This Blog is written as part of the Assignments given at the Department of English, MKBU
Name: Ghanshyam Katariya
Paper 105 A:History of English Literature – From 1350 to 1900
Subject Code:22396
Topic Name: Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ and Representation of English Life.
Batch: M.A. Sem-1 (2022-24)
Roll No: 8
Enrolment No: 4069206420220017
Email Address: gkatariya67@gmail.com
Submitted to: Smt. S. B. Gardi, Department of English, MKBU
Introduction
Geoffrey Chaucer was the son of a wealthy wine merchant of London, given a good education at local schools, and entered into service of the royal court around the age of 13 in 1356 CE. He served under three English kings, King Edward III (r. 1327-1377 CE), Richard II (r. 1377-1399 CE), and Henry IV (also known as Henry Bolingbroke, r. 1399-1413 CE) in positions ranging from page to soldier, courier, valet and esquire, controller of the customs house of the London port, member of parliament, and court clerk and poet, among other duties.
Chaucer's works were never technically published during his lifetime as that concept had not yet been invented but he was well known and highly regarded as a poet as his works were copied by other scribes who then shared or sold them. The events of his life are well documented in court records, and it is known he was recognized for his poetic achievements by Edward III (who granted him a gallon of wine daily for life for what was most likely a poetic composition) and rewarded financially by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (l. 1340-1399 CE) for composing his first major work, ‘The Book of the Duchess’ (c. 1370 CE) in honour of John of Gaunt's late wife Blanche.
By the time Chaucer began composing ‘The Canterbury Tales’, he was at the height of his poetic powers and had travelled and read widely. He was fluent in Latin, French, and Italian, but wrote in the vernacular of Middle English. The characters who appear in The Canterbury Tales are drawn from Chaucer's life experiences and are probably amalgams of people he had known (though some, like Harry Bailey the Innkeeper, are historical individuals) and Chaucer's use of Middle English to tell their stories is particularly effective since he is able to render their various accents and dialects as they would have sounded at the time.
Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tale’
The Canterbury Tales (written c. 1388-1400 CE) is a mediaeval literary work by the poet Geoffrey Chaucer (l. c. 1343-1400 CE) comprised of 24 tales related to a number of literary genres and touching on subjects ranging from fate to God's will to love, marriage, pride, and death. After the opening introduction (known as The General Prologue), each tale is told by one of the characters (eventually 32 in all) who are on pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury.
The Canterbury Tales was popular centuries before it was actually published in c. 1476 CE. There are more copies of this manuscript than any other full-length mediaeval work except the penitential poem The Prick of Conscience, also from the 14th century CE, which was only so frequently copied due to its use by the Church. The Canterbury Tales is considered Chaucer's masterpiece and is among the most important works of mediaeval literature for many reasons besides its poetic power and entertainment value, notably its depiction of the different social classes of the 14th century CE as well as clothing worn, pastimes enjoyed, and language/expressions used.
Plan of ‘Canterbury Tale’
. Opposite old London, at the southern end of London Bridge, once stood the Tabard Inn of Southwark, a quarter made famous not only by the Canterbury Tales, but also by the first playhouses where Shakespeare had his training. This Southwark was the point of departure of all travel to the south of England, especially of those mediæval pilgrimages to the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. On a spring evening, at the inspiring time of the year when "longen folk to goon on pilgrimages," Chaucer alights at the Tabard Inn, and finds it occupied by a various company of people bent on a pilgrimage. Chance alone had brought them together; for it was the custom of pilgrims to wait at some friendly inn until a sufficient company were gathered to make the journey pleasant and safe from robbers that might be encountered on the way. Chaucer joins this company, which includes all classes of English society, from the Oxford scholar to the drunken miller, and gladly accepts their invitation to go with them on the morrow.
At supper the jovial host of the Tabard Inn suggests that, to enliven the journey, each of the company shall tell four tales, two going and two coming, on whatever subject shall suit him best. The host will travel with them as master of ceremonies, and whoever tells the best story shall be given a fine supper at the general expense when they all come back again,--a shrewd bit of business and a fine idea, as the pilgrims all agree.
From the number of persons in the company, thirty-two in all, it is evident that Chaucer meditated on an immense work of one hundred and twenty-eight tales, which should cover the whole life of England. Only twenty-four were written; some of these are incomplete, and others are taken from his earlier work to fill out the general plan of the Canterbury Tales. Incomplete as they are, they cover a wide range, including stories of love and chivalry, of saints and legends, travels, adventures, animal fables, allegory, satires, and the coarse humour of the common people. Though all but two are written in verse and abound in exquisite poetical touches, they are stories as well as poems, and Chaucer is to be regarded as our first short-story teller as well as our first modern poet. The work ends with a kindly farewell from the poet to his reader, and so "here taketh the makere of this book his leve."
Prologue to ‘The Canterbury Tales’
In the famous "Prologue" the poet makes us acquainted with the various characters of his drama. Until Chaucer's day popular literature had been busy chiefly with the gods and heroes of a golden age; it had been essentially romantic, and so had never attempted to study men and women as they are, or to describe them so that the reader recognizes them, not as ideal heroes, but as his own neighbours. Chaucer not only attempted this new realistic task, but accomplished it so well that his characters were instantly recognized as true to life, and they have since become the permanent possession of our literature. Beowulf and Roland are ideal heroes, essentially creatures of the imagination; but the merry host of the Tabard Inn, Madame Eglantyne, the fat monk, the parish priest, the kindly ploughman, the poor scholar with his "bookës black and red,"--all seem more like personal acquaintances than characters in a book.
Dryden Says: "I see all the pilgrims, their humours, their features and their very dress, as distinctly as if I had supped with them at the Tabard in Southwark."
Depicted English Life in ‘The Canterbury Tales’
The first and foremost important thing that is noticed in The Canterbury Tales is the setting of the mediaeval age. He primarily deals with the features of the mediaeval age, but at the same time he is not untouched by the upcoming spirit of the Renaissance. Though his contemporary writers were dreamy and dealt with allegorical representation of life, he has the power to peep through the unfolded realities of life. He is extremely true to his time and the way he presents the life of people at that time.
Each and every pilgrims are shown as formal and independent. The upper class and the lower class people are not his characters, but only the middle class. Because the upper class people would not travel with the group of middle class and the lower class people would not have time to travel as they are busy earning their lives. There are only two women, the Prioress and the Wife of Bath, in the group. Women were not supposed to leave home at that time to travel, but these women must be independent to travel. His characters are not only an individual, but a type who represents the then society like, the hunting monk, the venal friar, the dedicated knight, the gay young squire, the ladylike prioress, the piratical ship man, the wife of Bath. His characters have both vices and virtues like real people in their lives and the way of their dressing, manners and behaviours are greatly realistic to the age of Chaucer. Every tale told by different characters has different ways, comments, narrations, dictions and humour which prove that Chaucer is totally successful in representing his age in The Canterbury Tales.
Characters of ‘The canterbury Tale’
Chaucer’s tale is a study and it views the everyday life of mediaeval English people. The pilgrims are identified by what they do – clerk, priest, squire, shipman – and by the characteristics of the fourteenth century that others connected to different social classes.
Chaucer-the-pilgrim who narrates the work; tells the 17th and 18th tales
The Knight – a man of honour, truth, and chivalry; tells the 1st tale
The Squire - the knight's son, a gentle youth of poetic sensibilities; tells the 11th tale
The Yeoman – the knight's servant; no tale
The Prioress (Madame Eglentyne) – a nun who supervises a priory; tells the 15th tale
The Second Nun – secretary to the Prioress; tells the 21st tale
The Nun's Priest – one of three priests travelling with the Prioress; tells the 20th tale
The Monk – a worldly lover of hunting, riding, and drinking; tells the 18th tale
The Friar (Huberd) – a corrupt clergyman who keeps donations for himself; tells the 7th tale
The Merchant – a somber man who distrusts women; tells the 10th tale
The Clerk – a scholar from Oxford University; tells the 9th tale
The Sergeant of the Law (Man of Law) – a wealthy lawyer; tells the 5th tale
The Franklin (landowner) – a glutton, companion of Man of Law; tells the 12th tale
The Five Tradesmen: Haberdasher, Carpenter, Weaver, Dyer, and Tapestry Weaver, all travelling together; described in General Prologue but no speaking parts
The Cook (Roger) – works for the above tradesmen, loves to drink; tells 4th tale
The Shipman – a ship's captain; tells 14th tale
The Doctor of Physic (physician) – a greedy astrologer; tells 13th tale
The Wife of Bath (Alisoun) – a widow who has survived five husbands and travelled the world; tells 6th tale
The Parson – a devout and honest clergyman; tells the 24th (last) tale
The Plowman – the Parson's brother, devout and charitable; no speaking part
The Miller (Robyn) – coarse, rough, and fond of drinking and stealing; tells the 2nd tale
The Manciple (caterer) – purchases food for establishments; tells the 23rd tale
The Reve (Osewald) – manager of an estate, an accountant; tells the 3rd tale
The Summoner – server of summons to ecclesiastical courts; tells the 8th tale
The Pardoner – seller of indulgences (pardons) and fake holy relics, rides with the Summoner; tells the 14th tale
The Host (Harry Bailey) – Innkeeper at the Tabard where the pilgrims begin their journey, proposes the story-telling contest and moderates/settles disputes
The Canon's Yeoman – not introduced in the General Prologue; meets the pilgrims along the way; tells 22nd tale
Conclusion
Chaucer's masterpiece, the Canterbury Tales, one of the most famous works in all literature, fills the third or English period of his life. The plan of the work is magnificent: to represent the wide sweep of English life by gathering a motley company together and letting each class of society tell its own favourite stories. Though the great work was never finished, Chaucer succeeded in his purpose so well that in the Canterbury Tales he has given us a picture of contemporary English life, its work and play, its deeds and dreams, its fun and sympathy and hearty joy of living, such as no other single work of literature has ever equaled.
Works Cited
Juránek, Tomáš. “England and Englishness in Canterbury Tales.” IS MUNI, 2015, https://is.muni.cz/th/hn5fe/England_and_Englishness_in_Canterbury_Tales.pdf. Accessed 7 November 2022.
Long, William J. “English Literature by William J. Long - Free Ebook.” Project Gutenberg, 1 January 2004, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10609. Accessed 7 November 2022.
Mark, Joshua J. “The Canterbury Tales.” World History Encyclopedia, 8 May 2019, https://www.worldhistory.org/Canterbury_Tales/. Accessed 7 November 2022.
Sharma, Kedar N. “Realism and the Depiction of Fourteenth Century England in The Canterbury Tales.” bachelorandmaster.com, 14 March 2018, https://www.bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanpoetry/realism-canterbury-tales.html#.Y2g3w3ZBzIX. Accessed 7 November 2022.
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