Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
The Canterbury Tales
2
The Canterbury Tales
Francesca Lucidi
The settings
Chaucer had the first idea originally in 1386:
- It's a narrative poem,
- At first it was meant to be a collection of 120 stories that were told by various pilgrims on a pilgrimage:
- (30 pilgrims: 2 stories on the way there, 2 stories on the way back).
- Published version: 24 stories (2 in prose, 22 in verse).
- He used a literary language shaped by French and Latin models, the Middle English,
- Is set in Middle Ages,
- Chaucer, it's the narrator in the general prologue
- The pilgrims tell the tales.
A sample of the lord's prayer in middle english:
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer :
- He's consider the father of the english literature,
- He was born around 1343, and he was the son of a wine merchant,
- He grew up during the Hundred's year war and the black death,
- His literary production can be divided into three groups:
-> The french period
-> The italian period
-> The english period.
- He died in 1400, and he was the first poet to be buried in Westminster Abbey.
The period between 1343 and 1450 is known as the Age of Chaucer:
- First significant literary age in English literature,
- New era of learning,
- Strong nationalistic passions due to the 100 Years’ War between England and France,
- The middle class emerged,
- Transition from the age of Medievalism to the age of Modernism.
Geoffrey Chaucer
Description
One spring day in Southwark thirty people, including Chaucer as narrator, meet at the Tabard Inn.
• That evening, they join a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral and the shrine of Thomas Becket.
• Chaucer is admitted to their company.
• The innkeeper suggests that every pilgrim should tell four stories; the one who tells the best story will win a free dinner.
• The tales are religious and humorous, moral and satirical, also some of the characters are descripted using a satirical way.
The descriptions of the pilgrims emphasise:
• clothes;
• tools;
• personal qualities;
• personality.
The names given to the pilgrims refer to their professions.
• They are the representation of the medieval society:
• The court: Knight, Squire, Yeoman, Franklin, Plowman, Miller, Reeve.
• the church: Nun, Monk, Friar, Cleric, Parson, Summoner, Pardoner.
• the commoners: Merchant, Sergeant of the Law, Five. tradesmen, Cook, Skipper, Wife of Bath, Manciple and Host.
The main themes are the journey and the pilgrimage, that is sort of a life changing experience.
Description
The Wife of Bath
The Wife of Bath:
- is slightly deaf,
- is an excellent weaver and seamstress
- She wears many kerchiefs and red stockings
• She was married five times
- She had gone on previous pilgrimages (Jerusalem, Rome, Bologna, Galice, and Cologne)
• She has gap-teeth,
• She has a good sense of humor and
loves to talk to people (sometimes to a fault).
Personal opinion
The message the autor wanted to give to the readers illustratate Chaucer's vision of the world (comic and ironic):
- He gave a portrait of the medieval society, with some aspects of that time like the courtly love in the Knight's tale
- They also show Chaucer's interpration of life.
I personally liked it, if you are interested in the middle age, you should definitely read it !!
I really appreciated the fact that you can see the satire that Chaucer used to describe some characters (like the Squire, that is satirized for his insincerity) for me it makes the book less static and more interesting to read.
I also like to imagine the pilgrims walking to the Canterbury cathedral while telling those stories.