Transcript CTales
The Canterbury
Tales
Or
An Amazing Study
of Middle English Stereotypes!
What was the community like
in 14th century England?
Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales 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. Between 1349 and 1350,
England lost nearly half its population to the Black Death.
This enormous loss of life only exacerbated (vocab word!)
the shortage of farm labor and intensified the growing
class conflict that resulted in the violent rebellion known as
The Peasant's Revolt in 1381.
In England, the Catholic church suffered from political
conflict with Rome and the presence of corruption
throughout its lower ranks. This did little to help the people
the Church was supposed to serve.
Geoffrey Chaucer, author
In a framed story, the poet is in
control. For many years, The
Canterbury Tales was
considered a collection of stories
that Chaucer had heard.
Chaucer parades before us a
catalog of the human condition,
and we marvel at his insight into
human nature and the poetic
skill he uses to express it.
It all matters!
Framed story: a group of smaller works 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.
Setting
A pilgrimage on a spring
day in April from
Southwark (across
the Thames from
London) to Canterbury
(50 miles) to the burial
site or shrine of St.
Thomas Beckett,
martyred in 1170.
Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?
►Not
In 1162, King Henry II appointed
Thomas Becket to be Archbishop
of Canterbury, thinking that his
friend and royal chancellor might
take his side in disputes between
church and state.
Becket refused to budge. As
tensions grew, Henry exclaimed,
"Will no one rid me of this
turbulent priest?" His staff took
his words literally. Knights killed
Becket while he prayed in the
cathedral. The murder of the
powerful archbishop was an
outrage.
long after Becket’s assassination in 1170, miracles began
occurring in the cathedral, prompting the pope to canonize Becket.
Pilgrims hoped that, by coming to this holy site, they could decrease
their time spent in purgatory after death.
Metaphorically, pilgrimage = life
Hardship of pilgrimage = hardship of life
The five-day
journey itself
brings spiritual
enlightenment
Beginning of the tales,
All are gathered at the Tabard Inn on the
night before the pilgrimage is to begin.
Narrator
1st person speaker, a fictional character,
telling the story. He, like the other
characters, has a point of view.
The speaker is NOT Chaucer. The
speaker simply tells what he knows, but
does not necessarily understand it.
Host
Harry Bailey
Suggests that they tell two tales going and
two coming back.
30 x 4 = 120, but there are only 24 tales
The number of pilgrims is a problem. The
narrator says there are “nine and twenty.”
There are actually 30, not counting the
narrator and the Host.
Chaucer as a fictional character
A brief portrait of the
fictionalized, pilgrim Chaucer
is presented by the Host. The
fiction suggests that Chaucer
is an observer of the scene,
who accurately records the
the appearance, the stories and the
conversations of the company. He is not
responsible for what is said, nor how it is
expressed.
Characters on the journey
Familiar and fairly popular journey
People did combine with strangers into
traveling companions for safety
Highly unlikely that such a varied group
as Chaucer describes would have existed
Each character is described as a
representative of his or her own social
group, which covers the social spread of
14th-century England
No representatives of either the
aristocracy or the true peasantry, an
unskilled land-worker
Characterization
We will explore how Chaucer presents these
characters through direct and indirect
characterization
Direct: author states character traits directly (“a
nice guy”) NOT PHYSICAL TRAITS
Indirect: What a character says or does, or what
others say about him, indicates character (What
does a nice guy DO?)
Chaucer’s innovation
to use such a
diverse group of
narrators,
whose stories
are interlinked
by characters
talking with
each other,
revealing much
about
themselves
Purpose of prologue
To introduce the characters
Remember, a group of very different folks
are on this pilgrimage together
Where are they going?
Their personalities matter as the tales
progress
Historical
periods
Anglo-Saxon
Middle English
English language
development
Old English
449-1066
Use of Runes, symbols
Middle English
1066-1500
French influence
CTales is in Middle English
Modern English
1500-present
Renaissance
Medieval/Middle Ages
Between classical period (Greek, Roman
accomplishments) and modern (Renaissance)
Term was coined after
the time period
Peak of literature
Peak of feudalism
By the end of this time
period, feudalism breaks
down. Middle class
emerges.
Written 1387-1400, unfinished
Chaucer wrote the Tales intermittently,
adding new tales, revising others and reusing poems he had written earlier, until
he died
The
work is unfinished
The precise order and, in some cases,
speaker, of the Tales is open to debate
THE CHARACTERS
The Knight
th
By the 14 century, after the
last Crusades, knighthood
had fallen low from the great
days of chivalry
Chaucer gently rebukes
knights of his time with this
character
►However,
there still remained a number of
the old-fashioned knights, members of the
aristocracy, whose careers were devoted to
military service and the cause of Christendom
The Squire
Under the feudal system, a
knight’s education began when
he was sent to the court of a
lord to become a page. As a
young boy, he was trained in
riding and the arts of warfare, while attending
the ladies and learning the graces of the court –
dancing, singing, playing musical instruments,
reading and writing.
As a teen, he became a squire, mastering the
gentle and courtly arts and intensifying his
military skills
The Yeoman
A yeoman was a free man, generally in
service to a knight
Many were expert in the use of the long bow
from Robin Hood’s day on (12th century);
legendary Robin Hood was based on Robin
of Sherwood
The Prioress:
Madame Eglantyne
A prioress was a nun in charge of a convent
During the Middle Ages, families of substance
placed their young, unbetrothed daughters in
nunneries to provide them with a secure and
gracious way of living
Nuns: forbidden to leave their cloisters or go on
pilgrimages, pets forbidden, interest in fashion
frowned upon, by bishop’s orders forehead
covered by wimple (veil), only beads worn were to
be the rosary
The Monk
A monk divorced himself from the world
around him, entering a religious order to
spend his life worshipping God
Chaucer’s monk is a member of the
Benedictine order, founded by St. Benedict,
who shocked by the worldliness of Rome,
became a hermit
According to his rule, his monks were to do
whatever physical work was required to
keep them alive and spend the rest of their
time in the worship of God and the study
and copying of religious writings
Three Vows
Members of the clergy took three vows:
poverty, that they would give up all the
worldly goods and pleasures; obedience,
that they would obey the rules laid down by
the order’s founders; and chastity, that they
would not allow the love of a woman to
distract from the love of God
Friar
Hubert
A wanton and merry man, the Friar
exemplifies the corrupt nature of many lowlevel clergymen of the times. His behavior is
certainly not in accord with the selfless moral
teachings he is supposed to espouse. He is a snob,
corrupted by greed, and acts in very un-Christian
ways, clearly a man of low moral standards.
He possesses a level of social grace far above his
station in life. He is supposed to make a living by
begging, living without a roof over his head.
Often the younger sons and daughters of nobles
who could not be provided for entered the clergy,
not because they felt a divine calling, but simply
because that is what was expected of them.
Merchant
He sports a forked beard and wears fine
clothes. He is extremely pompous in his
manners and opinions. He is so clever that
nobody could see he was actually in debt.
Readers see the Merchant as an aloof figure,
who sits upright on his horse, talking of nothing
but his profits, and re-investing to such an
extent that he has cash-flow problems.
It may surprising when he tells us in his tale’s
Prologue that, after only being married for two
months, he is fed up with his wife, who has
turned out to have `hye malice and to be a
shrewe.'
The Cleric
A clerk was a member of the clergy or a student
preparing for holy orders
In this case, the Clerk is a scholar at Oxford
University, headed eventually for the priesthood
but meanwhile indulging himself in the study of
philosophy
Philosophy: the study of the nature of the universe
14th cy slang: the pursuit of alchemy, a pseudoscience based on the search for the “philosopher’s
stone” which would turn base metals into gold,
heal all illnesses, and give the possessor eternal
life
The Sergeant of the Law
This was one of the most
respected legal officers, and there
were very few of them at a given time,
chosen from respectable barristers with at
least 16 years of practice
They served as judges of the King’s courts
and presided over the sessions (meetings)
of the Justices of the Peace in the counties
These men held a vast knowledge of both
aspects of English law -- common and
statuary -- and sentences
The Franklin
A franklin was a free man, a landholder
Some authorities place them among the
minor nobility below the rank of baron
Others say that they were of free, not noble,
birth
In this instance, the Franklin is obviously a
man of great wealth and influence, and a
companion of the Sergeant-at-Law
The Five
Guildsmen
Medieval guilds: trade
or craft associations,
also formed for
religious or social
purposes
These men (and their
wives) are from the
rising middle class
The Cook
This man is the owner of a cook shop
There were many such shops at which
one could buy prepared food either to eat
there
or take out
The cook, Roger Hodge, also called Hodge
of Ware, was actually based on a real London cook
known to Chaucer, a Roger Ware. Chaucer
obviously intended for his London readers to
recognize this poor cook with the sore on his knee.
Another description of his abilities occurs in the
Cook's prologue to his tale, but is not
complimentary. The host accuses Roger of not only
selling warmed over and stale pastries, but of
having so many flies in his shop that they often end
up in the food. His poor, stubble-fed geese were so
badly prepared that the host tells him, "From many
a pilgrim hast thou Christ's curse."
Skipper
from Dartmouth
A jolly fellow and an able seaman, he could
read the stars and is also a good fighter.
However Chaucer suggests that he is not
completely moral and has no qualms about
stealing wine from the merchant whose
casks he is transporting.
Doctor
Clad in red and blue, no one can match
him in speaking about medicine and
surgery. He knows the cause of every illness, what
humor engenders them, and how to cure them.
He is a perfect practitioner of medicine, and he
has apothecaries ready to send him drugs and
mixtures. He is well-read in the standard medical
authorities, from the Greeks right through to
Chaucer's contemporary Gilbertus Anglicus. The
Doctor, however, has not studied the Bible.
Chaucer suggests that this good doctor is
motivated by greed more than anything else and
has a special fondness for gold.
The Wife of Bath, Dame Alice
(wife = housewife)
This jolly woman is a widow,
who comes from a suburb of the
old city of Bath in Somersetshire,
a town noted for weaving
This middle class woman has traveled a
lot
Marriages at the court door refer to the
custom of a two-part ceremony: vows at
the church door, nuptial mass at the altar
The Parson
A parish priest, a simple man of the lower
free classes, but still a “clerk,” an
educated man
In this portrait, Chaucer says, in effect,
“There are good men in holy orders,
despite the abuses that we see around
us.”
Too many priests of this time accepted
their parish income, but spent their days
in London, enjoying easy living
The
Plowman
Chaucer's plowman is a decent lower-class pilgrim
who treats his neighbor fairly and pays his church
tithes and taxes. He represents simplicity, with wisdom
and strength for stamina.
The Parson’s brother, he lives in peace and perfect
charity. He would thresh, carry dung, dig, and make
ditches to help a poor neighbor. He loves God with all
his heart and promptly pays his tithes to the Church.
Chaucer’s Plowman follows both of Christ’s
commandments: to love God and to love one’s
neighbor as one’s self.
The Plowman rides an inferior mare and is humbly
dressed in a laborer’s coat.
The Miller
His occupation should require little
explanation
He ran a gristmill to which farmers
brought
their grain to be ground into flour
His payment consisted of a portion of the grain, a
percentage that this Miller multiplies dishonestly
His golden thumb is a reference to the proverb “an
honest miller has a golden thumb”
Chaucer presents this man as representative of all
in the trade
The Manciple
A manciple was a steward, much like the
modern manager of a club or the
housekeeper of a boarding school
He planned the meals, bought the food, and
supervised the servants who did the daily work
This Manciple looks after one of the Inns of Court
in the Temple District of London, belonging to a
legal society and serving as a clubhouse where
members lived, took their meals and conducted
business
Inns served as law schools for training of young
attorneys
The
Reeve
The Middle English reeve acts as the manager of a manor
estate, overseeing the protection and maintenance of the
pastures, fields, and woods belonging to the lord of the
estate.
He collects rents in goods and services from those
who lived and farmed on the estate.
Chaucer's reeve is old and thin. Despite being rich, he does
not care about his appearance.
In Middle English culture, status was important in society.
The reeve violates laws in order to increase status and
monetary yielding. The reference to a "Scot" (632) indicates
that perhaps he was of Scottish origin, and the Scottish are
historically known to be frugal.
“Choleric" refers to his violent temperament. It indicates that
he possesses a shrewd wit and sharp tongue.
A member of the upper class, Chaucer's reeve is good at his
job with an element of control over the entire manor, and
better in financial matters than his own lord. However, he
uses any means possible to keep those beneath him who
know of his scam from spreading it to the lord.
The Summoner
A summoner was a petty officer
of
the church (ecclesiastical) court
where certain abuses were tried
and
punished by the church, rather
than
the state
His job was to haul into court those who had
broken church laws such as blasphemers or
those who engaged in illicit intercourse such
as adulterers. He also collected fines for
“immoral” behavior.
Notice how his looks reflect his personality
The Pardoner
A pardoner was a clergyman authorized
by
the Pope to sell indulgences or forgiveness
for
sins that had not as yet been performed
Pardoners often carried relics of saints, bits of bone
or clothing, with which they performed miracles
Some pardoners were sent from church-supported
hospitals. These hospitals, often the repository of
relics used in curing the sick, commissioned
pardoners to take these relics on tour and to offer
indulgences to anyone who was moved by their
belief to donate money toward the upkeep of the
hospital.
The practice of offering indulgences grew corrupt.
Selling indulgences became a means for the Church
to be able to finance special projects, such as the
construction of the Vatican in the 16th century.
As early as 1212, the Church acknowledged the
corrupt practices of many pardoners.
Pardoners also tended to exaggerate the
power of their indulgences—that is, they
sometimes pretended to have the authority
to
release the buyers from hell or purgatory.
The concept of purgatory started in the 13th century
and was enforced by the 15th cy.
The Council
of Trent (1545-1563) states,
"We constantly
hold that purgatory exists, and that the souls of the
faithful there detained are helped by the prayers of
the faithful."
Chaucer wrote his Tales between
1381-1386, addressing issues that
later led to the Reformation
Martin Luther wrote the Ninety-Five
Thesis on the Power of Indulgences
in 1517; these are widely regarded as
the primary means for the Protestant
Reformation. Luther used these
Theses to display his unhappiness
with the Church's sale of indulgences,
and this eventually gave birth to
Protestantism.
It especially defied the teachings of
the Church on the nature of penance,
the authority and power of the Pope
and the efficacy of indulgences.
Let’s begin the pilgrimage!
Look at your gold handouts
Review due dates
Please turn to page 97