close o) "bote, boot" (close o) ""oaoak" k"
oo "lof, ok" (open o) "lof, ok" (open o) "b"boughought"t"
Vowels shifted upwards; vowel that was pronounced in one place in the mouth
would be pronounced higher up in the mouth
People used to spell words how they sounded, but now
they had a more standardized
written/spoken language
Now: to the story…7
The Canterbury Tales
Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote When April with its sweet-smelling showers
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, Has pierced the drought of March to the root,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour And bathed every vein (of the plants) in such
liquidOf which vertu engendred is the flour;
By the power of which the flower is created; Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
When the West Wind also with its sweet breath, Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
In every holt and heath, has breathed life intoThe tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
The tender crops, and the young sunHath in the Ram his half cours yronne,
Has run its half course in Aries,And smale foweles maken melodye,
And small fowls make melody,
8
That slepen al the nyght with open ye Those that sleep all the night with open eyes
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages), (So Nature incites them in their hearts),Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, Then folk long to go on pilgrimages,And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, And professional pilgrims (long) to seek
foreign shores, To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; To
(go to) distant shrines, known in various lands;
And specially from every shires ende And specially from every shire's endOf Engelond to Caunterbury they wende, Of England to Canterbury they travel,The hooly blisful martir for to seke, T o seek the holy blessed martyr,That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. Who helped them when they were sick.
The Canterbury Tales is written in Middle English.Click the star to hear a sample.
Canterbury Tales
He depicts a 14th century England populated by peasants, tradesmen, knights, and clerics,
most of whom appear to be healthy and well fed.
But the 14th century in which
Chaucer lived was one of
plague, rebellion, and
corruption.
Chaucer writes the tales around 1386
9
We are off on our pilgrimage!
Hurray!
We are so healthy and well fed and happy!
Wait! No we’re not!
Was that a rat?! Did I just get the
plague?I think I hear a rebellion! Let’s
move!
Canterbury TalesThere are two key literary techniques Chaucer incorporates:
1) A Frame Tale – a story that provides a vehicle, or frame, for telling other stories (More details on next slide.)
*The voice of the poet-pilgrim himself, Chaucer – introduces us to other pilgrims*The person of “The Host” of the Tabard Inn*The conversations that occur between the tales, among the Host and the pilgrims, and the pilgrims themselves
2) An Estate Satire – a literary technique used to highlight the foibles of a society and its particular people in the hopes of exacting some sort of change; it is sarcastic and sometimes often biting
*Prioress, Monk, Friar, Clerk, Parson, Summoner and Pardoner (with the Clerk and Parson being exceptions) have lives that seem to be
very removed from what might be expected in people of their calling*Chaucer’s commentary on how he views the religious system of the medieval
time period
The style…
10
Keep in mind with a framed story: a group of smaller works are put together in a framework.
Each has a relationship to others. The piece is hooked together with important themes.
Characters tell the stories in forms appropriate to them, using different verse forms.*
The Canterbury Tales
11
The style…
*Yes, that means poetry.
Thus, the theme of the pilgrimage = life means that the
hardship of pilgrimage = hardship of life
We experience all the various “hardships” of life through this work.
To use such a diverse group of narrators, whose stories are interlinked by characters talking with each
other, revealing much about themselves
A group of thirty people travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England) to see the shrine of Sir Thomas Beckett.
The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel.
The Canterbury Tales
12
The set-up…Chaucer
intended that each pilgrim
should tell two tales on the
way to Canterbury and
two tales on the way back.
The Canterbury Tales has been passed down in several handwritten manuscripts.
Thus, scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales.
He never finished this large task…
Only twenty-four tales were composed
before Chaucer's death in 1400.A rich, tapestry of
medieval social life combines elements of all classes, from nobles to workers, from priests and
nuns to drunkards and thieves.
P.S. They meet at the Tabard Inn
The Canterbury Tales
The set-up… The pilgrim’s occupations
reflect different aspects of the 14th century society Feudal System
Knight, Squire, Yeoman, Franklin, Plowman, Miller, Reeve
Religious Life Prioress (Nun), Monk,
Friar, Clerk, Parson, Summoner, Pardoner
Trades and Professions Merchant, Sergeant of
Law, Five Tradesmen, Cook, Skipper, Doctor, Wife of Bath, Manciple, Host 13
The Canterbury Tales
14
The story…
1) General Prologue consists of character sketches of each member of the group that is going to Canterbury, as described by the narrator. (1st person speaker)
Some believe that the narrator IS Chaucer… I’ll leave that up to you.
The fiction suggests that Chaucer is an observer of the scene, who accurately records the appearance, the stories and the
conversations of the company. He is not responsible for what is said, nor how it is expressed.
2) This was a familiar and fairly popular journey. People did combine with strangers into traveling companions for safety.
Each character is described as a representative of his or her own social group, which covers the social spread of 14th-century England
(Highly unlikely that such a varied group as Chaucer describes would have existed)
(No representatives of either the aristocracy or the true peasantry, an unskilled land-worker)
Fable – teaches by providing a moral at the end Parable – a brief story that parallels a more general moral lesson Exemplum – a specific example of a general rule: it is supposed to
prove a point by showing the truth of some moral rule Verbal Irony – exists when a person says one thing while meaning
another Situational Irony – exists when the outcome of a situation is opposite of
what someone expected Dramatic Irony – occurs when the audience or reader is aware of
something that the character does not know Direct Characterization – writer telling the reader what the character is
like (i.e., stupid, silly, kind) Indirect Characterization – writer shows the reader what the character
does, says, thinks, or feels and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions about what the character is like
The Canterbury Tales
The Lit. Terms…
15
Questions?You will need to know
this information.muhahahahahaha!
16