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Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

Background

In the Medieval period, PILGRIMAGE was an extremely popular activity. Folks would assemble a party (on horseback or even on foot), to travel to a religious site which was sacred to a particular saint. The idea was that you would receive the blessing of that saint which would help you get to heaven when you died, and/or cure you of some illness or deformity. Some weird ideas of the period included the sanctity and even magic powers of chunks of dead martyrs, such as fingers and toes. These were kept in cathedrals in containers called RELIQUARIES, elaborately decorated boxes in the shape of arms, heads, little houses, etc. Sometimes the entire skeleton of a saint became the treasured property of a particular church. Corrupt con men and officials of the church would sometimes offer such items as bones or pieces of the True Cross for sale to unwary folk as charms. Another common practice was the selling of Pardons – for a stiff fee paid to a Pardoner, you could knock off some time in Hell where your sins had consigned you to torment. The higher the amount, the more time you bought.

Many aspects of medieval life are illustrated here: growing commercial middle-class urbanity, the agricultural manor, the various levels of the church -- monks, nuns, priests. Dress is richly described; as are personal habits which range from gross to dainty. The horses people ride, and the various items they carry with them, also give us information that enriches our understanding of the time period. Sex, as always, is a very important topic. There are references to disease and infection; we know that this period in history was concerned with the Plague, among other scourges. Mainly, however, the charm of the Canterbury Tales is in the very humanness of the characters -- rooted as they may be in their time, they nevertheless demonstrate personal characteristics that we recognize in our own experience (see handout listing the characters).

The group Chaucer assembles is a cross-section of various segments of society. Represented are members of the church, one minor aristocrat (the Knight), the folk of the English countryside, and the middle-class city dwellers. His interest is in poking fun at pretension, hypocrisy, general silliness. He includes characters at both extremes of moral standards as well as the majority in the middle, neither particularly virtuous or naughty. Some are truly repulsive; some admirable; some forgivably absurd.

Organization of the text

The General Prologue:

The Prologue is a framing device common in this type of literature. Here we meet the characters, a motley crew of lower- and middle-class English people of the Middle Ages. Chaucer is outrageous in his satirical descriptions, and some of his exaggeration is meant as social criticism; mostly however we get a combination of humor and a remarkably intimate view of contemporary society.

The Tales:

Many of the tales contain their own individual prologues and then the characters launch into the tale. The pilgrims decide that they will each tell stories to entertain each other on their trip. What follows is a kind of anthology of different kinds of stories, all of which are true to whoever is telling them. Some are ribald, others moralistic; some in the form of fantasy, some extremely earthy. The most famous and commonly read are the tales of the Wife of Bath, the Miller’s and Reeve’s Tale, the Knight’s Tale, and the Nun’s Priest’s Tale (the text of which is in your textbook).

Notes On the Historical Background of Medieval Literature

I.The period known as the “Late Middle Ages” dates from the 12th to the15th centuries. Chaucer was born sometime near 1345-1350 and died in about 1400.

A. Expansion of cultural awareness

1. Crusades

2. Pilgrimage

3. Rise of cities, universities, greater distribution of print

B. Increasing influence of women

1. Cult of Virgin Mary

2. Economic and political power (men away fighting; women manage)

C. Courtly life

1. Castle: a fortified village, presided over by King or Baron

2. New leisure: King and Queen attracted retinues: friends, vassals, followers, retainers – long-term “guests”

3. Desire for entertainment and refinement

II. Medieval Literature

A. Ballads, Breton Lais, narratives of love and adventure

B. Traveling troupes of actors; troubadours, others sought patronage

C. The ROMANCE

1. Term Romance comes from connection to Romance languages,

meaning derived from Latin (Roman)

2. Characteristics

a. Characters are Lords and Ladies

b. Love and chivalry -- somewhat contradictory themes

c. Magic and enchantment; religious mysticism

d. Lots of fighting and gore and pageantry

e. Quests

III. The CODE OF CHIVALRY

A. The Knight as WARRIOR

1. Virtues of strength, valor, skill in battle, and horsemanship

2. Old tradition of fealty, loyalty of thane (vassal) to lord and intense loyalty to comrades, perhaps in conflict with other loyalties and desires.

B. The Knight as CHRISTIAN

C. The Knight as LOVER according to the Art of Courtly Love

1. Polish and refinement: good manners, delicacy, protocol

2. Deference and passion (both!) for ladies

3. Skills as a poet, musician, writer, speaker, dancer

D. Becoming a knight

1. You must be of noble family

2. Training is extensive (see the list of attributes above)

3. Generally a boy begins as a PAGE, who serves the Lady and in turn is trained by her

4. In adolescence, the boy becomes a SQUIRE, and completes his training in martial arts and service to a greater Knight. In the legends, a squire must perform a particular act of heroism in order to earn the right to be knighted -- he must prove himself in a quest of some kind

IV. The Art of COURTLY LOVE

A. Highly artificial and stylized -- not realistic but “ideal” love

B. Elements

1. Love is so passionate as to cause fever and illness

2. Love is usually outside of marriage; the beloved often is married to another less emotionally suitable person, perhaps a lovely young woman married to a crotchety old man.

3. The Knight dedicates himself to the glorification of his Lady, either in secret or openly, wearing her colors to the tournament and devoting his trophies and honors to her -- all his acts of heroism and valor are in her honor.

4. Lady is generally demanding, sometimes cruel to her lover, but always she is beautiful, intelligent, and spirited.

5. Adultery is almost inevitable, and the excuse is the extreme passion, but adultery has consequences which are frequently tragic.

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