Introduction to Canterbury Tales

Chaucer’s World: 14th Century England

Basic assumptions of the medieval world:– Existence of a Christian afterlife– 2 paths: religious life or secular life – Things of the world inferior to things of God– Medieval passion for order/fear of disorder

• Recurrent image: Fortuna & the wheel– Immutable order: one’s estat is an absolute, both sinful

& futile to rebel against• Signaled by clothing (array), manner (curteisye)

Chaucer’s Middle English

• Anglo-Saxon Old English enriched by French, Latin• Important, serious writing = French & Latin• Light, often comic writing = English• Chaucer’s high diction used for abstraction, while

low, colloquial diction used for comic relief; formal diction (particularly when given in or mixed with Latin or French) can sometimes be used to satirize intellectual snobbery

29 pilgrims meet at the Tabard Inn to travel on pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral for repentance, divine goodwill, etc. Canterbury Cathedral is the shrine of St. Thomas Becket (1118-1170), martyred by Henry II’s henchmen while at prayer in the cathedral. If life is a journey, pilgrimage gives pilgrims a taste of their ultimate goal.

Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales

Cross-section of society: “Those who work”

(in order of hierarchy)• Landed gentry: Franklin• Professionals: Sergeant of the Law, Doctor of Physics• Tradespeople: Merchant, Wife of Bath, Five Guildsmen,

Harry Bailly (tavern keeper), Miller• Secular employees: Manciple, Reeve• Laborers: Shipman, Yeoman, Cook• Peasants: Plowman

Cross-section of society:“Those who fight”

KnightSquire

Cross-section of society:“Those who pray”

• Religious orders: Monk, Prioress, Friar, Nun’s Priest, Second Nun

• Parish clergy: Parson• Student: Clerk at Oxford• Church employees: Pardoner, Summoner

The Medieval Church

• Medieval Catholic church largely corrupt:– Men in high positions siphoned off money or created new

positions for friends and allies– Little fear of damnation—people could simply purchase

absolution from corrupt priests– Some clergy even ran a relic trade on the side, further taking

advantage of a largely uneducated parish– Despite vows of chastity and poverty, many monasteries and

priories were known for their decadence and wantonness

Chivalry

Chivalry is an idealized code of military and social behavior for the aristocracy in the late medieval period. The word "chivalry" comes from Old French cheval (horse) and literally means "horsemanship." Normally, only rich nobility could afford the expensive armor, weaponry, and warhorses necessary for mounted combat, so the act of becoming a knight was symbolically indicated by giving the knight silver spurs. The right to knighthood in the late medieval period was inherited through the father, but it could also be granted by the king or a lord as a reward for services. The tenets of chivalry were attempts to civilize the rather brutal activity of warfare. The ideals include sparing non-combatants such as women, children, and helpless prisoners; the protection of the church; honesty in word and bravery in deeds; loyalty to one's liege lord; dignified behavior; and single-combat between noble opponents who had a quarrel. Other matters associated with chivalry include gentlemanly duels supervised by witnesses and heralds, behaving according to the manners of polite society, courtly love, brotherhood in arms, and feudalism.

Courtly Love

Courtly love refers to a code of behavior that gave rise to modern ideas of chivalrous romance. The term itself was popularized by C. S. Lewis' and Gaston Paris' scholarly studies, but its historical existence remains contested in critical circles. The conventions of courtly love are that a knight of noble blood would adore and worship a young noble-woman from afar, seeking to protect her honor and win her favor by valorous deeds. He typically falls ill with love-sickness, while the woman chastely or scornfully rejects or refuses his advances in public, but privately encourages him. Courtly love was associated with (A) nobility, since no peasants can engage in "fine love"; (B) secrecy; (C) adultery, since often the one or both participants were married to another noble or trapped in an unloving marriage; and (D) paradoxically with chastity, since the passion could never be consummated due to social circumstances, thus it was a "higher love" unsullied by selfish carnal desires.

Rules of Courtly Love

• Marriage is no real excuse for not loving• He who is not jealous, cannot love• No one can be bound by a double love• It is well known that love is always increasing or decreasing• That which a lover takes against the will of his beloved has no relish• Boys do not love until they arrive at the age of maturity• When one lover dies, a widowhood of two years is required of the survivor• No one should be deprived of love without the very best of reasons• No one can love unless he is impelled by the persuasion of love• Love is always a stranger in the home of avarice• It is not proper to love any woman whom one would be ashamed to seek to marry• A true lover does not desire to embrace in love anyone except his beloved• When made public love rarely endures• The easy attainment of love makes it of little value; difficulty of attainment makes it

prized• Every lover regularly turns pale in the presence of his beloved

Rules of Courtly Love

• When a lover suddenly catches sight of his beloved, his heart palpitates• A new love puts to flight an old one• Good character alone makes any man worthy of love• If love diminishes, it quickly fails and rarely revives• A man in love is always apprehensive• Real jealousy always increases the feeling of love• Jealousy, and therefore love, are increased when one suspects his beloved• He whom the thought of love vexes eats and sleeps very little• Every act of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved• A true lover considers nothing good except what he thinks will please his beloved• Love can deny nothing to love• A lover can never have enough of the solaces of his beloved• A slight presumption causes a lover to suspect his beloved• A man who is vexed by too much passion usually does not love• A true lover is constantly and without intermission possessed by the thought of his beloved• Nothing forbids one woman being loved by two men or one man by two women

Medieval Misogyny

Misogyny: hatred of women

Rules for Women:1. not allowed to marry without their parents' consent 2. could own no business with special permission 3. not allowed to divorce their husbands 4. could not own property of any kind unless they were

widows 5. could not inherit land from their parents' if they had

any surviving brothers