Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales
[Some notes are from Helen Phillips, An Introduction to the Canterbury Tales. NY: St Martin's, 2000; others from the Norton].
Reading of first paragraph
Note: spelling has been altered to render it phonetically closer to the sound.Freewriting
Your first impressions from reading Chaucer's General Prologue.
Chaucer, c.1343-1400
Chaucer's main career an administrator in royal households; a Controller of Customs (1374-85); rose from merchant class (his father a wine importer) to gentil, or esquire, a rank below knight or aristocrat.
Visited several European countries on government service; widely read. Wrote in English, although French still the favoured language at court and Latin in law, church, and academic circles: may suggest a desire to establish English as a literary language (was certainly influential).
Note visits to Italy, 1372 and 1378; probably acquired MS of poems by Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, introduction to Italian Renaissance; some of the Canterbury tales based on these sources.
Lived mainly in London (pop. 40,000) and Kent.
Social, historical context. Black Death 1348-9 reduced population by at least a third. Labour shortages, unrest; attempts to legislate peasants to stay on their lord's estates, unsuccessful. Peasant's Revolt of 1381 against high taxes (result of unwise military exploits), put down; execution of leader, Wat Tyler; but fear of unrest to last decades.
Powerful and pervasive role of the Church; presided over many legal matters -- wills, matrimony, adultery, etc. Reform a strong movement, led by John Wyclif.
Pilgrimages popular: to Canterbury to celebrate the martyr St. Thomas à Becket (assassinated 1170).
The poem
Canterbury Tales written between about 1385 and 1400. Unfinished (the pilgrims were to provide 4 stories each); two of the 24 tales are unfinished (Cook and Squire), and the Monk's and Chaucer's own tales are cut short because the pilgrims find them tedious.
Text of CT: survives in 84 manuscripts; many fragments; different orderings.
Pilgrimage as frame structure: loosely bound by narrator (Chaucer?) and the Host, Harry Bailey, who attempts to exercise some authority over the pilgrims and the telling of the stories. Earlier Italian models. But Chaucer's unique in interaction between the tellers of the tales.
Most of tales in rhyming couplets of iambic pentameter, which Chaucer invented.
Apparent conservative stance of many tales, but discontent with order of things challenges that stance. For instance, praise of poverty in Wife of Bath's tale contrasts with lament over poverty in Man of Law's tale. A dialectical structure, diverse people with diverse points of view. Hence conflicting moralities . . .
Reader response reactions acted out in different responses by pilgrims in between tales. A many-voiced narration; principle narrator often not listened to. Appears a first person narrator, but by no means authoritative (or as representing Chaucer); a naïve observer. Authority supposed to be vested in Harry Bailey, the Host, but he too is contested by others. Mirrors complexities of 14th C. life, class, power, etc.
Appearance of design, but work is unfinished, and may have remained conflicted.
Some regard Chaucer as a comic writer above all, of wide range -- pratfalls (cf. Miller's Tale) to rich irony; theatrical in some of his effects, good timing.
His wide range of characters, exemplifies "a hostile, apprehensive attitude towards new economic and social forces such as growing commercial individualism" (Phillips 8); greater enterprise for private gain, e.g., Sergeant of Law, Reeve; contrast Knight, Parson, and Ploughman who exemplify older, social or religious values. Critical of those like the Pardoner who fleece their clients for self gain. His pilgrims represent the whole country, not just London.
General Prologue
Note ambiguity of opening (p. 170), why people set off: whether because it's Spring (l. 12), or to seek the martyr (at Canterbury). (l. 17) -- an ambiguity that persists through the whole book.
Spring, April, a common poetic trope, e.g., in Vergil. But see opening of Eliot's The Waste Land (Norton 2614):
APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Group discussion: Your impressions of the narrator so far (lines 1-42)? -- from imagery, references, point of view, language, other aspects . . .
Little reference to historical context of the time (makes it more universal?). But also in part because many of the tales have exotic, foreign sources. Political and social issues are dealt with only indirectly; as in characterization of Merchant (needs sea kept open: l. 278); Wife of Bath's pilgrimages to Jerusalem, etc. (l. 465).
Descriptions of pilgrims: in medieval tradition of "Estates satire," description of different classes and sins to which they were liable -- included church people, aristocrats, merchants. Chaucer focuses more on the middle ranks -- his Knight is the highest. "Estates satire" mainly focused on moral, religious issues; Chaucer's account is less interested in this than in the profession of his pilgrims, their language, social, behavioural aspects.
Importance of economic base of his pilgrims, other than manorial base of Knight and his attendants. But no overt criticism of his various pilgrims: almost seems to endorse their points of view in his descriptions (hence seen as naïve). I.e., no single moral viewpoint available.
No obvious ordering of characters in Prologue: represents no particular model of social order. The older model of society: the Three Estates, knights, priests, labourers. But by Chaucer's time this quite out of date (couldn't accommodate merchant class). Echoed in Knight, Parson, Plowman.
Individual portraits
Knight portrait: carefully balanced between spiritual and secular values; he represents traditional feudal authority, a version of social order. Sets standard of comparison for later portraits, such as Monk's worldliness.
Nun-prioress. Ambiguous portrait, emphasis on her femininity rather than her spirituality or administrative ability.
Summoner and Pardoner appear to be gay; this would have been frightening in their time, both present tales of death and fear of hell. Another grouping: Prioress, Monk, Friar -- shows their worldly preoccupations -- implicitly criticizes the church. And moral standing declines in last five portraits, from Miller to Pardoner: all are cheats, exploiting others.
Importance of wool trade -- Wife of Bath works in it -- as important as oil in Alberta. Others also involved, such as Dyer, Weaver -- seems to give the Wife her independence. Ambition of the men, as Guildsmen, would be Aldermen -- ll. 371-4 -- nouveau riche (trades that were overtaking previous guilds, vintners, silversmith, etc.); note they bring their own cook (l. 381).
And note reference to clothes: signal important social distinctions, often very expensive. Dressing above your station! Cf. Wife of Bath's headgear (l. 455). Contrast Sergeant of Law: modestly dressed; belies his wealth and social climbing, moving into landowner class (ll. 322). Merchant in debt, but no one knows (current views on usury, make this morally ambiguous).
Manciple and Reeve, low-born and uneducated, but successful, lucrative businessmen while in employ. Reeve's avarice, seems criticized on spiritual grounds, as barren (l. 611).
You can hear the speech of some of the characters. "Chaucer shows a skill in using and mixing socio-linguistic registers that has never been surpassed by any writer in English" (41): Use of free indirect discourse in description of Friar and his disdain for lepers (ll. 244-7); cf. Monk on disregard for religious rules (ll. 181-188).
Narrator: aside at l. 183, "I seyde his opinion was good"; cf. narrator's naïve comment later, ll 745-8. Is he really naïve? Seems omniscient at other times. Leaves ambivalence to reader to judge.
Character overviews
Group work:
Wife of Bath (447-78). Notes for a character sketch, from appearance to traits (group discussion); omit a category if no evidence:
Occupation
Traits
Emotions
Motives
Appearance
Talents
Class
History
Other
NarratorDiscuss . . . Consider perspective, point of view, style of description; temporal aspects;
-- does this character transcend her medieval setting?
Other characters, groups take on two (out of 20 not asterisked):
43 Knight
79 Squire
101 Yeoman
118 Nun-Prioress
165 Monk
208 Friar
272 Merchant
287 Clerk
311 Sergeant of Law
333 Franklin
363 Haberdasher, etc.
381 Cook*390 Shipman
413 Doctor
447 Wife of Bath*
479 Parson
531 Plowman
547 Miller
569 Manciple
589 Reeve
625 Summoner
671 Pardoner
(+ Host; Chaucer-narrator*)*omit from analysis
Document created March 4th 2009