Chaucer

Life:  Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1340 in London, England.  He was born in the reign of Edward III, lived through the reign of Richard II and died the year after Henry IV ascended the throne.  He attended the St. Paul’s Cathedral School, where he acquainted with the influential writing of Virgil and Ovid.  He married Philippa Roet, the sister of John of Gaunt's third wife, Katherine Swynford in 1366.  He died on 25th October 1400 in London, England.  He was the first poet to be buried in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. Career:  Geoffrey Chaucer achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, civil servant and astronomer.  He maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat.  He is known as the Father of English Poetry.  He is called as: • ‘Morning Star of Renaissance’ • ‘Evening star of the medieval day’ • ‘Representative poet of 14th century’ • ‘Prince of the plagiarist’ • ‘The English Homer’  He was the first realist, humanist, humorist and national poet.  He gave the first full expression of ‘the English sense of humour’. • His humour is natural, gentle, and realistic. • He laughs at human weakness without cruelty and uses wit, irony, and lively characters.  He is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Age.  He became a public servant to Elizabeth de Burgh, the Countess of Ulster in 1357.  He involved in the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) in 1359 and he was captured for ransom.  King Edward III helped to pay 16 pounds of ransom to release Chaucer.  Chaucer became Valet of the King’s Chamber under King Edward III.  He joined the Royal Service traveling throughout France, Spain and Italy on diplomatic missions.  He spent time familiarizing himself with the works of Italian poets Dante and Petrarch.  He was influenced by “French Renaissance”.  He used ‘East Midland Dialect or London Dialect’ in his works.  He was rewarded for his diplomatic activities with an appointment as Comptroller of Customs.  King Edward III granted Chaucer a pension of 20 marks.  He made Chaucer one of his esquires in 1368.  He became court poet in 1369.  Philippa and Chaucer were granted generous pensions by John of Gaunt, the first duke of Lancaster.  He was elected a Justice of the Peace and a Member of Parliament in 1386.  His last official position was deputy forester in the King's Forest at Petherton in Somerset.  ‘The Black Death’ was a serious disease that spread in Europe in 1348–1349. • It was caused by plague germs and spread by rats, fleas, and close contact. • Nearly one-third of Europe’s people died. • People became afraid and lost faith in the Church.  ‘The Peasants’ Revolt’ happened in England in 1381. • It was caused by heavy taxes (Poll Tax) and poor treatment of peasants. • Peasants were angry after the Black Death, as they wanted better wages. • It was led by Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, and the priest John Ball; Wat Tyler was the leader of the revolt. • The revolt was suppressed by Richard II. • Chaucer refers it humorously in The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, through the story of the Cock and the Fox.  Chaucer’s contemporary poets are John Gower and William Langland.  John Wyclif is called ‘the morning star of the Reformation’. Major Works: 1. French Period: (1360-1370)  The Romaunt of the Rose:  It is based on French work ‘Le Romaunt de la Rose’ by Lorris and De Meun.  It is allegorical, dream poem written in Octosyllabic Couplet.  It begins with an allegorical dream, in which the narrator receives advice from the god of love on gaining his lady’s favour.  It has three fragments (i.e.) A, B, C.  The Book of the Duchess: (1369)  Chaucer's first published work was The Book of the Duchess, a poem of over 1334 lines.  It is an elegy for Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster, addressed to her widower, the Duke.  It is called as “The Dreame of Chaucer”.  The other poems are: “The Compleynt unto Pite, An A.B.C., and The Compleynt of Mars.” 2. Italian Period: (1370-1385)  The House of Fame (1382)  It is a poem of around 2,000 lines in dream-vision form based on ‘Dante’s Divine Comedy’.  It is allegorical poem written in Octosyllabic Couplet.  It has the description of temple of Venus.  The Legend of Good Women (1385)  It is unfinished poem based on ‘Boccaccio’s Mulieribus’  Chaucer first introduced the stanza form of iambic pentameter couplets i.e Heroic Couplet in The Legend of Good Women.  It has a prologue and 9 legends.  It describes 9 famous women.  Troilus and Criseyde:  It was influenced by The Consolation of Philosophy, which Chaucer himself translated into English.  Chaucer took the plot of Troilus from Boccaccio's Filostrato.  Chaucer invented Rhyme Royal i.e., Chaucerian Stanza (7 lines - ababbcc) in this poem.  ‘Troilus and Criseyde’ is a narrative poem of 8,000 lines that retells the tragic love story of Troilus and Criseyde in the context of the Trojan War.  It was dedicated to John Gower.  Anelida and Arcite:  It tells the story of Anelida, queen of Armenia and Arcite.  It has some elements of Boccaccio’s Tessida.  Parlement of Foules:  It is a poem of 699 lines.  It is a dream-vision for St. Valentine's Day that makes use of the myth that each year on that day the birds gather before the goddess Nature to choose their mates.  It was heavily influenced by Boccaccio and Dante.  It was written in 1380, during marriage negotiations between Richard and Anne of Bohemia.  The poem uses allegory, and incorporates elements of irony and satire.  It is puzzle, debate and beast fable.  Translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy as Boece:  Boece is Chaucer’s translation into Middle English of ‘The Consolation of Philosophy’ by Boethius.  It was originally written in Latin, stressed the importance of philosophy to everyday life. 3. English Period: (1384 – 1390)  The General Prologue or Prologue to The Canterbury Tales:  Chaucer draws together twenty-nine pilgrims, including himself.  They meet at the Tabard Inn, in Southwark in order to go on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Thomas a Becket at Canterbury.  The twenty-nine are carefully chosen types, of both sexes, and of all ranks, from a knight to a humble ploughman.  Their occupations and personal peculiarities are many and diverse.  The host (Bailly) of the Tabard proposes to relieve the tedium of the journey, each of the pilgrims is to tell two tales on the on the way to Canterbury, and two on the return back home.  He will accompany them and award a free supper on their return to the teller of the best story.  The work is incomplete; only 23 pilgrims tell stories, and there are only 24 stories told altogether (Chaucer tells two). Thus, The Canterbury Tales is made up of only 24 tales.  The military profession is represented by a knight, a squire, and a yeoman.  The ecclesiastical profession is represented by a prioress, a nun (her secretary), a monk, a friar, a sumnour (summoner of those charged under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts), a pardoner (seller of pardons), a poor parson, and a Clerk of Oxford, who is a student of divinity.  Then, there is a lawyer and a physician, and a number of miscellaneous characters like a franklin (freeholder of land), a merchant, a shipman (sailor), a miller, a cook, a manciple (caterer for colleges), a reeve (land steward), a haberdasher, a carpenter, a weaver, a dyer, a tapycer (tapestry maker), a ploughman (the poor parson's brother), and a well-to-do west-country cloth-maker named Alison, who is better known as the Wife of Bath.  This Prologue is a masterpiece of insight, sureness of touch, fine discrimination, and subtle humour.  All the characters are individualised, yet their thoroughly typical quality gives unique value to Chaucer's picture of men and manners in the England of his time.