Leaning Literary: Geoffrey Chaucer (1340--1400)

* Finally, we have an author we can name! Geoffrey Chaucer. We will be reading from his Canterbury Tales.

* Do you enjoy people-watching? I do. When I was first married, my wife and I had very little money, so our typical date was to go to a coffee shop in downtown Santa Cruz or San Francisco...then enjoy the circus walking by and chuckle our way through an evening together. I think we all enjoy encountering different characters. That's part of what can make school fun: we are motley crew, indeed (teachers and administrators included)! Geoffrey Chaucer had a gift for bringing characters to life in fiction, and his various diplomatic posts gave him a great opportunity to interact with many colorful subjects to fuel his gift. His work, combined with his wildly rich imagination, led to the birth of a host of characters in English literature.

First, read and take notes from a quick biographical background here (scroll past the ad after the first paragraph). (If you wish for more biographical study, see here.)
Second, just take a look at this chronology.
Third, define the following lit terms in your notes:

couplet (Chaucer's are commonly called heroic couplets...rhyming pairs in iambic pentameter. He popularized the heroic couplet)
frame narrative
irony

verbal
dramatic
situational

* The Canterbury Tales' premise: It's spring, and twenty-nine pilgrims are making their way from Southwerk, London to Canterbury Cathedral to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket. The thirtieth man, the host, decides to join them and to make a wager. Whichever pilgrim can tell the best story to beguile the time as they go will receive a free dinner when they return from their pilgrimage. "The Prologue" introduces the pilgrims, and tales follow. Chaucer never finished the tales, but what we have we treasure.

Now, read the Prologue

First, just a bit in the original: The Prologue in Middle English.
Now, please read The Prologue (see below).

Journal

Part I The Prologue

pdf: The Prologue

1 Describe one character that you find interesting.

2 Compare the tone and style of the Gawain poet with the tone and style of Geoffrey Chaucer (2-3 sentences).

Part II "The Pardoner's Tale"

.pdf: "The Pardoner's Tale"

3. How do the tavern knave and the publican personify Death? What does the rioters’ response to the description tell you?

4. What do you think the poor old man may symbolize?

5. Explain at least two instances of irony in this tale, at least one being situational irony and another being dramatic irony.

6. Why is it ironic that the Pardoner preaches a story with this particular moral? How would you account for the psychology of the Pardoner: Is he truly evil, just drunk, or so used to cheating that he does it automatically?

7. What do you think Chaucer is satirizing in “The Pardoner’s Tale”?
8. How would the moral that the Pardoner wishes the audience to draw and the moral that Chaucer would hope the reader to draw differ? How does this relate to frame narrative? Explain.
All Songs Considered

"Renegades" by X Ambassadors

Part III "The Wife of Bath's Tale"

.pdf: "The Wife of Bath's Tale"

Opening journal

Please reflect and write in your composition book (notes section):

Generally, what do men and women want from their beloved in a romantic relationship today (courting, dating, engaged, or married)?
Specifically, what do you hope to have in your present or future relationship?

Journal Questions continued...

9. The knight’s quest is to find out what women want. What irony do you see in this?
10. In lines 276–278, the knight moans about having the old woman for his wife. How does she respond to each objection he raises?
11. Why do you think this tale is set in King Arthur's days? How has the knight violated the code of chivalry?
12. How does the Wife of Bath view the fairy superstitions of old? How does she view the church's friars that disabused Britons of the superstitions?
13. Find and explain three remarks within the tale (not the prologue) that remind us that the Wife of Bath is telling this tale.
14. What does fire symbolize in this story? Explain.
15. "The Wife of Bath's Tale" both compares with (contrasts) and compares to (similarities) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in its plot and characterization. Describe two similar and two contrasting aspects of the pieces.
16. How does this story square with a biblical view of marriage concerning husbands and wives? Use three or more scriptures to defend your answer (here are a few to get started...but dig a bit yourself, please).
17. In the end, this is a man's view (Chaucer) of a woman's view (The Wife of Bath) of women. In the final analysis, do you think he is correct? Do you think he is fair in his treatment? Where would you say that he has fallen short?
18. Cultural Questing:
A. In this story, a rapist is pardoned. Is this a morally evil way to explore a theme in literature? How did Chaucer make the forgiveness more plausible? What about rape today? What do you think the penalty should be?
B. How do you think a seemingly innocent young person can grow up to become a rapist? What are some wise steps you can take now to protect yourself and also protect yourself from becoming a sad threat to another?