The Canterbury Tales

Outline

Geoffrey Chaucer background

Estates System

Rise of Middle Class

Corruption of Church

Tales

Pilgrims

Use of Two Voices

What We Will Cover

Geoffrey Chaucer1343-1400

Born in London and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Lived during the Middle Ages, or Medieval Period.

As an adult, he belonged to the upper-middle class.

Information known about his life is gathered from mention of him in 3rd party documents.

Chaucer

Chaucer held many jobs including: yeoman, courier, diplomat, comptroller, clerk of king’s work and writer.

King Richard II was one of his patrons

Close with John of Gaunt

Married to Phillippa, had three children

Chaucer

First work: Book of the Duchess written as an elegy for John of Gaunt’s wife, Blanche.

Other works include Troilus and Criseyde, Parlement of Foules, The House of Fame, and The Legend of Good Women.

Best known for The Canterbury Tales.

Estates SystemRigid system, based on birth and wealth, that dictated social rank and supposed morality of a person.

The “ranks”: Knobility, Clergy, Lower Class

Knobles: Kings, Queens, Dukes, KnightsSquires and Yeoman sometimes considered here too

Clergy: Members of the church- nuns, priests, monks, friars.

Parson and other poorer church related members would NOT be in this estate.

Lower Class: Everyone else, especially the poor.

Rise of the Middle ClassKnoble class ruled all others, clergy often corrupt, what about everyone else?

All others were considered “lower class,” but began to shift because there was a distinct “middle class.”

Middle class: Doctors, Lawyers, Franklins, some wealthy merchants and craftsmen.

More people were being educated and were literate.

Society needed a place for this rising class.

Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales during this time when the Estates System was beginning to fail.

Corruption of the Church

Below the very rich, powerful, controlling Knobles, the next important rank was clergy.

Many abused the power they had:Took bribesKept money Papal Indulgences

Supposed to take three vows:ObedienceChastityPoverty

The TalesFirst major work to be written in English, not Latin

27 Pilgrims, Narrator (Chaucer) and Host, head on a Pilrimage to Canterbury Cathedral

Thomas a Beckett’s ShrineTale telling competition for entertainmentJudged on morality of tale

Not the first time such a framework was usedBoccaccio

The Pilgrims

“Cross-section” of the Medieval Period

Includes members from all classes and of varying rank and morality.

Each pilgrim gets described in the General Prologue by the Narrator, then tells his or her own tale later.

Chaucer the narrator describes their appearance, attire, estate, actions, and what they say.

Wanted to criticize society.

Use of Two Voices

Chaucer the Narrator/Pilgrim and Chaucer the author.

Chaucer the author recognized failure of the Estates System and the corruption of church

How could he write a critical piece about his society, if those in charge would censor it, or lock him up?

Use of Two Voices Creates “naïve” pilgrim character who narrates the tales

Claims he is merely reporting exactly what he observes and makes no judgment

Readers can make obvious connections to his criticisms, but knobles and clergy cannot punish Chaucer without acknowledging the flaws in the pilgrims as truly present in society.

Able to demonstrate that highest ranking people, specifically the clergy, may not be the most moral.

Poorer pilgrims seem to be most “good,” and most high ranking clergy members break at least one of the three vows.

What We Will DoWe will be reading the General Prologue which:

Explains purpose of the TalesExplains the scope of the TalesDescribes each Pilgrim

We will be reading a few of the tales the pilgrims tell on the way:

Prioress’ TaleParson’s TaleFriar’s TalePardoner’s Tale

What We Will DoWe will be grouping the Pilgrims according to Estate.

Analyze how they are portrayed morally.

Interpret Chaucer’s opinion of each Pilgrim, each Estate, and society as a whole.

Identify corrupt Pilgrims and notice how Chaucer goes about pointing this out.

Compare and contrast morally good and morally bad Pilgrims

Understand Chaucer’s true purpose for writing these Tales