Geoffrey Chaucer

 Geoffrey Chaucer:

   Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet,author and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales.

    In his lifetime he was able to achieve many accomplishments in a variety of fields including most famously as an author and poet but also as a philosopher, astronomer, diplomat and civil servant. He is still considered to be one of the greatest poet of English poetry.

Early life and education:

Geoffrey Chaucer was born circa 1340 in London. His Father was a prosperous wine Merchant. While his mother, Agnes Compton, was a homeworker.

 There is no source to confirm his former education but it is believed that he attained formal education at the popular st. Paul's Cathedral School. Where he learned Latin and was inspired by Ovid and Virgil. He adored their versatile style and also tried to imitate it.

Political Career: 

 He joined the government in 1357 at the court of Elizabeth Countess of Ulster, her Husband was Lionel, Earl of Ulster. 

  In 1359 Chaucer took part in the Hundred year's war when king Edward III invaded France.In the conflict Chaucer was captured during a siege at the French city of Reims. Fortunately for the young Chaucer, Edward III paid a large ransom (£16) in order to secure his release. 

 As young man mixing in aristocratic circles he subsequently met John of Gaunt, who later became influential figure in Chaucer's political career as well as serving to inspire his first poems.

In 1366 Chaucer married to Philippa Roet, a lady in waiting in the queen's household. By that Chaucer and John of Gaunt became relative because they both married to the daughters of Sir Payne de Roet, french knight.

          In 1367 Chaucer served as a valettus and later as a squire in the court of Edward III; granted a payment of 20 marks per annum for life.His association with the royals brought him a fortune when King Edward-III fixed a good salary for his services. During this service, he travelled through France and after retirement, the king paid him a pension of twenty marks for his illustrious career. 

  Geoffrey Chaucer died in 25th October 1400 in London. He was buried at what has since come to be called Poets Corner, in Westminster Abbey.

Chaucer's literature: 

   Chaucer was one of the most prominent figures in the literature of Middle English. today’s readers will find it difficult to read Middle English, some dialects of Middle English are not as difficult to understand. The type of Middle English Geoffrey Chaucer used in his work is somewhat closer to Modern English than other Middle English dialects.

           His most famous work today is The Canterbury Tales but he also wrote many other poems and stories. Some of his works is mentioned below:

Major works: 

• Translation of Roman de la Rose, as The Romaunt of the Rose.
• The Book of the Duchess
• The House of Fame
• Anelida and Arcite
• The Parliament of Fowls
• Translation of Boethius The consolation of Philosophy
• Troilus and Criseyde
• The Legend of Good women
• Treatise on the Astrolabe
• The Canterbury Tales

The Book of the Duchess:

                     Chaucer's literary career formally began when the Duke of Lancaster John of Gaunt asked him to pen down a memorial poem for his deceased wife. Following his wish, Chaucer composed a poem, The Book for Duchess that was regarded as a fitting memorial to the highest-ranking women of English royalties

This is considered to be one of the earliest poetry collections of Chaucer. 

Other minor works:

 The House of Fame:

                          This poem contains over 2,000 lines in octosyllabic couplets. It is divided into three books and takes the form of a dream vision. In this poem, the narrator ponders over the nature of fame and reliability of recorded renown, indicating the poet’s questions reporting the lives of fortune.

The Legend of Good Women:

           This poem also takes the form of a dream vision and is the third longest poem written by Chaucer. It is written in a series of short narratives in the iambic pentameter. He recounts stories of ten women: Cleopatra, Thisbe, Dido, Hypsipyle, Medea, Lucrece, Ariadne, Philomela, Phyllis and Hypermnestra. However, the structure seems unfinished

Troilus and Criseyde:

                   This poem is a retelling of the tragic story of Troilus and Criseyde during the siege of Troy. It is written using rhyme royal and is considered by some Chaucer scholars to be the best work of Chaucer since it is complete and more self-contained than the better-known work – The Canterbury Tales.

Parlement of Foules:  

      Parlement of Foules is a poem of approximately 700 lines. It is also in the form of a dream vision in rhyme royal stanza and speaks of the concept of Christian love.

The Canterbury Tales:

The foundational English literary book of tales in verse was written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the pioneers of English poetry. The book is stated to have been published around 1387 to 1400 when Chaucer joined the royal court. The stories, in verses, though some are in prose, present the social norms, characters, situations, and religious devotion of the pilgrims presented in them. The stories have become so much popular that they have become classics across the globe.

             The book opens with The General Prologue comprising a gathering of all the characters at the Tabard Inn tavern in London ready to on the pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas in the town of Canterbury. The prologue shows a total of 77 persons, including some from the religious order such as the Friar and the Monk, and social order such as the Squire and the Knight with some examples from the lower order. Harry Bailey, the host, throws the suggestion for each guest to narrate a story to pass the time during the long journey

 

Themes in The Canterbury Tales:

Social Satire: 

The Canterbury’s Tales is a satire on the existing society of that time in which the three pillars, the church, the nobility as well as the peasantry, are not only corrupt but also morally bankrupt. Chaucer includes all the characters of the society from the knight to the squire and from the Wife of Bath to the Nun and from the Friar to the Cook. Then he proves that highly any character is upright and pious as they are supposed to be. He shows that most of them are quite allergic to their actual duties and poke their noses quite often into the fields irrelevant to their calling. 

Courtly Love and Lasciviousness: 

The Canterbury Tales shows the theme of love and lasciviousness through the tales of the Knight, the Miller, and the Wife of Bath who narrate their tales about both of these points. The Knight’s Tale shows this love for the fair lady that leads to a duel in which they forget their personal duties, while the Squire is busy writing poetry and ballads in the praise of his fair lady. 

Religious Corruption:

 Although it is mild and somewhat latent in ironic remarks of different characters, Chaucer lets his character engage in religious criticism. This happens through different characters who show it through their corrupt practices such as the greed of Pardoner and the lasciviousness of the Friar, who is a hypocrite to the core. Similarly, the tale of the Pardoner also demonstrates the corruption prevalent among different religious characters, who are hoarding and extracting money rather than performing their duties.

Class: 

The theme of class in The Canterbury Tales is apparent through different characters selected from different walks of life to narrate a story during the journey. For example, where Chaucer has presented the characters from the Church such as the Nun or the Friar, he has also presented professionals such as the Miller and the Merchant, or for that matter the Peasant or the Knight, and so on. In fact, these characters have presented their respective classes as well as the prominent features of the class whether the class is good or bad.

Characters: 

                  The novel, The Canterbury Tales, shows diverse characters from antiquity. These characters include the Host, the Knight, The Miller, the Wife of Bath, the Squire, The Friar and the Nun.

Writing Style of The Canterbury Tales:

                                        Written in the heroic couplet, The Canterbury Tales show not only the poetic skills of Chaucer but also his descriptive and narrative skills respectively through character descriptions and narrations of the characters. Chaucer’s use of diction corresponds with his satire and irony, while for figurative devices, he turns to personifications and similes.

Chaucer’s contribution to English literature:

       Chaucer in some ways inaugurated English poetry at the time when English was considered a vernacular in England and French and Latin reigned. he was the pivotal figure in English literature who encompassed earlier traditions, genres and novelty in forms and literary content with his ingenious innovations. John Dart has called Chaucer the father of English poetry due to his exceptional contributions to the English language. 

       Similarly, Matthew Arnold has remarked, “with him is born our real poetry.”

                      Chaucer was the first English poet who gave full expression to the new hopes and aspirations of the people of his time. He was a realist who found fitting subjects for his poetry not in gods and heroes of a Golden age but in life that unfolded before his eyes. He mixed freely with humanity and expressed its aspirations and concerns in his poetry with sincerity. Chaucer’s realism is truly discernible in his mammoth work The Canterbury Tales in which he has painted the truthful picture of 14th-century life through a group of pilgrims.

                                   Another remarkable aspect of Chaucer’s work is his humour which is delightful and stimulating. Before Chaucer, English humour was synonymous with buffoonery and horseplay, but he refined and raised it to the standards of literary humour which were kind and patronising as in the case of the clerk of Oxenford and semi-farcical in the case of Wife of Bath.

             Chaucer is known for his metrical innovations. He invented Rhyme Royal stanza pattern which is a seven lined stanza in iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of ababbcc. He was also one of the first to use blank verse for his poetry with only a few anonymous short works using it before him.

So, we can say that Chaucer was the greatest poet and writer of the middle English.

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